JAMES WARD-PROWSE moved within one Premier League free-kick goal of David Beckham with his latest sizzler.
The Southampton skipper, 28, stepped up and delivered another ripper to grab the winner at Chelsea today to complete the double for the first time since 1988.
His 45th-minute effort curled beautifully over the Blues wall and into the back of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s net – prompting his trademark golf-swing celebration.
That was Ward-Prowse’s third direct free-kick league finish of this season alone – plus one in the FA Cup – and 17th overall.
And the Saints man is now just one behind the all-time Prem record of 18 held by David Beckham for 20 years.
Third on the list is a certain Cristiano Ronaldo on 12, level with Gianfranco Zola and Thierry Henry.
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Also in double figures are Laurent Robert, Sebastian Larsson (both 11) as well as Morten Pedersen and Ian Harte (ten).
But Ward-Prowse will have high hopes of surpassing Beckham’s tally.
A whopping 37 per cent of his 46 Premier League have come from dead-ball situations outside the area.
The first came against West Brom at St Mary’s way back in January 2016.
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Incredibly, the last eight have all come away from home, with six since the start of April 2022.
Fans on Twitter continued to be in awe of his set-piece quality.
One wrote: “James Ward-Prowess.”
Another said: “James Ward-Prowse is a cheat code when it comes to free kicks.”
And a third added: “Death, taxes, James Ward-Prowse scoring free-kicks.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
