Che Adams’ brace helped Southampton come from behind and avoid a clash against League One Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
The win gives Nathan Jones his first victory as Saints boss, having lost his only previous game in charge at Liverpool on November 12.
His team fell behind early when Gavin Bazunu failed to handle Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s trenchant clearance.
But Adams scored either side of the break to put Southampton through.
The two goals mark the first time Southampton have scored more than one goal in a game since winning against Chelsea on August 30.
It is the first time they have reached the quarter-finals of the competition since losing to Manchester United in the 2017 final.
“I’m not happy with how tight it is, but Lincoln are a well-trained team,” Jones told BBC Radio Solent.
“We had to be more clinical and show more quality at times and if we had done that we would have won the game much sooner.
“I’m going to get the win because that’s the most important thing. It’s something to build on. There were a lot of learning curves for me.”
After waiting more than six weeks for his home arc after joining Luton, Jones would have liked a better start but Bazunu, under pressure from Paudie O’Connor, failed to deal with the mis-clearing and the ball went away. bounced back.
It took Southampton a while to settle in but they found an equalizer when Mohamed Elyounoussi found space on the right side of the box and dove into the box for Adams – who may have been out -game – to propel a head home.
Lincoln, playing in the fourth round for the first time since 1967-68, were the better team going into the second half, but Jones made a triple substitution and went from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3 .
It brought immediate improvement, and the second goal came when Elyounoussi’s acrobatic effort was blocked and then bundled over the line by Adams for his second brace in the competition this season.
Lincoln pushed to equalize late leaving gaps for Southampton to exploit, Samuel Edozie and Adams both missing golden chances to add to the Saints’ scoreline.
