Tadic winner won't spare him telling off from Koeman

Tadic came off the bench to score the only goal as Saints secured a brilliant 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

But the Serbian star decided to celebrate the goal by ripping off his shirt and posing in front of the Saints fans, earning himself a yellow card.

Even though Tadic is a long way from having to worry about a suspension, Koeman was not happy.

“I don’t like that because it’s a yellow card and a stupid fault and your second is a red card,” said Koeman.

“If it’s in the last minute of the season and you qualify for European football then no problem but I don’t like that. Keep that shirt on.

“I can’t change events, I can tell him now that I don’t like that and I will do that.”

The match also featured a Saints debut for Eljero Elia, who was replaced by Tadic.

Koeman was pleased with his loan man’s contribution after six weeks without competitive football.

“You know the player, he didn’t play for a long time and not a player for 90 minutes. He needs minutes and the rhythm of the game and if not why you take the player on loan?

“He was a good option for today and he is fast and can play one-on-one.

“He did well and little by little he comes back in his performance and I’m sure he will do well for us.”

For Koeman the win was sweet revenge over Louis van Gaal after his fellow Dutchman got the better of their meeting at St Mary’s last month, despite Saints dominating the game.

The pair have had a well publicised feud in the past and when asked what he said to Van Gaal after the game Koeman smiled: “We shake hands and that was enough.”

When further probed as to what the victory meant to him he added: “It was a good feeling. It was a better feeling than five weeks ago.”

The win was a tactical victory for Koeamn and his players.

“Always you analyse your opponent and you know that they have difficulties to build up with three centre backs and the second half we pressed them better than the first half but they have a lot of qualities from the midfield to the attack players,” he reflected.

“It’s really fantastic players and then you need good organisation to stop that and when you have the ball you have to be quiet and keep the ball and that was also the difference between the first and the second half.”

United even resorted to throwing long balls up to Marouane Fellaini in the closing minutes.

“Maybe that was a decision for them to try the last thing to score and of course it’s one of the qualities of the player because he’s very good in the air but we are defending well,” reckoned Koeman.

“The chances they got were not about the long ball but crosses, front post the big chance what Mata missed. You know it’s always difficult to keep 1-0.”