Raul Jimenez: This is the Wolves spirit
History-maker Raul Jimenez hailed Wolves’ fighting spirit as he fired them to a 3-2 win at Southampton.
Wolves were 2-0 down at the break, but Pedro Neto’s strike and a Jimenez brace fuelled a 3-2 comeback win.
And after becoming the club’s top scorer in Premier League history – netting his 23rd league goal to overtake Steven Fletcher’s 22 – the forward spoke of his pride in the team, as they have now picked up 18 points from losing positions.
He said: “In most of the games this season we are down in the score.
“Sometimes we draw, sometimes we win, this is the Wolves spirit and we have to keep it this way and keep winning.
“We are very proud of ourselves.
“After a very bad first half we achieved a very good second half.
“We know that we have very good football to show and we did that in the second half.
“I think we deserved to win the game after all we did.”
And Jimenez says he had no doubt that VAR would overrule referee Darren England’s decision not to award a penalty after Jonny Castro Otto was felled by Jack Stephens and Cedric. The forward picked up the ball and waited on the spot as the video officials checked the decision.
He then fired home the subsequent spot-kick in the 65th minute that saw Wolves draw level and the forward, who went on to score the winner 11 minutes later, revels in the pressure.
He said: “I saw it plainly from behind. I saw Jonny falling and I said ‘that is a penalty’. I picked up the ball, I was awaiting the decision on the penalty spot.
“This is what I like, I always like to score penalties so it is another one.
“It was a very important moment for us, but I had to stay calm and do it as always.”
Wolves now host Liverpool on Thursday night and he says recovery has and will be key to Wolves’ Premier League quest.
He said: “It is our work not only on the training ground but you have to rest.
“We have to do what you have to do at home, rest, eat well.
“This is 24/7 work so we have to know that.
“After all the matches that we have it is important to recover well. We need to recover well.
“We have to keep doing the same to face the next match.”
