Southampton boss Ronald Koeman said he was shocked by the size of his side's victory over Sunderland.
Saints ran out 8-0 winners thanks to a Graziano Pelle brace, as well as goals from Jack Cork, Dusan Tadic, Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane.
A season that many predicted would be a struggle continues to develop into something much more promising, and Koeman -- recently crowned manager of the month -- praised his players for keeping up their work ethic until the final kick.
"I'm very pleased. Still a little bit in shock," he said. "That 8-0 is not a normal result. I was surprised after 20 minutes about the score -- 2-0 up and we didn't start the game well. Sunderland were dominating and we had problems.
"Lucky by the first one, the own goal, gave us a little bit more confidence and we wake up after that.
"I'm very proud about the second half. We have 17 players out in the international break and if you show that ambition until the last second it is great. That was important. We played great football, we scored great goals and it was a great afternoon."
Koeman well and truly destroyed the long-held myth that winning a manager of the month accolade is a bad omen for your side's next game.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said during the week that he was glad he missed out on the award for that very reason but Koeman jokingly praised the words of the Portuguese.
"Maybe I thank Mourinho for that -- he gave my players motivation," he added. "I'm joking of course. I like Mourinho and I look forward to playing Chelsea."