Monday 2 February 2015 08:04, UK
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman claims Swansea were lucky to come away from St Mary’s with a 1-0 victory on Sunday.
The Dutchman was hoping the Saints would further cement their position in the top four of the Premier League against a Swansea side struggling for form this year.
However, the visitors became just the third team - after Manchester United and Manchester City - to win on the south coast this season thanks to Jonjo Shelvey’s late strike.
Koeman, though, claimed Southampton did not deserve to lose, with their opponents scoring with their only shot on target in the entire match.
“I’m disappointed, we were a little bit unlucky today,” he said after the full-time whistle. “We did a lot of good things, played really well in the first half, had some good chances, but you know you have to score.
“And if you do not score, then you know what happened in the second half can happen. We had a little bit less control and domination of the game in the second half.
“They scored a very good goal, but the luckiest team won today – they came for one point, but got three. We have to accept that.”
The Southampton boss was also disappointed with referee Michael Oliver’s decision to show left-back Ryan Bertrand a straight red card in the final minute.
“In my opinion it was not a red card,” Koeman said. “He [Bertrand] touched the ball and okay, it looks like a foul, but it should have been maximum a yellow card and not a red card.
“But even with 10 players we had good chances to get the equaliser that we deserved.”
Meanwhile, Koeman admitted that Sunday’s surprise home loss was a wasted chance to maintain their three-point lead over fifth-placed Arsenal in the race for next season’s Champions League.
“It was a good opportunity today,” he said. “We know that in the last few weeks the other teams have been winning games and getting a lot of points.
“But that is life and we are still in a very good position, but disappointed after today’s result.”
