Southampton boss Ronald Koeman praised his players with high regard after taking a hard earned point away from Stamford Bridge yesterday.
Dusan Tadic scored from the spot cancel out Diego Costa’s early header – to bring a point back to the south coast.
Southampton dominated the first half, but after half-time found themselves under siege from Jose Mourinho’s men in the last third of the game.
Ronald Koeman spoke to Saints official website and praised his players performances: “We had a fantastic reaction after the fast 1-0 that Chelsea scored. I think we were the dominant team in the first half. After the 1-1 the best chances to score the second goal were for us.
“In the second half it was more difficult. We had more difficulties in our ball possession and were not as dominant as the first half.
“You know against Chelsea you need good defending, a good goalkeeper and a little bit of luck and we had all three in the second half.
“The lads showed a great spirit, a great belief in a good result and then you need that luck. I’m very proud of the team and how we played to keep a strong Chelsea team from us.
“You know Chelsea is not a team after going in front who drop back and we had opportunities to come back in the game. We scored one goal out of a penalty and had a great reaction from the players.
“We are still showing our spirit, our ambition to fight for a high position in the table. A draw against Chelsea helps that a lot.”
Southampton now sit sixth in the Barclays Premier League table and with Tottenham losing to Manchester United later on in the day, their European hopes still stand strong.
