Southampton failed to find relief from their Premier League struggles as they were beaten 3-0 by Leeds in the Capital One Cup fourth round.
Inexplicable
Aidy White stood up a perfect back-post cross to Diouf and, when he sidefooted across the goalmouth with keeper Kelvin Davis stranded, all Varney had to do was score from a yard, but the former Portsmouth man inexplicably hit wide with Diouf unable to ram home the loose ball.
It was a miss which would often strangle the confidence of a player but seven minutes later Varney was running at the Southampton defence, cutting in and fizzing a drive across goal that crept narrowly wide.
He went even closer as the half-hour mark approached too, beating Davis to Danny Butterfield's poor backpass and, after bravely getting to the ball first, saw his edge-of-the-box effort hit the underside of the bar and fall just away from the onrushing Diouf.
Whether it was owing to unfamiliarity or not, Southampton were well off the pace and their goal continued to lead a charmed life when Rodolph Austin put a free header wide but, in the 35th minute, Leeds got what they deserved when Tonge opened the scoring.
Again Varney was involved, this time with a strong run down the left. His cross was hacked away by Jos Hooiveld but Tonge was lurking and from 16 yards slammed a drive through a crowded box for his third goal of the season.
He would have had a second before the break had Davis not tipped his vicious free-kick over but, despite being fortunate to be just a goal behind at the changeover, Saints came out in a similarly lethargic manner.
As has been the case in the league their defending left a lot to be desired, and had Diouf and then Tonge found their range better after Varney was twice brought down on the edge of the box, they could have been cut adrift.
That applied again in the 64th minute when Varney and Tonge played a one-two, with the former denied by Davis who spread himself well, before in the 70th minute, debutant Emmanuel Mayuka registered Southampton's first effort with a wayward shot.
It got little better than that for Adkins' men, though, and with three minutes left, Diouf wrapped things up.
The goal owed everything to Austin, whose 50-yard run may have included some good fortune, but when his low shot was parried by Davis, Diouf had the easiest of finishes from two yards.
After that there was still time for Leeds to get another in injury time, with Becchio, on as a sub, scoring with his first touch from the spot after Dan Seaborne pulled Tonge down in the box.
| Leeds United |
Team Statistics |
Southampton |
| 3 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| N/A |
Passing Success |
N/A |
| N/A |
Tackles |
N/A |
| N/A |
Tackles Success |
N/A |
| 41.8 |
Possession |
58.2 |
| N/A |
Territorial Advantage |
N/A |
| 0 |
Total Passes |
0 |
| 0 |
Total Crosses |
0 |
| 4 |
Lost Balls |
2 |
| 2 |
Recoveries |
0 |
| |
1st Half Poss. |
|
| |
2nd Half Poss. |
|
|
