Koeman annoyed that Southampton left it late
Ronald Koeman asked his Southampton team why they left it so late to play their best football against Sunderland.
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman questioned why his side saved their best football for the last five minutes as they salvaged a last-gasp draw against Sunderland.
Jermain Defoe's 85th-minute opener appeared to have given Sam Allardyce's men all three points at St Mary's but Virgil van Dijk slotted home deep into injury time to claim a point for a Southampton side that played with 10 men for the final 11 minutes following Jose Fonte's sending-off.
Koeman hailed his side's spirit but questioned why they did not produce better earlier in the game.
"The reaction [to going behind] was fantastic but my question to the players is ‘why do we show that spirit in the last five minutes?’” Koeman told the post-match news conference.
"They didn’t press us in the last five and we showed good character and good attacking movement.
"The goal was a great goal but the first 85, I didn’t see the that quality from our side.
"That’s disappointing, they controlled more in the second half. [Jermain] Defoe came on and we know his qualities.
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"Playing in the Premier League, you need to be at 100 per cent every day."
The draw did, at least, end a run of two successive Premier League defeats for Southampton.
Koeman added: "I saw my team struggling in confidence and too many players far away from their best [with the exception of] maybe one or two.
"Oriol Romeu was fantastic today but you need more on their level to make it difficult for them because they had very good defensive organisation."