Saints trio enjoy ideal Feyenoord return

Jordy Clasie and Graziano Pelle were afforded warm receptions on their returns to Feyenoord as Southampton recorded a 3-0 friendly victory at De Kuip.

Clasie and Pelle each left Feyenoord to join their former boss Ronald Koeman at St Mary’s Stadium, the former doing so earlier this month.

And both players were treated to standing ovations and pre-match presentations on Thursday, prior to Pelle opening the scoring in an ultimately routine win for the Premier League side.

Pelle tapped into an empty net on 41 minutes after home goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer had raced from his goal to cut out a ball over the top, only to be beaten by Dusan Tadic.

Southampton’s lead was doubled after 61 minutes when Maya Yoshida was left unmarked to nod home Steven Davis’ floated free-kick, the defender heading back across goal from eight yards.

Clasie and Pelle were duly withdrawn to further acclaim before two substitutes combined for the game’s third goal.

Shane Long outmuscled his marker and played the ball through for Juanmi, who drove home a low finish from just inside the box.

Southampton are in Europa League action next week against another of Koeman’s former clubs, Vitesse.