Southampton recorded an impressive 3-0 win at Championship rivals Norwich to book their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
A goal late in the first half from Cameron Archer set the Saints on their way before further strikes from Ryan Fraser and substitute Kuryu Matsuki – a real cracker – condemned the Canaries to a third straight home defeat under new head coach Liam Manning.
Norwich were on the front foot for the majority of the opening period, with Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy making excellent stops to deny Mathias Kvistgaarden, when clean through, and Matej Jurasek.
Mirko Topic also saw a deflected strike hit the crossbar but Southampton defended stoutly and took the lead three minutes before the break from their first clear-cut chance.
Kvistgaarden carelessly coughed up possession in a dangerous area and Ross Stewart was able to slip in Archer, who curled the ball emphatically into the top corner.
Saints doubled their advantage just past the hour mark after more poor defending from Norwich.
This time defender Ben Chrisene misjudged the flight of a long ball and Fraser nipped in to fire low past Dan Grimshaw.
McCarthy had earlier made another excellent stop to palm away Jeffrey Schlupp’s well-struck volley but the hosts never got as close again and Southampton wrapped up the tie with a brilliant third on 81 minutes.
The Norwich defence backed off as Matsuki burst forward and the Japanese striker made them pay by blasting home in spectacular fashion.
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