Shane Long's late strike seals Southampton's Wembley date and piles misery on Liverpool

Liverpool 0 Southampton 1 (0-2 agg): Long's goal at the death sealed a first League Cup final for the south coast club since 1978 and consigned the hosts to consecutive home defeats

There was delirium in the away end when Shane Long struck late to seal Southampton's place in the final (Getty)

A fabulous few days for Southampton. A dreadful few days for Liverpool. Following resounding victory over champions Leicester City on Sunday, Southampton reached their first major cup final in 14 years with Shane Long scoring in injury time and fans invading the pitch. Following the misery of defeat in the league to bottom-placed Swansea on Saturday, Liverpool’s January became that bit darker.

Unstoppable in September and October, Liverpool suddenly appear vulnerable. Southampton’s progress to Wembley was achieved thanks to an organised defensive performance but not a heroic one.

Southampton’s third clean sheet of the season against Liverpool came without much of a shake. That Maya Yoshida was Southampton’s third choice centre back until last week and that he was untroubled here said everything about Liverpool’s threat.

Nathan Redmond was a thorn in Liverpool's side during the first half (Getty)

Liverpool now have not not won any of their four most recent League Cup semi-finals at home. Considering Jürgen Klopp has repeatedly mentioned the impact a crowd can have on a result without the need for a question, could this sequence reflect a greater mood?

Liverpool’s players arrived at the stadium, though, amidst a frenzied scene: photographs showing masses of people lining Anfield Road, waving their scarves, chanting and setting off flares in the freezing night air.

Daniel Sturridge should have done better with an acrobatic effort from a few yards out (Getty)

Southampton’s players arrived via the same route, meanwhile, knowing Virgil Van Dijk was injured and would not be available. He is their captain and their most influential player.

Southampton’s manager, Claude Puel, had not experienced defeat in his four games against Liverpool while in charge of Lyon and, indeed, Southampton. He has not won plaudits for his team’s style since arriving in England from Nice but he appreciates how to set up a defence. Surely it must have concerned him that because of Van Dijk’s absence, he was forced to call on his fourth choice centre back Jack Stephens as a replacement. Stephens will be 23 on Friday and he had never started even a Premier League game so this represented the most important sporting moment in his life.

Fraser Forster had to claw the ball away from the goal-line after almost deflecting it into his own net (Getty)

Perhaps it was a measure of how little is known about Stephens that Southampton’s supporters sang about him being “one of our own,” when the reality is, he grew up in Torpoint, Cornwall, and was – in fact – signed from Plymouth Argyle in 2011 when he was 17-years-old, having already made five appearances in League One.

It would be tempting to conclude that this was a bigger game for Southampton than it was for Liverpool, bearing in mind their last final was in the FA Cup and that experience ended in defeat in 2003; bearing in mind as well, the final before that was in the League Cup of 1979 when Brian Clough took his Nottingham Forest team out the night before, got many of them drunk and still won.

Jurgen Klopp's side suffered defeat at Anfield for the second time in a week (Getty)

And yet, it is easy to forget that Liverpool have won only one trophy in 11 years. With their hopes of an involvement in the Premier League title race seemingly draining, this was an even more important for them. In bad form, though, the lack of confidence was evident, as Southampton – with Stephens marshalling Daniel Sturridge without disturbance – passed two hundred minutes of football against Liverpool this season without conceding a goal without any threat being posed.

The visitors’ had the better chances of the first half and they were identical; Nathan Redmond slaloming past Trent Alexander-Arnold on both occasions, and then spinning beyond Joel Matip before having the presence of mind to toe poke a pass to someone else in a better position. Loris Karius saved brilliantly from Dusan Tadic’s first opportunity then Steven Davis made a mess of the second, ballooning his shot high into the Kop.

Long's strike ensured Southampton reached their first major final since 2003 (Getty)

Liverpool simply had to be more aggressive after the break because they could not have been any more passive. Fraser Forster nearly brought the tie level by fumbling Emre Can’s stinging drive before recovering well to claw it away. Sturridge then found himself unmarked in the box twice but was not quite balanced enough to score. But Liverpool were hardly battering down the door. Southampton deserved their place at Wembley. It was guaranteed thanks to Long.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Lovren, Milner; Can (Origi 78), Henderson, Lallana; Firmino, Sturridge, Coutinho (Wijnaldum 87).

Subs not used: Mignolet, Klavan, Moreno, Lucas, Woodburn.

Southampton (4-1-4-1): Forster; Cedric, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand; Romeu; Redmond (Sims 81), Ward-Prowse (Hojbjerg 59), Davis, Tadic; Rodriguez (Long 45).

Subs not used: Lewis, Clasie, Martina, McQueen.

Referee: M Atkinson

Attendance:52,238