Liverpool Beat Southampton 2-1 In Carabao Cup
Darwin Nunez set Liverpool on the path to victory over Southampton as Arne Slot’s side reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Nunez ended his six-game barren run as he and Harvey Elliott scored to give Liverpool firm control in the first half, although Cameron Archer later pulled a goal back to give the hosts hope.
Southampton were led by interim manager Simon Rusk following the sacking of Russell Martin after Sunday’s 5-0 home defeat by Tottenham, and they started brightly but fell behind after 24 minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold did superbly to escape pressure from two Southampton attackers before finding Nunez with a through ball, albeit via a huge deflection off Jan Bednarek. The Uruguay international took advantage of Alex McCarthy’s slip to place his finish out of the goalkeeper’s reach.
Any hopes Southampton fans had that cup duty would distract from their desperate struggles at the foot of the Premier League evaporated when Elliott doubled Liverpool’s lead eight minutes later.
The England Under-21 midfielder – making his first start of the season – sent a shot into the bottom left corner via a deflection after Cody Gakpo played him in on goal.
Slot – sitting in the stands while serving a one-game touchline ban – must have felt the game was going comfortably Liverpool’s way given the visitors withdrew Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez at half-time in favour of Konstantinos Tsimikas and Federico Chiesa.
Liverpool eased off and paid the price just before the hour mark when Archer collected the ball, ran half the length of the pitch virtually unchallenged and curled a stunning strike into the far corner of Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal.
Southampton grew in confidence but had Taylor Harwood-Bellis to thank for clearing Chiesa’s goal-bound effort, and while they fashioned a few promising attacks none of them led to an equaliser.
They wanted a free-kick just outside the box in the final minutes of injury time, but referee Simon Hooper judged Jarell Quansah did not drag down Mateus Fernandes when through on goal.
Last season’s cup winners join Arsenal and Newcastle in the semi-finals, as will one of Tottenham or Manchester United who face off in the final last-eight tie on Thursday (20:00 GMT).
Liverpool have drawn their past two Premier League games but remain top of the table – and they are also setting the pace in the Champions League. A cup defence is also firmly in their sights.
They were not at their best at St Mary’s, but with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai all rested it was a weakened Reds side.
Slot’s youthful line-up – there was a first senior start for 17-year-old Trey Nyoni and a substitute cameo for James McConnell, 20 – took the initiative and then weathered Southampton’s second-half storm.
Liverpool made hard work of beating the same opposition in the Premier League last month, coming from behind to win thanks to two Salah goals. That this time they won more comfortably without a full complement of stars suggests the talent in this squad might run deeper than some would suggest.
It was a good night for Nunez, too. After scoring for only the fourth time in 21 appearances in all competitions this term, the striker shushed the home fans who had jeered him during the opening stages.
Slot will hope his previously goal-shy centre forward can use this as fuel for a busy festive period.
