Bournemouth was Southampton's best display of the
season, said manager Ronald Koeman.
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman hailed his team's first-
half performance in Sunday's 2-0 south-coast derby win over
AFC Bournemouth as their finest of the season.
Goals from Steven Davis and Graziano Pelle gave the hosts a
deserved advantage as they dominated the opening 45 minutes
at St Mary's Stadium.
Bournemouth were much improved after the interval and
Southampton's comparative struggles were underlined by Victor
Wanyama's 78th-minute red card for a second booking.
But Koeman's men stood firm defensively as their opponents
struggled for clear opportunities - a decisive improvement on
their previous home match against Leicester City when a 2-0
lead became a 2-2 draw
"Fantastic - I think the first 45 minutes was our best football this
season," Koeman told Sky Sports. "Great ball possession, good
movements, great goals.
"It was the best the team can play and we learned a little bit out
of the Leicester game - 2-0 up, defending better
"Always an opponent will give a reaction after that 45 minutes
and you have to deal with that.
"It was a little bit better than against Leicester but still we lost
more balls. We did not have that control in the game - that we
have to do better.
"Everybody knows every Premier League game is difficult, even
at 2-0 up, because you always get the reaction of the opponent.
"We won every battle in the first 45 minutes and we didn't win
the battles in the second half but it was still a very good
performance.
"We defended well because they had maybe one chance in the
90 minutes."
Southampton saw out the second half without their captain Jose
Fonte, who was substituted with a tight hamstring
"We have to wait until tomorrow [to assess the injury]," Koeman
added. "He had some pain in his hamstring.
"It wasn't really a big one but we didn't take the risk to continue
in the second half."
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