Sunderland sinks Southampton to reach League Cup quarters

Seb Larsson's late strike sent struggling Sunderland through to the League Cup quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over fellow Premier League side Southampton on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time).

The Sweden international came off the bench to score his first goal of the season and earn his team a home match against Chelsea at the Stadium of Light next month.

After a tightly-contested first half the deadlock was broken on 59 minutes when Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley pounced on a spilled save from Kelvin Davis.

Hugs for birthday boy @JozyAltidore from scorer Seb Larsson as the striker turned provider to set-up SAFC's 2nd goal pic.twitter.com/uUOQiivFxa

— Sunderland AFC (@SAFCofficial) November 6, 2013

Jozy Altidore's initial header was parried by the Southampton keeper but Bardsley applied the finish from close range.

As Southampton piled players forward in search of an equalizer, Sunderland, second-bottom in the Premier League, exploited the gaps and Altidore raced through on 86 minutes before squaring to Larsson who made no mistake when firing into the bottom left corner.

Maya Yoshida scored a late consolation for Southampton two minutes from time, but Sunderland held on to earn their third consecutive League Cup victory at home. - Reuters