Darwin Nunez discovers finishing touch to help Liverpool into Carabao Cup semi-finals
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Darwin Nunez discovered his finishing touch to set Liverpool on their way to the last four and inflict another layer of misery on an improved Southampton. The Uruguayan arrived on the south coast with a single goal from his previous 11 appearances but his calm finish, swiftly followed by a first of the season for Harvey Elliott, looked to have teed up a straightforward evening for Arne Slot’s Premier League leaders.
But the division’s bottom side put up a creditable second half response and Cameron Archer halved the deficit with an impressive finish before a series of good chances to level went amiss. Simon Rusk appears neither here for a good time nor a long time with Saints pursuing a number of options to replace Russell Martin, who was sacked after Sunday’s 5-0 thrashing dished out by Tottenham.
And the interim boss maintained most of the personnel from that shocker, although early attempts to ease defensive pressure by simply getting rid were greeted with cheers from home fans. By comparison Slot, watching from the back of the press box because of a touchline ban, kept only three of his side from Saturday’s draw against Fulham and left Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah at home.
It was still a strong side, captained by Trent Alexander-Arnold, but a first start for Trey Nyoni was what caught most attention. And the 17-year-old wasted no time in linking up nicely with Cody Gakpo on the left of the visitors’ midfield. Liverpool dominated from the outset, though an initial sighter for Nunez ended with a wind-assisted shot flying high and wide after 15 minutes.
