City turn heat up to march past Saints

Lee Carsley’s late winner sent the Saints crashing out of the second round of the Carling Cup.

Southampton had to hold on for 38 minutes to enter the draw for the third round, but late goals from Lee Bowyer and Lee Carlsey ensured the Premier League new boys left Hampshire with a ticket to the third round.

The home side took the lead on 52 minutes when young starlet Adam Lallana superbly curled his 18-yard effort into the top right hand corner with Maik Taylor having no chance in the Birmingham goal.

The home side started the brighter with a series of quick corners putting the visitors under pressure.

Lloyd James and Marek Saganowski had the first notable efforts on goal but Taylor was equal to the Southampton attack.

New signings Jacob Mellis and Rickie Lambert worked well together, but the former Bristol Rovers man could not score his third goal of the season.

The Saints then had a series of penalty shouts with the Southampton faithful all on their feet appealing for a spot kick.

It took City 28 minutes to stamp their authority on the game, when new £7 million signing Christian Benitez smashed a 20-yard strike past Kelvin Davis, only to see his effort come back off the post.

Just seven minutes after the break the Saints had finally broken the deadlock, when Lambert won the ball on the edge of City’s area, and Lallana delightfully curled his effort over the diving Taylor to send the home fans into jubilation.

Alex McLeish then brought on Gary O’Connor and James McFadden to spice up his attack.

The visitors were rewarded for their resilience when Benitez played in Lee Bowyer who calmly clipped the ball over Davis to level the game.

The Premier League side had gone from second gear to fifth gear in a matter of minutes, and Lee Carsley won it for the Blues just 10 minutes before the end.

Stuart Parnaby fired in a low cross which was smashed home by Carsley to send the Blues into the third round.

The Saints had played well, but the Blues showed why they are in the top flight with two well taken goals.