Southampton boss Ronald Koeman was a happy man following a seemingly easy 3-0 win against Vitesse in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier.

The Saints took a commanding lead in the two-legged third round qualifying tie thanks to goals from Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long with the overall showing pleasing the manager.

"To win the first leg at home 3-0 in European football is the perfect result. It's a great result to go to Holland with," Koeman told the club's official YouTube channel.

"For sure in the first half, after a difficult start, we controlled the game and had some good chances. It was a great first goal of Pellè, good movement and a good pass from Sadio.

"Okay, the penalty makes it easier in the second half. Maybe we took it a little bit too easy in the second half and we didn't try to dominate and score more goals.

"That wasn't so good in the second half, you saw because they got a good chance at 2-0. 2-1 would have been a different result. That would have made the second leg totally different. "It was a great atmosphere in the stadium. I think everyone is pleased with the final result. It's the opening of the season and we hope it continues."

The Saints will now return to Holland, where they spent much of their pre-season, to take on Vitesse in the return bout next Thursday.