Southampton have taken a 2-1 lead over Arsenal after the first 45 minutes of their League Cup tie this evening.

The visitors almost the opened the scoring early on when David Ospina had to rush quickly off his line to save at the feet of Steven Davis.

In the 14th minute it was the hosts who took the lead when Alexis Sanchez curled a free kick into the top corner of the net.

The visitors were then awarded a penalty after Tomas Rosicky brought down Sadio Mane inside the box, and Dusan Tadic stepped up to slot his effort into the bottom corner.

With five minutes of the first half remaining Nathaniel Clyne fired the Saints into the lead with a powerful long-range strike that flew past Ospina.

The Gunners went down the other and almost immediately equalised, but Lukas Podolski saw his effort saved by the keeper as his side went into the break behind.