Vieira helps Arsenal to last eight
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Vieira played his first full match since the end of September
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LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Patrick Vieira came through unscathed as Arsenal cruised into the quarterfinals of the English League Cup with a 5-1 thrashing of Wolverhampton at Highbury.
In the night's other fourth round tie Southampton deservedly beat local rivals Portsmouth 2-0 with two goals by England striker James Beattie.
Arsenal, who beat Southampton in last season's FA Cup final, advanced with ease despite resting almost all their first team squad.
French striker Jeremie Aliadiere got the opening goal from the edge of the box in the 24th minute and Nwankwo Kanu finally found the target from close range in the 68th.
Arsenal then turned on the style as Aliadiere curled in his second three minutes later and Sylvain Wiltord weighed in with his first goal since August.
Alex Rae pulled one back for Wolves in the 81st minute with a spectacular finish.
But Arsenal had the last word as 16-year-old Spanish forward Francesc Fabregas became the club's youngest-ever scorer two minutes from time.
There was further good news for manager Arsene Wenger as midfielder Vieira negotiated his first full game since he suffered a thigh injury at the end of September.
Portsmouth's first appearance at St Mary's Stadium -- the first south coast derby for almost eight years and only the 30th meeting of the two teams in almost a century of rivalry -- proved to be something of a damp squib.
The opening goal came in the 33rd minute when defender Chris Marsden clipped in a low cross from the left and Beattie darted in to the six yard box to poke the ball past Pavel Srnicek.
Portsmouth's Dutch defender Arjan De Zeeuw was then sent off for an injury time trip on Beattie that allowed the England man to settle the match from the penalty spot.
