Southampton faced Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup last night in a renewal of the South Coast derby. Given Southampton’s rise up the football ladder in recent times, and Portsmouth’s adjacent fall, it was the club’s first meeting since a 2-2 draw in the Championship back in 2012.

It was their first meeting in a cup competition since the February 2010 clash in the FA Cup. At that time, Portsmouth were Premier League strugglers whilst Southampton were League One hopefuls. On this occasion, those roles were reversed.

In that 2010 clash, Pompey ran rampant in a 4-1 win, highlighting the gulf in class between the first and third tier of English football. Last night provided the same conclusion.

Southampton were by far the better side in a comfortable 4-0 win at Fratton Park. Danny Ings hit a brace whilst goals from Cedric Soares and Nathan Redmond confirmed a comfortable winning margin for the Saints.

For one Southampton legend, it was a little bit disappointing. Matt Le Tissier, largely regarded as Southampton’s greatest ever player, took to Twitter to admit he was a bit downbeat that Pompey had not put up much of a fight.

That was a bit of a damp squib, thought they might have given us a game ?‍♂️ — Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) September 24, 2019

Southampton will hope this result can inspire them to get back to winning ways after a 3-1 loss to Bournemouth at the weekend.

They face Tottenham Hotspur next, where former boss Mauricio Pochettino is struggling to get the best out of his tired-looking squad.

Hopefully, the hammering of their fiercest rivals can inspire Southampton to get one over their old manager at the weekend.