Liverpool beat gutsy Southampton to reach Carabao Cup semis again

Holders Liverpool reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup for the third time in four seasons with a 2-1 win against managerless Southampton.

Goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott did the job for Arne Slot’s Reds, who advance to the last four, where they will face one of Arsenal, Newcastle or the winners of Thursday night’s tie between Tottenham and Manchester United, which is live on Sky Sports.

The semi-final draw will be held at 10.30pm, following the conclusion of that match in north London.

Saints – who sacked Russell Martin shortly after Sunday’s 5-0 humbling at the hands of Tottenham – were led by interim head coach Simon Rusk, who employed a particularly defensive approach at St Mary’s; the 5-4-1 formation out of possession keeping the Reds at bay for more than 20 minutes.

Then Liverpool found a way through with their first shot on target. Trent Alexander-Arnold pinged a ball through the middle, which hit Jan Bednarek’s outstretched leg and allowed Darwin Nunez to go through one-on-one and slot past Alex McCarthy.

Eight minutes later, it was 2-0 when Liverpool carved open their hosts’ defence with ease, with Cody Gakpo slipping Elliott in to apply a simple finish.

Just before the hour, out of nowhere, Saints gave themselves a lifeline when Cameron Archer curled past Caoimhin Kelleher – and they almost levelled seconds later when Kelleher’s reflex save kept out Archer’s flick, before Jarell Quansah blocked the follow-up from Mateus Fernandes.

That woke a subdued home crowd up, as did the introduction of Paul Onuachu, who proved to be a handful up front with his towering presence.

Rusk also brought on Adam Lallana, Ben Brereton Diaz and Kamaldeen Sulemana, no doubt hoping all-out attack in the closing stages would bring the goal that forced penalties, but that was not to be as the Carabao Cup holders moved closer to another Wembley final.

What’s coming up for Southampton and Liverpool?