If you’re Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, you score beautiful goals from free kicks. It’s what you do. Last week, Ward-Prowse drove a beautiful free kick in past Manchester United’s David de Gea from about 25 yards out, and this week, he hit one from about the same distance to give the Saints the lead late against Tottenham (only five minutes after teammate Yann Valery scored the equalizer):
James Ward-Prowse with a STUNNING free-kick to give Southampton a late lead! pic.twitter.com/PfmxMqDLWQ
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) March 9, 2019
Southampton would hang on for a 2-1 home victory. Here’s the free kick Ward-Prowse scored on last Saturday against Manchester United for comparison:
Those are both terrific strikes into the top left corner. The one against Manchester United came from a position to the left of the goal, while the one against Tottenham was more centrally located. But Ward-Prowse made them both count. And that leads to a remarkable stat:
James Ward-Prowse has now scored more free-kicks in the Premier League since the start of last season (3) than any other player:
🎯 vs. West Brom
🎯 vs. Man Utd
🎯 vs. SpursTwo of them in a week! pic.twitter.com/VZbHiJuUFV
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 9, 2019
Ward-Prowse is still just 24. If he keeps hitting free kicks like this, he’ll be a player to watch for a long while.
[NBC Sports Soccer on Twitter]
