Southampton reached their first final in 38 years beating Liverpool 1-0 in the EFL Cup semi final second leg at Anfield, 2-0 on aggregate, confidently, convincingly and deservedly so over the two legs.
Jürgen Klopp's side did not come out all guns blazing as expected being 1-0 down from the first leg.
The Saints, without key defender Virgil van Dijk due to injury, looked solid at the back and threatening on counters, the scorer of the first-leg goal Nathan Redmond breaking and bossing from the left.
Dusan Tadic came closest in the first half, spurning a chance at point blank, Loris Karius blocking and holding on gratefully.
The under-fire German keeper also denied skipper Steven Davis, who fired another good chance high and over.
Not much changed after the interval, the home side enjoying more possession, pushing and pressing, but not creating much threat.
The closest Liverpool came was when Fraser Forster punched away Emre Can's attempt, to watch it bounce over him, sending him scrambling back to stop it from crossing the line.
It was a good recovery from what could have ended up very embarrassing for the English stopper.
Apart from that, the evening grew more and more frustrating for the hosts, Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana wasting chances and giving away the ball again and again.
Klopp left the changes late, bringing on Divock Origi the Kop were chanting for, replacing Can with just over ten minutes to go.
Anfield was just as furious as their boss, watching Southampton wasting time and a handball appeal against substitute Shane Long denied by referee Ben Atkinson.
Replays showed it was a close call, the ball coming off the top of the arm/shoulder, a 50/50 call, the officials staying consistent as in not giving much.
It was too little, too late for the Reds, and when Origi went down in the box challenged by Jack Stephens in injury time, it just looked desperate.
The corner that followed taken by James Milner was dire and led up to another Southampton counter, started by substitute Josh Sims with a great run and pass, finished off nicely by Long.
This win means Saints manager Claude Puel is unbeaten in six against Liverpool (W3, D3), whilst it's Klopp's first semi-final defeat in seven as a manager.
Southampton will be going to the final at Wembley on the 26th February to meet either Manchester United or Hull City, having not conceded a single goal in the competition.
They are looking to win their second major trophy since beating the Red Devils in the 1976 FA Cup final. History in the making?
Southampton Goal: Long 90:44min.
Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 7 Milner, 6 Lovren, 32 Matip, 66 Alexander-Arnold; 20 Lallana, 14 Henderson (c), 23 Can (27 Origi 78'); 10 Coutinho (5 Wijnaldum 87'), 15 Sturridge, 11 Firmino. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 17 Klavan, 18 Moreno, 21 Lucas, 22 Mignolet, 58 Woodburn.
Southampton Team: 1 Forster; 21 Bertrand, 3 Yoshida, 24 Stephens, 2 Soares; 8 Davis, 14 Romeu, 16 Ward-Prowse (23 Hojbjerg 59'); 11 Tadic, 9 Rodriguez (7 Long 45'), 22 Redmond (39 Sims 81'). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 4 Clasie, 15 Martina, 38 McQueen, 41 Lewis.
Match Stats: HT & FT Liverpool-Southampton
Possession: 72%-28% & 73%-27%
Attempts: 4-5 & 13-7
On target: 2-1 & 3-2
Corners: 1-2 & 8-4
Fouls: 5-2 & 8-2
Bookings: 0-0 & 0-0
Referee: Ben Atkinson
Man of the match: Oriel Romeu
Ground: Anfield
Attendance: 52,238
Pictures and stats taken from BBC match report and Sky Sports live coverage.
Click here for my previous LFC match report.
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