James Ward-Prowse: Is Southampton midfielder the new Premier League free-kick king?
- Published
Ward-Prowse's goal helped lift Southampton up to third in the Premier League table
David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola, Cristiano Ronaldo - the Premier League has had plenty of free-kick experts down the years.
And now there is a new name to add to the list - James Ward-Prowse.
The Southampton midfielder scored with two superb direct set-pieces on Sunday as his side beat Aston Villa 4-3.
This made him the ninth player in Premier League history to score two direct free-kick goals in a game, and the first since Christian Eriksen for Tottenham against Swansea in October 2015.
Such is his prowess from free-kicks, he is now his club's leading Premier League goalscorer from them - his effort's on Sunday taking him ahead of a man who knew a thing or two about hitting a set-piece - Matt Le Tissier.
Even more impressively, of every Premier League player to have taken more than 50 direct free-kicks since 2003-04, Ward-Prowse has the best conversion rate, with 12.5%.
'He is our role model for what we stand for'
Aston Villa 3-4 Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl says Saints stopped playing at 4-0 up
Ward-Prowse was at the heart of his side's performance at Villa Park on what was his 26th birthday.
He saw one assist chalked off when VAR ruled that Che Adams was offside for an early Ezri Konsa own goal, but registered a legitimate one soon after as his free-kick was headed in by Jannik Vestergaard.
What followed was magnificent.
After Theo Walcott was fouled near the edge of the box, he stepped up and whipped the ball over the wall and in to make it 2-0. He then repeated the trick to make it 3-0 from a similar position, slightly closer in following Matty Cash's handball.
"When he gets a chance around the box he is unbelievable," said manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
"I am happy for him to have scored two but also because he supplied an assist for the first goal and for the one disallowed by VAR.
"On free-kicks he is amazing and he is getting better.
"It's no coincidence he is our captain, he's our role model for what we stand for - he's an unbelievable fighter for the team,"
12th on the list and climbing...
Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham remains way out ahead as regards goals from direct free-kicks in the Premier League, with 18.
But Ward-Prowse is now joint 12th on the all-time list.
Premier League all-time direct free-kick scorers | ||
|---|---|---|
Player | Direct free-kick goals | Mins per direct free-kick goal |
David Beckham | 18 | 1,198 |
Thierry Henry | 12 | 1,776 |
Gianfranco Zola | 12 | 1,339 |
Sebastian Larsson | 11 | 1,918 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | 11 | 1,322 |
Laurent Robert | 11 | 994 |
Morten Gamst Pedersen | 10 | 2,067 |
Ian Harte | 10 | 1,977 |
Frank Lampard | 9 | 5,430 |
Jamie Redknapp | 9 | 2,587 |
Nolberto Solano | 9 | 2,516 |
Christian Eriksen | 8 | 2,289 |
Juan Mata | 8 | 2,287 |
James Ward-Prowse | 8 | 1,835 |
Ward-Prowse's quest to move up the list will be aided by just how ruthless he is when presented with an opportunity from a set-piece.
Opta only began recording the number of direct free-kick's taken in the Premier League in the 2003-04 season, but since then nobody can match the Southampton player's conversion rate.
The England international revealed after Sunday's game that there may be another Ward-Prowse looking to claim the crown as the Premier League's free-kick king in future.
"It is nice to always get a couple of goals on your birthday, I'm living my boyhood dream so I'm happy," he said.
"I've been teaching my little boy how to do those free-kicks in the garden."
Southampton's leading Premier League free-kick scorers: Ward-Prowse (8), Matt Le Tissier (7), James Beattie (4), Rickie Lambert (4), Fabrice Fernandes (2)
Who is the greatest?
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