Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

A look back at the key moments as two Liverpool youngsters scored their first senior goals to secure victory over Southampton in the FA Cup.

Liverpool 3 - 0 Southampton

Liverpool: Koumas 44’, Danns 73’ 88’
Southampton:

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Pre-Match

With just two days off following their extra time victory over Chelsea in the League Cup final and missing an entire high quality eleven through injury, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was always going to have something of a difficult time cobbling together a lineup for their mid-week FA Cup fifth round tie against Southampton.

In the circumstances, the Starting XI looked about as strong as it could have, with Caoimhin Kelleher getting another start in goal and the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Harvey Elliott, and Cody Gakpo all starting again after their Sunday exertions—though Luis Diaz, who ended Sunday looking exhausted, was only on the bench. Unfortunately, there was no great news on the injury front, with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nuñez still out despite speculation they were close to a return and the question mark over Wataru Endo’s fitness being given an answer by way of his lack of inclusion.

First Half

Anfield was in good voice following the weekend’s title win, and despite all the changes—including Joe Gomez being given an unexpected start at the base of midfield—Liverpool passed the ball around well in the opening minutes. Any early cutting edge, though, came from visiting Southampton, who had the two best chances of the match inside the opening ten minutes. The first saw a low effort smack off the post, the second was well saved by Kelleher. Tired or not, the Reds would need to improve to have a chance.

The problem for the hosts, though, was that Southampton’s belief had been boosted, and Kelleher soon had to make another difficult stop to keep the score level. After 15 minutes the Reds started to hold more of the ball—and create a few openings of their own in attack—but Saints remained threatening and on balance will have felt unfortunate not to have taken the lead.

Ever so slowly the run of play began to tilt towards Liverpool as the squad made up of unfamiliar players started to find a rhythm and work the diagonals, switching play to Kostas Tsimikas on the left and Conor Bradley on the right to particularly good effect, and in the end Southampton were left to rue their missed chances when Lewis Koumas got his first goal for Liverpool in his first start for Liverpool. After some good buildup play from Tsimikas and Bobby Clark on the left, Clark drilled the ball forward to Koumas who cut inside and with the help of a deflection found the bottom corner to put the Reds up at the half.

Second Half

The second half kept up the tone the first ended on, with a generally even and at times quite open game marked by Liverpool exploiting the flanks through the switch to their fullbacks and Saints committed to playing it out from the back—a high-risk/high-reward approach that led to both nervy moments and some quality odd-man breaks. This time, though, it was Liverpool missing the best chances, with Cody Gakpo’s shooting running cold and preventing the Reds from pulling clear.

After swapping Ibrahima Konaté in for Virgil van Dijk at the half in a pre-planned switch, the Reds made their statement of intent changes on 62 minutes with Alexis Mac Allister and young striker Jayden Danns coming on for James McConnell and goal-scorer Koumas.

The difference Mac Allister made to Liverpool’s ability to control the middle of the pitch was immediate and significant, and while Southampton still carried a threat, the Reds were now the side in ascendance heading into the game’s final stretch. With the minutes ticking past and Liverpool now the better side, Southampton were forced to be even more aggressive trying to build from the back, leading to a turnover pounced upon by Elliott. The young attacker then weighted a perfect through ball to substitute Danns who scored his own first senior Liverpool goal and settle the tie. He then put a bow on it with his second of the night when he reacted more quickly than the defender and pounced on a Bradley rebound.

Final Thoughts

It wasn’t a perfect performance from Liverpool, but under the circumstances perfect was probably never on the cards, and after counting on Kelleher to once again put in a standout performance in goal to keep things level early the talent and composure of their youngsters eventually led to goals and victory. Next up in the FA Cup they’ll face Manchester United on the road, but before they’ve got some important Europa League and Premier League games coming up, including a potential title-decider against Manchester City on March 10th.