Southampton 1-2 Liverpool: Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott score goals as champions advance to the final 4 despite Saints attack in the second half
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After a full and impressive pre-season, Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott had big ambitions this season. Could I get a normal place to start? The little left-footed playmaker, signed amid so many promises from Fulham five years ago, would certainly do it. He didn’t expect his first start to the season in mid-December. But on a torrential night on the south coast, Elliott shone brightest as the Carabao Cup champions finally snuck into Southampton on Wednesday. night.
Elliott, 21, scored the visitor’s second of the night, calmly slotting home with his weaker right foot, and was a figure of composure throughout. When the pace needed slowing, Elliott did so in his roaming midfield-wing role. When it needed speeding up, Elliott found his man, quickly, with a forward pass. In a makeshift Liverpool XI, he was the starring light.
Darwin Nunez had opened the scoring midway through the first half, likely setting the tone for a night of work for the Premier League leaders. But Cameron Archer’s sumptuous goal and Southampton’s backward attack in the second half made Liverpool sweat for their position in the first half. semi-finals and, in the final minutes, Jarrell Quansah was lucky not to see red for taking out Mateus Fernandes as the last man, just outside the penalty area.
In the end, for Arne Slot, who was watching from the stands of TalkSport commentator Scott Minto at St Mary’s due to his one-match ban on the sidelines, it was a satisfying night’s work. The star players rested and the marginal players took risks. In fact, the Dutch coach probably would have been a little relieved to avoid the treacherous, swirling rain on the pitch.
His longtime assistant, Sipke Hulshoff, took care of the technical side as the Reds made 8 changes, leaving Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch out of the team. A calculated bet on Slot’s part, given Southampton’s current situation, but it paid off.
But they weren’t necessary either, as a starting lineup of 17-year-old Trey Nyoni and local midfielder Tyler Morton exuded composure and dominance. Trent Alexander-Arnold captained the club in his 300th start; a club that can, in thirteen days, go out and sign a pre-contract with a team abroad.
But that will be for another time. There was no room for fools in the pouring rain on Wednesday night and the task at hand was a position in the Carabao Cup final four. And it was Alexander-Arnold, as is often the case due to his role as opposing quarterback, who threw the game away in the 24th minute.
Supremely moving away from two Southampton forwards, the so-called right-back launched a left-footed pass over the Saints’ unusual top line and onto Nunez. One on one with the goalkeeper has not been the Uruguayan’s strong point. Two topsy-turvy years at the club, but here, when Alex McCarthy slipped, he sent the ball straight into the net near the post.
Eight minutes later, it was two o’clock. Cody Gakpo, who scored a brace in the last round at Brighton, cut inside from the left and slipped Elliott, who finished with a bit of luck with his weaker right foot, into the far corner. A complex and decisive interaction from the visitors in the final third but, frankly, it became too simple as the hosts lost confidence given their current situation.
McCarthy made a clever save from Alexis MacAllister just before half-time and the only comfort for the roughly 20,000 home fans who faced the situations was that there was only a two-goal deficit, as opposed to the five goals conceded in the first half on Sunday. Tottenham, who take Russell Martin’s place.
Whoever succeeds boss Simon Rusk has a gigantic position this season.
Alexander-Arnold and Gomez duly arrived at the break, their task accomplished, and £12m summer signing Federico Chiesa returned from a three-month break alongside Kostas Tsimikas.
The cup-tie seemed destined for nothingness until, out of nothing just before the hour mark, the hosts had a lifeline. Until then anonymous, Archer cut in decisively from the left and finished exquisitely into the far corner beyond Caoimhin Kelleher. Suddenly, the game had impetus and it took a terrific save from the Liverpool No 2 from close range to deny Archer a second, while Quansah blocked bravely from Mateus Fernandes. Slot was not sitting so comfortably now.
Substitute Federico Chiesa, with 20 minutes remaining, squandered a brilliant chance to score a third when Taylor Harwood-Bellis blocked the line, while Southampton’s 6-foot-5 forward Paul Onuachu missed a goalkeeper in the final 10 minutes. Quansah then went unpunished for bringing down Fernandes as the last man in stoppage time, while referee Simon Hooper ignored loud protests from the crowd.
But Liverpool, and their League Cup defence, stood firm. Newcastle, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United await the two-legged semi-final with an eye on booking another match for Wembley.
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