Ronald Koeman says he was left in shock after his Southampton side beat Sunderland 8-0

Saints manager Ronald Koeman admitted he was left in a state of shock after watching his side demolish Sunderland 8-0.

An incredible afternoon at St Mary’s saw the club equal their biggest ever margin of victory in a league match and produce a display that will hold a special place in their history.

“I’m very pleased,” said a rather understated Koeman afterwards. “I’m still a little bit in shock, because that 8-0 was not a normal result.”

Koeman suggested his side did not deserve to be 2-0 up in the early stages, as Santiago Vergini’s incredible own-goal and Graziano Pelle’s tap-in masked what had been an impressive start from the visitors.

“I was surprised after 20 minutes about the score, 2-0 up, and we didn’t start well the game,” said Koeman.

“Sunderland was the dominant team and we had problems.

“We were lucky for the first one, an own-goal, and that gave us a little bit more confidence, maybe a little bit more organisation in the team and we wake up after that.

“We were maybe a little bit lucky after the 2-0 – I would have to see the clip back to see if it’s a penalty or not (after Fraser Forster brought down Steven Fletcher) – but very proud about the second half.

“We had 17 players out in the international break and if you showed that ambition to the last second of the game it was great, it was the best that I see ever of the team, and that was important, because we played great football, we scored great goals and it was a great afternoon.”

Koeman consoled Sunderland manager Gus Poyet at the full-time whistle, adding: “I know Poyet very well. Out in Spain we played a lot of times against each other – he was a player of Zaragoza and I was a player of Barcelona.

“I said ‘Unlucky, disappointed, because you did not deserve this score today.’ “They played well in the beginning of the game and I know the game is 90 minutes, but then my feeling was to the other manager, because losing 8-0 is a big result against your team and we spoke about that and the rest is private.”