Not only did they lead the mighty Manchester United after an hour of play, but they played some Premiership-standard football in the process.
Saints dominated the first half with some slick passing play, but found it hard to test United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard. United's main offensive threat came from Michael Owen, who eventually leveled for the visitors.
Southampton's good work eventually paid off as Richard Chaplow's ferocious drive left the Red Devils stunned moments before half time.
Saints were confident and they had every reason to be. Their midfield was dominating the game, which lacked any real width. Chaplow was winning his fair share of 50-50s while Alex Chamberlain was trying his best to expose a weak United defence.
Michael Owen had a shocking first half. His wayward cross surprised Bartosz Bialkowski, but that was all the ex-real Madrid man could conjure up in a disappointing first half for his side.
Owen was having a frustrating time, but answered his critics when he nodded home a fortunate deflected cross to level. Saints went into panic mode, reminiscent of their Premier League days, but survived as Paul Scholes tried to create another opening.
Alex Ferguson had some big names on the bench and the introduction of Ryan Giggs finally gave United the winning goal. Giggs capitalised on a slip by Ryan Dickson and played in Javier Hernandez who just about got enough on the ball to beat Bialkowski to take United through to the next round.
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