Southampton played much better than Liverpool, says manager Ronald Koeman

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said the best side lost after watching his men go down 2-0 to Liverpool at St Mary’s on Sunday.

The home team found themselves behind after just three minutes following Philippe Coutinho’s brilliant long-range strike.

However, Koeman was left to rue three strong appeals for first-half penalties that were turned away by referee Kevin Friend, the second of which - moments after the visitors had taken the lead - left the Dutchman incensed.

“We know in football it is all about scoring goals and I think we played much better than Liverpool today, we had more possession and chances,” he told Sky Sports. “We were unlucky with some of the referee’s decisions and I think the second situation is a clear penalty to [Filip] Djuricic.

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“I am very disappointed about the result, but not our performance. We deserved much more than we got today. Their first goal was a great shot and the goalkeeper cannot do anything about that.

“We had a good start in the game, and did not deserve to be 1-0 down at that time. But that is football, it is all about scoring goals and they scored twice and we did not today.”

However, Koeman also acknowledged the Saints were currently finding it hard to find the back of the net, with top-scorer Graziano Pelle having not scored now since 20 December, nine league games ago.

Sky Sports subscribers can sign in to watch extended highlights of Southampton v Liverpool from St Mary's Stadium.