Play the right players in the right team and you get the right result ! That was the story of the first leg of the League Cup semi final at St Mary's.

It was a result that both managers would probably have been happy about, Saints have an advantage to take up to Anfield in a fortnight and Jurgen Klopp will feel his side can overturn it, but for Saints fans the important thing was that we not only got a result but the manager proved that he knows what he is doing.

As I said in the preview it was all about naming the strongest side and perversely the absence of Jose Fonte seemed to gel the team spirit and motivate the players to put in perhaps their best performance of the season.

But for the first 20 minutes of the game it looked like Liverpool would run riot and Saints needed to keep their nerve, keep their concentration and make sure that they didn't give anything away and this they did.

Having done that they could start to impose themselves on the game and this they did on 20 minutes when Nathan Redmond put them ahead.

But it was still no simple task, Liverpool as in the League game dominated possession and looked for an opening and Saints had to work and work to make sure they did not create any clear openings.

In the main that is what happened and as the game progressed the visitors looked more frustrated and stopped working openings and tried pot shots from a distance.

Saints though will feel that they should have had more the visitors keeper made a couple of decent saves and if Saints had forced a second goal the tie would be very much in our favour.

This was a night when it was hard to pick a man of the match, it was a team dislay and you could pick and man in isolation and point out an excellent perforance, Nathan Redmond silenced his doubters with perhaps his best display, Jay Rodriguez worked his socks off, in the defence both full backs were superb, VVD was on top of his game and Yoshida dug in and deserves a special mention.

The midfield trio were superb and when they were spent, Hojberg and JWP came on and closed out the game.

But the mot pleasing thing is that the manager showed he knows his best team and hopefull he will have learn't a lesson as well last night and that is you need to keep the foundations of your team intact when you rotate.

But as they say it is only half time in the tie and Saints face a tough task up on Merseyside in a fortnight, but you feel that if they put in another display like last night that they can complete the job and get to Wembley.

A big step for Saints last night not only in the League cup but hopefully in their season and we can use this display to kick on.

Photo: Action Images

Jesus_02 added 18:21 - Jan 12 Its important that the ref is talked about despite the win As is the fact that we are a team set up to counter attack and we had the opportunity against an attacking Liverpool side. Not being Negative, I think we can do them at Anfield with a similar style of play. However I'm still worried that we wont be able to break teams down that don't assume they will win at St Marys

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corkcitysaint added 19:14 - Jan 12 Can only agree with most of the comments above. Great (surprise) win, great performance, great atmosphere in the SMS, great midfield 3, great defensive unit,great performance by Redmond, great to get one over Herr Klopp. Hopefully, we'll have a ref that isn't a "homer" up at Anfield. Only regret is we just scored the 1 goal but that's been the story of our season. I now have 2 weeks for my nails to grow back before being munched again for 90 + mins!! Cmon Saints!!

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Winchsaint added 20:01 - Jan 12 Before this match I predicted we would lost 3-0, afterwards I was chiding myself for being disappointed that we only won 1-0. It was a brilliant performance, every Saints player was at least a 7 out of 10 (only their keeper merited this) with Romeu the outstanding player on a 9. I also thought the atmosphere was the best it has been in a long-time and there was a great response between players and team with St Mary's roaring them on the more they pressed Liverpool back. Even if we lose the second leg and go out, this has restored a bit of morale after a losing streak and showed that the players can play with passion and pride. The only sour note for me, other than the referee's incompetent and biased display (clearly wants a Man U Liverpool final) was the minority of idiots who started an 'it's never your fault' chant. I don't care how many of our players they have bought, there but the grace of God go you or I regarding Hillsborough and I was pleased to see that when Liverpool responded with 'justice for the 96' the majority of the ground then applauded back.

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DPeps added 20:20 - Jan 12 Not much to add to the above. Before we scored I was a bit concerned but after that we were very dominant. I'm pleased for Jay Rod. He did the best job possible given the difficult role he was asked to play last night. Also pleased for Clasie, who is looking more composed and incisive with every game. Most important thing was the excellent defensive performance. Big up Yoshi

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SaintPaulVW added 20:44 - Jan 12 I was really chuffed with them last night, just wished we'd got a few more goals. Still if we play like that at Anfield and get an away goal, we've got an excellent chance. COYR!
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TeamCortese added 09:54 - Jan 13 Great result! Really happy for the players, manager, club and above all, the fans. I really hope this result acts as a catalyst for the rest of the season #COYR
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