Southampton give Dutch a lesson on return to Europe

By Steve Hoare

Southampton 3 Vitesse 0. The Saints tasted European football for the first time since 2003 as they beat Dutch side Vitesse 3-0 in the third qualifying round of the Europa League at St Mary's stadium. Goals from Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and substitute Shane Long put Saints in pole position to qualify for a play-off for the group stage.

Another 18 games will be required to win this convoluted competition but a full house was not complaining about anything as Saints cruised past Chelsea's Dutch partner club.

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In the build-up to the game Saints manager Ronald Koeman suggested the club that gave him his first managerial role had lost some of its character since teaming up with Chelsea five years ago. During that time Vitesse has borrowed 18 players from the English champions and three were on the field by the end of the night. But neither Isaiah Brown, Lewis Baker nor Danilo Pantic managed much of note and nor did their colleagues.

Saints had as many Dutchmen in their side (two) as Vitesse as summer signings Jordy Clasie and keeper Maarten Stekelenburg made their debuts for Koeman's increasingly orange flavoured side. Former Eredevise players Pelle and Tadic have also played Vitesse before.

While Pelle and Tadic opened the scoring it was the muscular domination of Victor Wanyama in midfield and the trickery of Sadio Mane up front that ensured Saints enjoyed their first European fixture for 12 years and only their third since 1984.

Wanyama was a colossus in midfield, winning tackle after tackle and feeding Mane, who was a whirlwind of flicks, feints and boundless energy before fading in the second half.

Saints started slowly, though, and showed little of the slickness that characterises their game when they are on song. But with just ten minutes gone, Mane chested the ball down and showed sublime skill to backheel it to Pelle, and that set the tone for the next 60 minutes of Saints dominance.

While Mane seemed to be popping up everywhere Saints fans were starting to get a little restless after a goalless first 30 minutes. But right on cue Tadic slipped the ball through to Mane, who immediately found Pelle running diagonally towards the corner of the six-yard box and he thundered home a shot that left Vitesse goalkeeper Eloy Room helpless.

With nerves calmed, Saints started to show off and a Mane pirouette was soon followed by a slick Clasie backheel and turn that left two Vitesse players floundering.

Saints' dominance was confirmed after Mane was hacked down in the box following another electric turn. Tadic converted cooly from the spot with the last kick of the first half.

The second half began with yet more Mane trickery but petered out with toothless forays forward from Vitesse extinguished by Wanyama or the cool strength of Jose Fonte at the back. Saints were equally unimaginative for much of the second half.

Koeman sent on Shane Long for a fading Tadic and £10m summer signing Juanmi for an injured Clasie. Koeman's confidence in a side now containing four forwards also reflected the paucity of imagination on show from Vitesse, whose noisy and enthusiastic fans deserved far more.

The two subs combined in the 84th minute to put the gloss on a thoroughly professional performance. The ball broke to Long, who burst free of the Vitesse defence but somehow stumbled into the goalkeeper when chipping him looked like the easier option. Luckily the ball fell kindly for Juanmi, who calmly rounded the scrambling keeper but found himself faced with two defenders. But the young Spanish international shopwed poise to chip the pair of them for the Long to head into an empty net.

Koeman immediately substituted Mane for holding midfielder Harrison Reed. Saints had secured their first win in Europe since 1981.