Shane Long scored the only goal of the second leg to earn Southampton a 2-0 aggregate victory over Liverpool and book his side a place in the EFL Cup final.

The Saints survived a second-half onslaught on their goal to preserve their 1-0 first-leg advantage heading into the closing stages, before substitute Long pounced on the break to seal a famous victory.

Southampton did enough over the 180 minutes to punish their opponents' profligacy and earn a place in the final for just the second time in their history - and a first since 1979 - as they overcame the eight-time winners.

A slender win on the night at Anfield ensures that Liverpool's poor start to 2017 continues, with their hopes of going one better than last season's final appearance coming to a crashing halt.

Liverpool, with just the one win in seven now in 2017, took time to get going and were restricted to just two shots from range in a first half edged by their opponents.

Daniel Sturridge, given the nod up top in one of four changes from last time out, sent a tame attempt down the middle and Roberto Firmino did likewise just two minutes later.

The visitors were enjoying themselves when given the chance to break forward, with Nathan Redmond - the difference maker in the first leg - particularly proving to be a threat down the left-hand side.

Redmond skipped past one and picked out Dusan Tadic after initially being played through by Ryan Bertrand's smart flick, but a mix of poor finishing from the Serbian and good keeping from Loris Karius kept the scoreline level.

Steven Davis was the next to profit from Redmond's impressive work inside the area, though the Northern Irishman also failed to keep his composure when it mattered and could only blast high over the bar from eight yards out.

The only other openings of the first half also fell the way of the visitors, as James Ward-Prowse dragged a shot from the edge of the box wide and Davis saw his well-struck shot blocked aside by James Milner.

For the third home game in a row Liverpool went into half time goalless, but the Reds certainly made up for their lack of cutting edge in the first half with a far more rounded display in the second - bar the finishing.

There was a scare for Fraser Forster when failing to handle Emre Can's shot, with the ball spinning towards the line only for the England back-up stopper to quickly turn and claw it from underneath the crossbar.

Coutinho then saw a shot deflect on target, before Sturridge sent one acrobatic effort over the crossbar from seven yards out and failed to test Forster when picked out from the left soon after.

It was proving to be a frustrating evening for the Reds, though - Coutinho the latest to fluff his lines when picked out in a decent position, while also curling narrowly wide of the far post in one of 10 second-half shots for the hosts.

Liverpool are certainly no strangers to turning around one-goal deficits on home soil at this stage in the competition, having achieved that feat twice before since the turn of the century, but Southampton were doing their all to keep their slender advantage intact.

The Reds struggled for momentum in the final stages of the game, though, and it was then left to Long to convert in the first minute of added time - after Divock Origi was denied what looked to be a penalty following a challenge from Jack Stephens - to ensure a first final of any sort for Southampton in 14 years.