Koeman delighted with clinical Southampton

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman praised his side’s clinical performance after the convincing 3-0 Premier League win over Everton.

Koeman, who was without key performers such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama, was delighted with Southampton’s resolute spirit as they ended their run of five straight defeats in all competitions thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s own-goal and further efforts from Graziano Pelle and Maya Yoshida.

“We had an unbelievable spirit and we were sharp in the box,” said Koeman.

“We didn’t create a lot, but we scored three times, but in other games we have created a lot and not scored.

“We’ve had five defeats in the last few weeks – sometimes we were unlucky and didn’t play bad but we didn’t play as well as we did earlier in the season so the win was very important.”

Koeman deployed a three-man defence for the first time in 2014-15, and although Everton were confident in possession early on, the visitors struggled to create any notable chances with Southampton content to play on the counter.

“We changed the system and it’s important if you do that that the players are comfortable and we had a good organisation and the key was to win the battles in midfield,” the Dutchman added.

“I think Harry Reed was outstanding, he showed a lot of energy and you need that to play and get the best out of yourself and then we had the luck on our side.

“If you have spirit like we did, it means more than the system you play.

“Maybe we got a bit lucky with the first goal, but in the second half we controlled the game and they didn’t create a lot.”