Published: 22:44, 4 April 2026 | Updated: 22:48, 4 April 2026

A beautiful story is unfolding on the south coast of England. Fifty years after their team of second tier underdogs pulled off one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history by beating Manchester United in the final, Southampton are threatening to do it again.

Their new incarnation of second tier underdogs are following match-winner Bobby Stokes and his teammates of 1976 into folklore by making it back to Wembley for the semi-finals half a century later.

This time, their top tier victims were an Arsenal team whose season is shrinking. Until a fortnight ago, they were in pursuit of the Quadruple but they were humbled by City in the Carabao Cup a fortnight ago and last night they fell victim to one of the biggest giant-killings of the season in the competition’s quarter-finals.

Their capitulation, albeit with what amounted to a second team, will ask yet more questions about whether they can withstand the challenge of City in the Premier League. A few hours before Arsenal’s defeat, City had produced one of...