Ronald Koeman blames Southampton's start for City defeat

Ronald Koeman accused his Southampton side of beating themselves as they went down 3-1 at Manchester City.

City punished a slow Saints start with two goals in the opening 20 minutes at the Etihad, the first of them coming after Maya Yoshida lost the ball deep in his own half.

The visitors replied through Shane Long and had chances to equalise, but an Aleksandar Kolarov goal settled the argument City's way.

The defeat was a first on the road this season in seven Premier League games, and Koeman was in no doubt where the points were lost.

He told Sky Sports: "It was a very hard start in the game. If you're making those kind of mistakes against City you know you lose the game.

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"We made them strong in the first part of the game because we lost so many balls in our building-up from back. You can't win if you play at that level.

"At least in the second half we played good football, kept the ball much more than in first 20 minutes. We had a big chance for Dusan Tadic to score and make it 2-2, and these are the key moments to get something out of the game.

"We had good ball possession, and that has to be one of our strengths, but the first 20 minutes it was very poor and then you make them dangerous. It was not City, it was by ourselves."

Koeman agreed with opposite number Manuel Pellegrini's unflattering assessment of referee Roger East's performance.

He said: "The referee wasn't better for one side than the other side, but he made very strange decisions during the game."

The manager also said he expected Jose Fonte to be fit for the midweek League Cup tie with Liverpool despite his first-half substitution.

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