Southampton edged their way into round two of the Carabao Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Northampton.
Mateus Fernandes ultimately scored the decisive goal early in the second half but Saints were made to work extremely hard by a determined Cobblers performance.
The League One team started well and were the better side in the opening half-hour, twice going close with Cameron McGeehan’s shot well saved by Alex McCarthy and then Jordan Willis seeing his effort cleared off the line.
McCarthy also held Dean Campbell’s deflected drive as Northampton’s intensity and work ethic made life difficult for the visitors.
Saints eventually carved out their first chance after 38 minutes when Cameron Archer slid wide at the back post before a better opportunity fell to Damion Downs but he missed his kick with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Northampton did not go away and Elliott List’s glancing header late in the first half dropped wide, but Saints made the breakthrough three minutes after the break when Fernandes latched onto Archer’s pass and fired into the roof of the net.
Yukinari Sugawara crashed a sweet volley against a post while Northampton’s best chance to force penalties was wasted by Michael Forbes, who planted his free header over the bar with nine minutes to go.
