Thursday 29 October 2015 17:04, UK
Second-half goals from Maya Yoshida and Graziano Pelle sent Southampton through to the Capital One Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Yoshida gave the Saints the lead in the 51st minute with a driven finish from just outside the box, before Pelle doubled Southampton's advantage with a volley on 77 minutes.
Scott Sinclair pulled one back for Villa from the penalty spot in stoppage time, but it was not enough to prevent caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald from suffering defeat in his first game since replacing Tim Sherwood.
Villa, who sit bottom of the Premier League table, have failed to win a match since their 1-0 victory over Birmingham in the Capital One Cup third round in September.
Southampton made seven changes from their 1-1 draw against Liverpool at the weekend, and while it showed at times in a disjointed performance, they are now unbeaten in six games heading into their Super Sunday match against Bournemouth.
Aston Villa enjoyed the best of a dour first half - Leandro Bacuna and Rudy Gestede had the two clearest opportunities but Maarten Stekelenburg twice kept out the visitors.
Bacuna's stinging shot 15 minutes before half-time served as warning of Villa's growing attacking intent and Gestede's header just before the interval was goal-bound, only for the Saints 'keeper to bail out poor marking with a smart save.
Gaston Ramirez, making his first start for the Saints since April 2014, summed up the Saints' profligacy with a wasted free-kick from 30 yards as Southampton failed to register a shot on target in the first half.
Juanmi and Ramirez struggled to link-up with Pelle, while at the other end the pace of Agbonlahor and strength of Gestede caused Virgil van Dijk and Steven Caulker problems.
But Southampton were much improved after the break and took the lead in the 51st minute through Yoshida. The defender played a one-two with Ramirez and drove at the heart of the Villa defence before smashing a low drive past Guzan from 22 yards.
Yoshida, who played at right-back with Caulker and Van Dijk in the middle, took his goal with a finisher's instinct more commonly associated with the likes of Pelle and Sadio Mane on the south coast.
Villa pushed forward in search of an equaliser, and MacDonald brought on Jordan Ayew, Jack Grealish and Scott Sinclair, but it was Southampton who extended their lead with 13 minutes to play.
Dusan Tadic replaced Juanmi with just over an hour on the clock, and made an immediate difference, setting up Pelle with an inch-perfect cross. The Italy international still had plenty to do, but his right-foot volley left Guzan rooted to the spot in the Villa goal. The goal was his eighth of the campaign already, exactly half the 16 he managed in his debut campaign.
A mazy run from Ayew was rewarded with a penalty after a trip from Van Dijk brought him down in the 94th minute, and while Sinclair sent Stekelenburg the wrong way with his spot-kick, it was too little, too late for the visitors.
