For Southampton, it was a night they will cherish for a long time and a victory that will go straight into the list of great occasions in the club’s history. Liverpool, the eight-times winners, had been knocked out and over two legs what a tribute to Claude Puel’s disciplined, talented players that they made it feel like a trick of the mind their opponents were actually the Premier League’s highest scorers.

The prize is a Wembley final on 26 February and, on this evidence, Southampton will fancy their chances even if the likely opponents are Manchester United and a modern-day re-enactment of the 1976 FA Cup final. Why, after all, be afraid after this kind of heroic performance? Southampton had not conceded a goal in 180 minutes against a team that apparently wants to be thought of as title challengers. Liverpool simply ran out of ideas before the final, decisive blow from Shane Long in stoppage time, scoring from a break-away attack that started all the way back in his own penalty area.

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By the end, it was difficult to remember Southampton were having to make do without their best defender, Virgil van Dijk, and still adjusting after their previous captain, José Fonte, defected to West Ham. Everything was in place for Jürgen Klopp’s team – under the floodlights, with the volume turned up – for a classic Liverpool comeback only to come up against a team that defended stoically, counterattacked to great effect and, more than anything, showed the force of personality that might not usually be expected for a team with their limited experience of the big occasion.

Klopp had shoehorned Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana into the same forward line but the most impressive attacker was actually Nathan Redmond, scorer of the only goal in the first leg. Liverpool were not short of effort but they did lack creative ideas and that has been a familiar theme in their encounters with Southampton this season. Three times they have played one another and on each occasion Liverpool have failed to score. Klopp, to give him his due, accepted Southampton deserved to be in the final.

The winning team were clapped off by the fans who hung around at the end of a bone-chilling night and it would have been immensely cruel if Divock Origi’s exaggerated fall had persuaded the referee, Martin Atkinson, to award a penalty just before Long, a half-time substitute, delivered the most important kick of the night. Shortly before, Long had blocked a shot at the other end with his upper arm and perhaps Klopp had a point when he argued it ought to have been a penalty. Otherwise, the closest Liverpool came to a goal stemmed from a mistake by Fraser Forster nine minutes into the second half. Forster made a terrible hash of Emre Can’s 20-yard shot before the goalkeeper rescued himself with a brilliant, one-handed save, clawing the ball away from his goal-line.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Southampton’s Fraser Forster claws the ball off the goal-line and out of the reach of Daniel Sturridge to deny Liverpool an equaliser. Photograph: Greenwood/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Liverpool could also reflect on the volleyed chance that Sturridge put into the Kop just at the point of the second half when the home team finally appeared to remember there was a Wembley final at stake. For the most part, however, it was not the onslaught that might have been anticipated. There was a good balance to the way Southampton defended in numbers and broke at speed. They were the better team in the opening 45 minutes and, similar to the first leg, could have made the night a lot easier for themselves with some better finishing. Dusan Tadic had the outstanding chance of the first half, requiring a fine save from Loris Karius, and Redmond’s direct running was a prominent feature.

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There was one awkward moment early on when Jack Stephens, playing the biggest game of his professional life, tried to play the ball back to Forster and succeeded only in kicking it out for a corner. Stephens, a 22-year-old whose career has been largely taken up with loan spells at Swindon Town and Coventry City, was playing because of Van Dijk’s ankle injury. Yet he quickly recovered and can reflect on a fine night. Oriol Romeu and Steven Davis, both vastly underrated players, were operating just in front of Southampton’s defence and there were some splendid performances as well from Cédric Soares, Maya Yoshida and Ryan Bertrand.

“Attack, attack, attack,” was the plea from the Kop and Liverpool pinned back their opponents during the last half an hour. Southampton had to ride their luck at times. Yet nobody could say it was a lucky victory. It was a triumph for organisation, resilience and togetherness, culminating in the decisive moment, 91 minutes in, when everyone inside the stadium knew it was over. Josh Sims, one of their substitutes, carried the ball upfield, running at a thinly-manned defence. Long took aim with his right boot, firing a diagonal shot past Karius, and Southampton had reached their first final in this competition since 1979.

Play Video 1:05 Liverpool's Jürgen Klopp unhappy with referee after semi-final loss to Southampton – video







