Southampton leapfrogged Wrexham into sixth place in the Championship with an emphatic victory over their play-off rivals at Stok Cae Ras.

Kuryu Matsuki and Flynn Downes both netted early goals for the visitors, who dominated from the outset.

Having been second best in the opening 30 minutes, the hosts grew into the contest and responded through Josh Windass’ composed finish.

But Cyle Larin took advantage of a loose pass after the hour mark to rifle home – with Ross Stewart and Finn Azaz adding further efforts late on as the Saints sealed a fifth successive win.

Southampton – who boast a game in hand over each of their top-six rivals – move up one place and two points above the Red Dragons, who drop to seventh.

The Saints – showing six changes from their memorable 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Arsenal three days earlier – showed no signs of a hangover early on in north Wales.

They were twice thwarted by the framework of the Wrexham goal in a matter of seconds as Larin headed Ryan Manning’s delivery on to the crossbar, with Azaz nodding the rebound against the bar.

But they were not to be denied four minutes later as Azaz picked out Matsuki, who drilled into the bottom corner to beat Arthur Okonkwo at the goalkeeper’s near post.

Saints’ attacking intent was rewarded again just 10 minutes later as James Bree’s free-kick deflected off George Dobson and looped into the path of Downes, whose sweetly-struck volley from 15 yards out flew into the net.

The hosts looked shell-shocked as the travelling Southampton supporters revelled in their side’s dominance.

Wrexham finally showed signs of life in attack after the half-hour mark. They almost reduced the Saints’ lead when Max Cleworth’s cross found Nathan Broadhead, whose glancing header struck the post.

They did pull a goal back a minute later as Okonkwo’s long punt upfield was flicked on by Kieffer Moore, and Windass showed great composure to slot beyond Daniel Peretz.

The second half was a far more even affair – with Okonkwo doing enough to keep out Larin’s shot, before Cleworth’s deflected strike sailed wide at the other end.

But just as Wrexham’s momentum was growing, Larin intercepted Lewis O’Brien’s pass before charging down on goal and firing beyond Okonkwo. The strike was Larin’s fifth goal since joining on loan from Mallorca on transfer deadline day in February.

The hosts refused to let their heads drop and Moore headed Issa Kabore’s cross on to the base of the post from close range soon after.

The visitors managed to take the sting out of the contest though, and after Azaz rifled against the post, Stewart headed fellow substitute Welington’s free-kick into the net.

Just two minutes later, Azaz capitalised on a defensive mix-up to put the gloss on his side’s stellar showing, as Tonda Eckert’s men stretched their unbeaten league run to 13 league games in emphatic fashion.

For the first time in this remarkable run-in, Southampton’s play-off destiny is now firmly in their own hands.

They were simply mesmerising early on and could have been more than 2-0 up.

To their credit, after being blown away for half an hour, Wrexham showed the kind of fighting spirit that has been the foundation of the club’s three successive promotions to get themselves back into the contest.

But they left themselves with too much to do against a Saints side who not only look destined to secure a top-six spot, but could go into the play-offs as the form team – and potentially favourites as a result.

This was ultimately just another three points, but it was also a statement from Eckert’s men who inflicted a heaviest defeat of the season on Phil Parkinson’s outfit.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson:

“We haven’t had many games like that since I’ve been here.

“You can’t give a good team opportunities like we gave them tonight. They’re a good side and they punished us.”

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert:

“I think it helped us a lot that we had some freshness in the team today.

“We knew that we needed to take control early on, and we did this, especially in the first 20-25 minutes.

“Overall I thought we had good control. We knew that if we stayed and worked in our structure, we would get some moments in the second half and I thought we did that well.”