Koeman unhappy with Southampton finishing against Villa

Ronald Koeman says poor finishing cost his side as Southampton drew 1-1 with the Premier League’s bottom club Aston Villa at St Mary’s.

Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle and Jose Fonte all missed early chances for the hosts before Joleon Lescott put Villa ahead from a corner.

Midfielder Oriol Romeu rescued a point for the Saints forcing the ball home from a set piece, but it was not enough to please manager Koeman.

“Normally you don’t sign for one point at home, but it’s a point. We make it difficult for ourselves. We had three or four big chances to score and then we concede,” he said.

“Straight after half time we had some difficulties but they showed great character to come back and draw the game. We deserved more but OK, it’s about scoring goals and creating chances. That was not the the case today.

“Last year we were 4-0 up against Villa [when Saints won 6-1] and we didn’t start as well as today! But we didn’t score and that is the detail in football. For the first time in maybe two seasons we conceded such a soft goal from a corner.”

The draw sees Southampton drop to 12th in the Premier League, five points off the European places.