Liverpool reached the semi-finals of this season's Carabao Cup as they beat Southampton 2-1 at St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The defending champions made wholesale changes but still dominated the first half, taking a two-goal lead into the break courtesy of Darwin Nunez's composed finish and Harvey Elliott's deflected strike.
Cameron Archer's impressive strike set up a nervy final half-hour for the Reds but they just about held firm to secure passage into the last four again.
How the game unfolded
Southampton were behind after just 36 seconds during Sunday's humiliation that cost Russell Martin his job, but interim manager Simon Rusk oversaw a firmer start from the Saints as they initially restricted Liverpool with their deep five-man defence.
However, despite their resilience in the early stages, some sloppy defending allowed Liverpool to take the lead midway through the first half. Trent Alexander-Arnold's searching pass was sliced into the air by Jan Bednarek, with Nunez racing onto the loose ball before calmly sliding past the backtracking Alex McCarthy.
Southampton's confidence was evidently knocked by conceding the opener and Liverpool smelt blood, doubling their advantage just after the half-hour mark. Cody Gakpo picked out Elliott in the box following a sweeping move and the midfielder's low drive took a slight deflection on its way into the bottom corner.
Alexis Mac Allister came close to further tormenting a muted home crowd several minutes after Elliott added his name to the scoresheet, but McCarthy produced an impressive reaction stop to deny the Argentine midfielder.
Liverpool continued to dominate proceedings after the restart but Southampton were able to reduce the deficit just before the hour mark. A fortuitous deflection fell the way of Archer and the striker cut inside and curled an excellent effort beyond the helpless Caoimhin Kelleher from the edge of the box.
The Irish goalkeeper prevented Southampton from finding a quickfire equaliser, reacting swiftly to deny Archer a brace from close range. Jarell Quansah was on hand to produce a similarly important intervention moments later, lunging to block Mateus Fernandes' powerful effort.
Southampton pushed and pushed for an equaliser to take the game to a penalty shootout but failed to make good on some encouraging attacks, with impressive defending from Taylor Harwood-Bellis at the other end denying Federico Chiesa his first Liverpool goal in the dying embers.
Quansah was perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card in stoppage time after appearing to foul Fernandes as Liverpool's last man, with the Reds just about holding on to take a step closer to their first piece of silverware under Arne Slot.
Check out the player ratings for Southampton vs Liverpool here.
Arne Slot
Arne Slot's plan helped keep Liverpool on top / Alex Livesey/GettyImages
Slot made sweeping changes to his starting lineup for the trip to the south coast and fielded a mish-mash of fringe players, academy products and first-teamers. Out of possession, Liverpool set up in their typical 4-2-3-1 formation, but the shape changed drastically when on the ball.
Alexander-Arnold tucked in as a third centre-back alongside Quansah and Joe Gomez, allowing Wataru Endo to venture into midfield and create an extra body in busy areas. It was a risky strategy that left Liverpool short of men when Southampton turned the ball over, but it was employed effectively and swiftly paid dividends.
Endo's presence further up the pitch created space for the likes of Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott in the final third, allowing Liverpool to drag a tightly-packed Southampton defence and midfield out of position. Slot trusted his defenders to cover when the home side forayed forward and his faith was rewarded before the half-time whistle.
Liverpool moved to a traditional back four after the restart - albeit a makeshift one with Endo at centre-back and Tyler Morton at right-back - but Slot once again showed his tactical prowess during the first half.
Darwin Nunez
Darwin Nunez finally got back amongst the goals / Dan Mullan/GettyImages
Nunez had gone six games without a goal before arriving at St Mary's and the Uruguayan didn't look close to ending his drought in the early stages. Much like the rest of his Liverpool teammates, he couldn't find space in which to manoeuvre during the opening 20 minutes.
However, a slice of luck came his way at the midpoint of the first half as he latched onto Alexander-Arnold's deflected pass, with Nunez showing uncharacteristic composure to put Liverpool ahead. With plenty of time to overthink his decision as McCarthy raced back towards his goal line, the 25-year-old kept his cool and produced a clinical finish.
It wasn't a particularly eye-catching performance from Nunez, who shifted to the left-hand side following Diogo Jota's introduction, but it should be a confidence-boosting goal.
Wataru Endo, Joe Aribo
Wataru Endo produced an impressive display / Michael Steele/GettyImages
Question marks were raised over Endo's future during the summer, with Slot not enamoured by the combative, gum shield-donning Japanese midfielder. He has been limited to cameos and the odd start in the Carabao Cup this term, with his long-term future perhaps lying away from Merseyside.
However, Endo proved his worth to Slot on the south coast. As mentioned, he was provided a challenging assignment during the first half, tasked with offering defensive security and creating space with runs into midfield. He performed the role impressively.
After the restart, he served up an orthodox central defensive display - a function he performed on occasion for Stuttgart. The 31-year-old did incredibly well as Southampton upped the tempo and he finished the game having made four tackles, two interceptions, two clearances and one block.
He was the busiest of Liverpool's defensive players and impressed in every action on and off the ball.
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