Gabbiadini scored three times, says frustrated Puel

Frustrated Southampton manager Claude Puel said Manolo Gabbiadini had scored three times after his side's heart-breaking defeat to Manchester United in the EFL Cup final.

Saints suffered a dramatic 3-2 loss when Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbed his second goal of the game with an 87th-minute header at Wembley on Sunday.

United's victory came despite Gabbiadini striking twice either side of half-time to level the match after Ibrahimovic's first goal and an effort from Jesse Lingard had put Jose Mourinho's men two in front.

Before all that, though, Gabbiadini - who now has five goals in three Saints games - had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, with the flag raised against team-mate Ryan Bertrand despite him not making a move towards goal as the Italy striker tapped in Cedric Soares' cross.

"Manolo Gabbiadini scored three good goals this afternoon," Puel said at his post-match media conference. "There is a lot of disappointment of course. 

"We were unlucky throughout the game. For example, Gabbiadini's first goal was a good goal. We scored first, but the decision was not for us. Perhaps [the disallowed goal was a turning point] – it is always better to go 1-0 up.

"I'm proud of my players for a fantastic game. There is a lot of disappointment but hopefully we can continue at this level after showing so many good things."

Puel added: "There is a lot of disappointment and frustration for my players.

"Congratulations to Manchester United. They were too clinical. But I feel for my players, we played very well, created a lot of chances and came back from two goals down. We deserved better. 

"We proved we can play very well with many chances and opportunities. We had a fantastic game without the reward. It is football."