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Koeman: Long apologised after Villa win

Cape Town - Shane Long's post-match celebrations included an apology to his Southampton team-mates for not capitalising on more opportunities that came his way.

The Saints' 4-2 victory over Aston Villa came on the back of standout performances by Long and Dusan Tadic, the former scoring the opening goal and setting up the latter for two.

However, despite the Irishman's remarkable contribution to a win that sees Ronald Koeman's side continue their unlikely bid for a European spot, Long still felt it necessary to apologise to his team for not scoring more - something his manager approved of.

"He's doing great," Koeman told the club's official website. "He's always the player with good movements and he's fast. It was a great header from a fantastic cross from Ryan Bertrand.

"Then he got two assists more in front, but he also had more chances to score. But he's working hard, he is doing well and he is creating a lot of problems to the defenders.

"He apologised after the game because he wasn't scoring more goals that one. It's a good mentality because he had some good possibilities to score.

"He knows himself he had more opportunities to score and I like it. I never complain to a player who is working hard and doing everything. It's part of the job to miss chances. He was positive because he is working hard and creating a lot of problems."

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