WREXHAM, WALES ¨C Southampton demolished Wrexham 5-1 to take control of the battle for a Championship playoff place on Tuesday.

Kuryu Matsuki, Flynn Downes, Cyle Larin, Ross Stewart and Finn Azaz struck for the Saints, who are now 16 games unbeaten in all competitions.

That run includes Saturday¡¯s shock victory over Premier League leader?Arsenal to reach the FA Cup semifinals.

Automatic promotion still appears out of the Saints¡¯ reach after their terrible start to the campaign under Will Still.

But they have been transformed since Tonda Eckert took charge and look like the team to beat should they seal a place in the play-offs.

Southampton moves two points ahead of Wrexham and has a game in hand on its rivals for a place in the top six.

Wrexham is aiming for a fourth consecutive promotion after a remarkable rise under the ownership of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Despite making six changes from the side that stunned Arsenal at the weekend, Southampton picked up from where it left off in ending the Gunners¡¯ hopes of a treble.

The visitor?had already hit the crossbar twice through Larin and Azaz before Matsuki was afforded far too much space inside the box to fire into the bottom corner.

Downes had even more time to pick his spot after a free kick broke the way of the former West Ham midfielder on 22 minutes.

Wrexham had barely laid a glove on its opponent?until it got back into the game when Josh Windass slotted home.

Yet, just as the home side was enjoying its best spell in the game after the break, Southampton pounced to seal the points.

Larin took advantage of a loose pass by Lewis O¡¯Brien and sprinted clear on goal to fire into the far corner.

Stewart then replaced the Canadian international and rose highest to head in Welington¡¯s free kick.

Azaz rounded off the scoring from close range on a demoralizing night for Wrexham¡¯s Premier League dream.