Nathan Redmond cuts a dash to delight Gareth Southgate The happiest neutral at Anfield was England coach Gareth Southgate, eyes like saucers watching an Englishman cut through defensive lines […]

The happiest neutral at Anfield was England coach Gareth Southgate, eyes like saucers watching an Englishman cut through defensive lines like Edward Scissorfeet.

It was not as if Liverpool had not been warned. Nathan Redmond was the outstanding player of the first leg. Had he taken all his chances at St Mary’s Claude Puel could have sent out Southampton’s youth team to get the job done.

Authentic wing play remains one of football’s enduring delights, and a defining attribute of the English tradition. Even in the dark days of the 1970s the dancing feet of Dave Thomas delighted for QPR and Gordon Hill and Steve Coppell hauled Manchester United out of the old Second Division at the first attempt.

Redmond, a relatively late developer arriving at Southampton in the summer at the age of 22 via Norwich and Birmingham, is beginning to look the goods and will have Raheem Sterling looking over those dipped shoulders should the graph continue to follow the present line of progression.

Rolling The Dice

It was an irony of sorts that Redmond should be back in the hutch when Shane Long hit the only goal of the night in added time to take Southampton to Wembley.

Southampton’s approach, determined by the first leg outcome, was primarily to defend the slender one-goal advantage, while investing in the pace of Redmond, who might have had four in the first leg, on the break.

Having won only one major pot in their history, the prospect of another shot at glory, probably against the their illustrious victims in the FA Cup 41 years ago, Manchester United, this was never going to be a night for rolling the dice.

Thus the contest settled into the modern pattern, with one team bossing the ball and the other maintaining a compact shape. So familiar has this dynamic become we can pretty much estimate the possession stats without the help of Opta, 63 per cent plays 37 ought to do it.

Rapier Break

And as often is the case the team without the ball often creates the better chances. Southampton had three in the space of ten first half minutes that should have put this tie beyond doubt. Again the electric Redmond was the architect each time.

The first rapier break down the left led to a shot from the edge of the box by Steven Davis, blocked by the ever willing James Milner. The second set up Dusan Tadic, who could muster only a limp strike with his left foot easily saved by Loris Karius, and the third saw Davis snatch at the ball and balloon it into the Kop.

When that last chance went begging you began to feel that fate had everything in hand for Liverpool. The League Cup win in 2012 was the last of Liverpool’s major trophies and their only silverware in a decade. Thus the lesser of the three pots available to them had acquired serious significance coming into this game.

Boost To Morale

The sparkle of the first half of the season has been lost in a miserable January during which the only victory in six fixtures was posted in the FA Cup at third tier Plymouth. Watching Daniel Sturridge labour in the absence of Sadio Mane, it is obvious why.

That said the new contract signed by Philippe Coutinho 24 hours earlier and the return of Joel Matip was a boost to morale and given that this tournament has been a friend to Liverpool with eight victories from 12 finals the evening began with a renewed sense of optimism.

The second half was a replica of the first with waves of relentless Liverpool passing crashing against Southampton’s defensive wall. Oriel Romeu was outstanding as the repeller-in-chief and Fraser Forster will never make a better save, or saves, than he did to deny Emre Can, first blocking then batting the ball off the line with a great swipe of a right hand.