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Cape Town - Mark Hughes says he was always
convinced that Southampton would emerge victorious from their League Cup
clash after going all the way to penalties.
Danny Ings had given the Saints a 44th minute lead but the game was forced to go to a penalty shootout after Theo Walcott popped up with an 85th minute leveller.
The first four to step up to the spot were all successful, with Richarlison the first player to miss.
Matt Targett was wayward for Southampton, but after Walcott missed his kick, Cedric Soares fired his side to the next round when he sealed a 4-3 win with his well-taken kick.
Hughes was naturally delighted with the result, telling Sky Sports after the game: "We're pleased. We would've been really disappointed if we hadn't gone through the tie, in my view. I thought we were the better team on the night, with the way we played and how progressive we were in our play.
"I thought we had good moments as well to score more goals than we actually did, and we always had a sense we were in control of our own fate."
Toffees manager Marco Silva was, meanwhile, not best pleased.
"Of course [I am not happy]," he said. "We had a goal before the match, before the start of the competition, I was clear it was an important competition for us. And we didn't achieve the result through penalty kicks."
