Koeman rues missed chances

Ronald Koeman was proud of the overall performance of his Southampton side in a 2-2 Premier League draw against Tottenham, but bemoaned their profligacy in front of goal.

Tottenham, under the stewardship of former Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino, twice responded to goals by Graziano Pelle at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday by scoring with their only efforts on target.

Spurs remain above Koeman’s team in the race for UEFA Europa League qualification, but things could have been different had several clear-cut chances not gone begging for the hosts, with midfielder Steven Davis guilty of missing the target on three occasions.

“I think it was a fantastic football game. I enjoyed very much,” said Koeman.

“I’m very proud of the team because we showed our level, we showed our ambition. We were very disappointed about last week [when Southampton lost 2-1 at Stoke City], but the reaction of the team was amazing. 

“[But] we need to shoot more on target. If you don’t shoot on target, you don’t score and that’s the quality of Tottenham. They had one big chance of Chadli and they scored [to level at 2-2], and we had two or three big chances.

“Steven Davis, normally he is a good finisher, but today not, but that’s football.

“Sometimes we are missing too much that kind of opportunity. It’s not easy to score, but at least you have to shoot on target.”

Erik Lamela appeared to divert the ball past Kelvin Davis with his left arm for Tottenham’s first equaliser, but Koeman absolved referee Jon Moss of any blame.

“I saw it at half-time,” the Southampton manager added. “If the referee gets that possibility to see it at half-time, he will give handball, but it was going so fast, it’s so difficult for the referee to see exactly what happened.

“It’s handball, but I think it was too fast, too difficult for the referee to see.”