Ronald Koeman was very pleased with the reaction of his side as they picked up their first Barclays Premier League win with a 3-0 victory against Norwich City.
One from Graziano Pellè and two from Dušan Tadić helped Saints to all three points against ten-man Norwich in their final game before the first international break of the season.
After Thursday’s disappointment in the Europa League, Koeman praised his side’s reaction against the Canaries.
“Of course we needed a win after Thursday. We had to show a reaction,” Koeman told youtube.com/southamptonfc. “I think we did that from the start in the game.
“We were aggressive and attacking and creating some good chances. Of course the 11 against ten situation has an impact on the game but also before we were dominant.
“We kept the spirit in the team, the tempo and when we lost the ball there was good pressing. We didn’t give them any chance until maybe one at the end.
“That was the team performance what we like to have. It was a good reaction.”
Koeman, despite his side taking the lead just before half time, made an attacking change at the start of the second period as Jay Rodriguez replaced Steven Davis.
The Saints boss was rewarded for the move as his side continued to push on and added two further goals through Tadić.
“It’s always different ten against 11. The situation is totally different,” Koeman added. “That was the change because Jay is more an attacker and Davo is more a midfield player.
“We had to press more and play more attacking football. We did well to keep Sadio [Mané] and Dušan wide on the pitch because then it is more difficult to defend for Norwich.
“The goal (before half time) made the game open and then it’s more easy. They will be defending and if you don’t score maybe you go too much in a hurry to get the winning goal.
“We had the patience but tried to play on a high tempo and score more goals. That was good in the second half.”
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