Koeman revels in six-goal triumph

Ronald Koeman praised Southampton after a 6-0 rout
of MK Dons in the League Cup third round on
Wednesday.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was understandably
delighted after his side eased into a fourth-round meeting with
Aston Villa in the League Cup.

Jay Rodriguez, Sadio Mane and Shane Long bagged two goals
each at MK Dons in a 6-0 win that matches a post-war record
for Southampton.

Koeman said: "I'm very pleased because I think we showed our
qualities from the beginning of the game.

"We had a good start and the first goal of the day made things a
little bit more easy. We kept the spirit in the team and did some
good pressing in the first 30 minutes."

The Dutchman was happy not to see his side come off the
accelerator despite leading 3-0 at the break.

"I think the best was the second half," he said. "Sometimes after
3-0 it's difficult to keep the spirit and the concentration until the
end of the game, but we worked very hard even in the second
half to score more goals.

"Sometimes players are already thinking of the next game, but
everybody showed his quality and took his opportunity on a
good level."

Koeman may also have something to think about with his front
line in excellent form despite the absence of Graziano Pelle.

"Sadio was outstanding, Jay was very good, and if they score
goals, that's the best they can do," he said.

"We showed a team that was very clinical. Sometimes one of
my criticisms is that we need too many chances to score, but
today we made six goals out of maybe ten chances we created.


"It's always good to have these kinds of results. We have to
realise it will be more difficult against Swansea, but how we
played today gives good confidence for Saturday."