Southampton star James Ward-Prowse took another step towards history on Saturday, courtesy of his latest moment of set-piece brilliance.
The name of English international Ward-Prowse, of course, took its place centre stage in the headlines once more this afternoon.
This came upon his Southampton side making the trip to the capital, for a meeting with big-spending Chelsea.
The Saints headed into proceedings sitting dead bottom of the table, and still without a permanent replacement in charge on the back of the dismissal of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
And yet, despite all of the odds being against them, when all was said and done at Stamford Bridge, it was Southampton who went on to emerge on the right side of the result.
This came owing to a solitary moment of magic on the part of the aforementioned Ward-Prowse, whose set-piece finish on the stroke of the interval ultimately proved the game’s decisive moment:
Of course a James Ward-Prowse free kick is the reason Southampton are beating Chelsea 🎯
(via @NBCSportsSoccer) pic.twitter.com/bRIUCzuzLI
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 18, 2023
In addition, it saw the midfielder inch ever closer to English football history.
As confirmed in the game’s aftermath, Ward-Prowse has now racked up a hefty 17 direct free-kick goals across his Premier League career.
This leaves the 28-year-old just one adrift of all-time leader David Beckham in the set-piece charts:
Most direct free-kicks scored in Premier League history:
18 – David Beckham
17 – James Ward-Prowse
16
15
14
13
12 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Gianfranco ZolaONE. MORE. SWING. 🏌️♂️
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) February 18, 2023
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