Ronald Koeman: "The better team won today"

Ronald Koeman has insisted that "the better team won" at Loftus Road even though Southampton needed a stoppage-time goal to beat Queens Park Rangers.

Sadio Mane bagged a 93rd-minute winner on Saturday as the Saints cruelly inflicted a fifth straight Premier League defeat on QPR to regain third in the table.

While Koeman has admitted that goalkeeper Fraser Forster came to their rescue when the scores were deadlocked, he always felt that a Saints goal was coming.

"I think we played well. We played good football and we had the best chances in the game," he told BBC Sport.

"We were maybe lucky that Fraser Forster made that great save 10 minutes before the end, but I think the better team won today.

"Sadio Mane was very good, but Eljero Elia was as well. We spoke about exploiting the space behind QPR's defenders, and I think we did that well, and created some good chances before Sadio scored the winner."

Southampton climb back into the Champions League places after being briefly leapfrogged by North London derby winners Tottenham Hotspur.