Koeman laments late misses

Southampton assistant manager Erwin Koeman felt his side should have snatched all three points after missing two excellent chances in stoppage time of their 2-2 draw at Newcastle United.

Koeman took charge of the team for their opening game of the Premier League campaign after manager and brother Ronald suffered an Achilles injury in training during the week.

Southampton took the lead through Graziano Pelle, but goals either side of half-time from Papiss Cisse and Georginio Wijnaldum had Newcastle in front.

Shane Long came off the bench to head an equaliser for the visitors, who then saw Sadio Mane pass up two presentable chances in time added on.

“I have mixed feelings,” Southampton’s assistant boss told Sky Sports. “If you see the last 10 minutes I think we have to win.

“Big, big chances for Sadio Mane and he doesn’t hit the target but until the end we showed we were fit.

“He made brilliant moves but finally it’s about making goals, he should have scored a goal with one of the two and you win 3-2 but that’s football.

“We played well. If you see the last 10 minutes we did very well, created a lot of chances to win but, one point, and mixed feelings.

“For Shane it was very nice, he was ill this week and I was glad for him that he made a fantastic goal. We came back very strongly.”

Ronald Koeman, who took to Twitter before the game to wish his side luck, added afterwards: “Happy with the reaction and 2half after the 2-1. We had the better chances to win! See you next week!”