Theo Walcott scores for Southampton as Wolves fight back to claim draw

Premier League game at Molineux Stadium ends 1-1 after Pedro Neto comes off the bench to level

Theo Walcott (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal for Southampton in the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium. AFP

Theo Walcott begins his celebration after scoring the opening goal against Wolves. AFP

Wolves midfielder Pedro Neto scores the equalising goal against Southampton. AFP

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl congratulates Theo Walcott after the Premier League match at Molineux. PA

Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters (left) and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Joao Moutinho battle for the ball. PA

Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy saves from Wolverhampton Wanderers' Pedro Neto. PA

Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard heads clear from Wolverhampton Wanderers' Daniel Podence. PA

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez (2nd L) scores with this header but it is disallowed for offside. AFP

Wolves winger Adama Traore (left) and Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard battle for the ball. PA

Southampton's Theo Walcott misses a chance to score his second goal. PA

Theo Walcott reacts after missing a chance to score his second goal. PA

Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri (left) and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse battle for the ball. PA

Theo Walcott scored his first goal for Southampton nearly 15 years after leaving his boyhood club, but Wolves struck back in an entertaining 1-1 draw in their Premier League clash at the Molineux Stadium on Monday.

Walcott, 31, came through the Southampton ranks and left for Arsenal as a precocious teenager in January 2006. After 12 seasons with the Gunners and two years at Everton, the winger moved back to the Saints on-loan this summer and opened his account on his fourth league appearance.

With Danny Ings out injured, Walcott played as a striker alongside Che Adams and it paid off when he rattled home an Adams centre in the 58th minute to score his first goal for the club where he started his career since January 2006.

"It was a very tidy finish in the end, Che gave me the assist, I was pleased with my goal. It feels like a win, they play some fantastic football and it's a really good point," Walcott told Sky Sports following the final whistle.

With defender Conor Coady's run of 119 consecutive league games for Wolves brought to an end when he was ruled out due to a close contact testing positive for Covid-19, the hosts looked shaky in defence as they shifted formation to a flat back four.

However, it was Southampton's Alex McCarthy who was the busier of the two goalkeepers and he made a fantastic double-save from Nelson Semedo and Leander Dendoncker to keep the game scoreless at the break, before Walcott broke the deadlock in the second half.

The ex-Arsenal man spurned a great chance to make it 2-0 six minutes later and it was to prove costly as Wolves fought back, Raul Jimenez striking a post in the 75th after good work by Joao Moutinho before substitute Pedro Neto reacted quickest to slam the ball home.

Wolves had the better chances but there were no more goals and the stalemate leaves Southampton fifth on 17 points, three behind pacesetters Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while Wolves rise to ninth on 14 points after nine games.

"We try to be solid and we managed that. Let's see if we play a back four again, (but) that's not the point. We should analyse what we have and try to improve it," Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo told Sky Sports.

Southampton's good start to the campaign and Walcott getting on the scoresheet in the Premier League for the 14th straight season appears to have whetted the forward's appetite for more.

"A lot of teams won't want to play against us. We have trust as a unit, we want to play together and that's the way we are. We want to win games," Walcott said.