Northampton out of Carabao Cup after home defeat to Southampton

Northampton are out of the Carabao Cup after a 1-0 defeat by Championship outfit Southampton.

The game’s only goal came through Matheus Fernandes, with the Portuguese midfielder scoring just after half-time to decide the contest for Will Still’s outfit.

A Cobblers side featuring 5 changes from the weekend’s draw with Bradford City had some decent early opportunities, with Cameron McGeehan denied by home keeper Alex McCarthy and Jordan Willis having a shot blocked on the line by Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

Southampton began to offer more as the half continued. Yuri Sugawara and Damion Downs were both guilty of failing to connect with opportunities when well placed.

The Saints duly took the lead in the opening three minutes of the second half, as Cameron Archer picked out Fernandes, and the midfielder duly beat Ross Fitzsimons in the Northampton goal.

The visitors then came close to making it 2-0, as Sugawara saw a strike hit the post.

But as it was, the hosts were unable to find the opportunities to equalise, as they ultimately slid to defeat.

Defeat means Northampton’s focus now switches to their league programme, which continues on Saturday when they travel to play Stevenage in their third game of the League One campaign.