Southampton have drawn first blood in their EFL Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
Claude Puel's Saints scored a 1-0 victory over Jurgen Klopp's Reds in the first leg of the final four cup clash at St Mary's tonight.
The only goal of the contest came on 20 minutes when a forward ball from the Saints forced an error from Ragnar Klavan, allowing Jay Rodriguez to play Nathan Redmond through on goal, inviting the attacker to take a neat touch before finishing expertly past Loris Karius.
After a nervy start, the match sprung into life in the 18th minute when Fraser Foster produced a great reaction save to deny Roberto Firmino, only moments before Karius made himself big to keep out Redmond down the other end.
The Redmond goal was the second of three attempts the 22-year-old had on goal in the first half, only to see Karius keep him at bay twice.
The second half was mainly built around Liverpool dominating possession while the Saints attempted to hit on the counter as they strived to double their lead ahead of the return leg at a likely ardent Anfield.
Redmond had a golden opportunity to put the tie to bed in the 83rd minute when he was found by Shane Long's ball across the face of goal, but his deft chip over Karius ricocheted off the crossbar and brushed the back of Dejan Lovren on the way out, in what was a huge let-off for the visitors.
Despite the fact it was the second non-scoring match in a row for the Reds, after nine-straight games with goals following their 0-0 draw at this ground in late November, the Merseysiders will be pleased with the return from injury of Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian playmaker breathed some sort of life into the Reds attack after his 61st-minute introduction in his first appearance after about six weeks on the sidelines.
Despite the disappointment on the south coast, Klopp will now get his players up for Sunday's massive Premier League clash with north-west rivals Manchester United as Puel's Saints prepare to take their confidence, and a first clean sheet in six outings, into Saturday's trip to Burnley.
2016/17 EFL Cup - semi-final first leg
Southampton: 1 (Nathan Redmond 20')
Liverpool: 0
St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 31,480
