It was not only a case of mission accomplished for Saints last night, but mission exceeded.

Claude Puel voiced the thoughts of probably the majority of Saints supporters before his side’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool – to make sure they were still in it heading to Anfield in a fortnight’s time.

Such has been the rut Saints have dug themselves into of late, and the attacking threat of Liverpool, there was a genuine concern that might not have been the case.

Saints were never likely to all but win the tie at St Mary’s, but there was a fear they could all but lose it.

However, as it has transpired they are not going to Anfield with a narrow deficit, or even a draw, but with something to defend.

Saints with a one goal advantage will be a tough nut to crack. Liverpool found that out last night.

Make no mistake, Saints will not play a lot differently away from home than they did at St Mary’s, and Jurgen Klopp’s team failed to break them down.

If they fail again then Saints are at Wembley.

The victory may not be decisive in terms of the tie, but in the wider context of the season it does feel very significant.

After a couple of bad weeks for Saints, they really needed something to lift the spirits and keep reason for optimism.

For so long it has been the prospect of the League Cup semi-final that has done that, so if the first leg would have ended on a particularly sour note it would have made life tough.

With Saints’ next five Premier League games all being against sides in the bottom half of the table, a sustained bad patch is something they can ill afford.

Now, though, they have every reason to keep hoping and keep dreaming ahead of the return leg, and be buoyed in the meantime by the confidence that they can compete at a high level, even if their style does look far more suited to facing Liverpool than West Brom or Burnley.

Saints put in a first half performance that you would say was a classic away team display, had they not been playing at St Mary’s.

They were the ones happy to use their underdog status as the perfect excuse to play the type of game Claude Puel seems to favour.

They sat deep, made themselves very hard to break down, and were happy to play on the counter attack.

It was more like we have seen teams such as West Brom inflict at St Mary’s rather than what Saints have been able to hand out themselves, probably due to the onus of playing at home.

But on an evening when most fans would have accepted containment as a top priority, it was not seen as a negative.

Indeed, it worked a treat, because, for all their possession – 65 per cent of it in the first period – Liverpool barely created a chance.

They actually resembled Saints when they have faced similar problems this season, probing in dangerous areas but with little incision with space so tight.

In fact, the only opening Liverpool created in the first period was on 18 minutes, when Emre Can’s chipped ball into the box was cushioned back by the head of Adam Lallana. Roberto Firmino met it on the half volley but Fraser Forster turned wide.

Saints really only got on top for a few minutes, but made it count.

Loris Karius was forced into two saves in quick succession, charging out to save at the feet of Nathan Redmond and getting his body behind a long range pile driver from Ryan Bertrand.

But he was helpless to prevent Redmond giving Saints the lead on 20 minutes.

Dusan Tadic and Jay Rodriguez combined and, allied by a misjudgement from Ragnar Klavan, and Redmond being played onside by some dozy defending, it gave the striker the chance to roll a low finish past Karius.

If there was to be one criticism of the first half it was that Saints didn’t go in further ahead as they created a golden opportunity to do just that two minutes before the break.

Tadic squared to Redmond under little pressure from eight yards out but his sidefooted shot was central and gave Karius every chance to make a save, which he duly did.

The second half was more of the same, but with fewer chances.

It seemed unlikely that Liverpool would dominate possession and create so little again, but such was Saints’ stubbornness in defence and excellence in midfield and closing the lines, that’s exactly what happened.

In fact, if Liverpool created only one clear cut chance in the first period, they managed absolutely none in the second.

Again, the best of what chances there were came Saints’ way.

A quick counter on 66 minutes ended with the overlapping Cedric Soares slashing a shot into the side netting when he should have either hit the target or found Rodriguez in the middle of the area, marked only by the backtracking Lallana.

Saints came even closer on 82 minutes, again on the counter, as Shane Long charged down the left and saw a deflected cross reach to Redmond. He produced a chipped finish that hit the underside of the bar and then Dejan Lovren on the line to prevent it from going in.

After the game there was perhaps a little frustration that Saints came away only with a one goal lead to take to Anfield, but if that is the biggest negative when, beforehand, there were some pretty gloomy predictions, it is more than acceptable.

It keeps this season very much alive.