'This Is English Football' Says Mauricio Pellegrino After Winning 'Difficult Game' Against West Ham

New Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has expressed his relief at beating visitors West Ham United 3-2 in a grizzly encounter at St. Mary's.

The victory also saw the home side end their St. Mary's goal scoring drought, that dated back to April, after Manolo Gabbiadini, Dusan Tadic and Charlie Austin scored for the Saints.

Southampton capitalised on West Ham's mistakes, punishing Marko Arnautovic's dismissal before half-time with a fine attacking display. The ten men of West Ham came back in force after the break and almost got a point for their efforts.

ADRIAN DENNIS/GettyImages

Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Pellegrino said: "[It was] a nice game to see as a fan, but as a manager [it was] a difficult game because I think we were better against eleven players than against ten. We couldn't control this counter attack [and] this type of long ball.

"We were in trouble some moments, and [we played against a team] with a lot of players with quality to create problems. But the best thing for us is we got three points and we had to keep going. We have learn from this game."

In regard to the penalty decision that saw Austin snatch the winner for the Saints, Pellegrino said: "[it is] difficult to talk about this action because from the bench I couldn't see clearly what happened. I see obviously that the ball was really close to Maya's [Yoshida] head, to head the ball, but we have to respect the decision. This moment is for us, another moment could be for the other [team]."

Asked whether he had learned from his side's opening day 0-0 draw against Swansea City, Pellegrino said: "In some moments yes, but the game was a little bit disorganized, we never kept the control in attack and in defence. Sometimes we dominated them, but always they were in position to create some problems."

Speaking of his return to English football, Pellegrino added: "This is English football, no? In two minutes everything can change. The majority of the teams have quality to create problems and you have to fight for every single point."