By Irishexaminer.com,Jason Mellor

Copyright irishexaminer

The Swede’s last appearance on a League Cup scoresheet came at Wembley as he grabbed Newcastle’s second to end 70 years of trophy hurt for the Geordies in a 2-1 victory over Arne Slot’s side in the final in March.

Six months, an acrimonious split from the Magpies and £125m later, the 26-year-old took advantage of the gifts on offer from Southampton as half-time approached to open his account and help ensure the Saints went marching out and Liverpool’s quest to win a trophy they last lifted three years ago for an 11th time enjoyed a winning start.

It was far from perfect from the Premier League leaders – what do you expect from a side showing 11 changes from the Merseyside derby? – and their Championship opponents levelled 14 minutes from time through Shea Charles to deny Giorgi Mamardashvili a clean sheet on debut after a glaring error from Wataru Endo at what should have been a harmless corner.

Liverpool eventually found a way to win, substitute Hugo Ekitike grabbing a late winner before earning a second yellow card for taking off his shirt in a brainless goal celebration and one that will benefit Isak’s hopes of cementing his place in the side as the gormless Frenchman serves a needless ban.

Slot’s side should have been ahead inside the first minute as some neat passing engineered a great swathe of space for Isak to exploit as he surged into the Southampton area. The opening goal seemed a formality but Alex McCarthy deserved great credit for spreading himself well to block the striker’s powerful effort for a corner.

Isak started brightly against the Saints’ five-strong backline in his on-going search for match fitness thanks to his summer strop at Newcastle.

After being released down the right by Jeremie Frimpong, he provided an inviting cut-back which Federico Chiesa sent towards McCarthy’s bottom corner with an angled drive which produced another fine save from the 35-year-old.

The contest swung decisively in Liverpool’s favour in the space of 35 seconds as half-time approached when Southampton missed a glorious chance to break the deadlock.

Joe Gomez needlessly surrendered possession deep in his own half, allowing Adam Armstrong to sprint through on goal and when the forward’s chip came back off the bar, Leo Scienza simply had to score but somehow the Brazil-born midfielder headed the rebound wide from five yards when it looked far easier to score.

Liverpool exacted near instantaneous punishment as Isak opened his Liverpool account in his last significant contribution before being withdrawn at half-time.

McCarthy undid all his previous good work when an attempted pass from his six-yard box was intercepted in the area by Chiesa who crossed for Isak to sweep home his landmark goal from close range.

The forward’s reward for scoring the first goal shipped by McCarthy in this year’s competition in approaching four hours was to be put through his paces by the club’s sports science department with shuttle runs on the pitch to warm down at half time before being afforded an early use of the showers in Anfield’s home changing room.

The impressive Chiesa had the ball in the net after a flowing four-man move on the hour, but the effort was correctly ruled out for offside as the contest became even more disjointed thanks to the substitutions made by both sides.

One of those, Charles poked his side level until with five minutes left, but as penalties beckoned, Andy Robertson picked out Chiesa’s run into the box and the Italian’s square ball provided Etkitike with the simple job of rolling his fifth goal of the season into an empty net five minutes from time.

The striker’s delight soon turned to embarrassment, the magnitude of his stupidity beginning to sink in as he sheepishly put the offending shirt back on en route down the tunnel.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili 7; Frimpong 6, Gomez 4, Leoni 7 (Kerkez 81, 5), Robertson 8; Endo 5, Nyoni 6; Chiesa 8, Jones 6 (Bradley 57, 7), Ngumoha 7 (Danns 74, 6); Isak 7 (Ekitike 46, 2). Sent-off: Ekitike.

Southampton (5-4-1): McCarthy 6; Jelert 6 (Fellows 88, 5), Edwards 6 (Stewart 88, 6), Wood 6, Quarshie 6, Manning 7; Archer 6 (Downs 51, 6) Jander 5 (Charles 51, 6), Leo Scienza 4 (Robinson 62, 6); Armstrong 6. Booked: Archer, Manning.

Referee: Thomas Bramall