Set-piece king James Ward-Prowse closed in on David Beckham's record – and then promised a whip-round to buy the emperor's new clothes.
Ward-Prowse has now scored from 17 free kicks in his Premier League career, just one behind the great Goldenballs himself, and only Lionel Messi (27) has hit the bullseye from a dead ball more than JWP in Europe's top leagues. As well as Ward-Prowse's stunning winner, Southampton's performance was an impressive opening statement in support of interim boss Ruben Telles, who is expected to land the job at least until the end of the season.
Full-backs Ashley Maitland-Niles and Romain Perraud made heroic blocks to deny Chelsea at least a point. Ward-Prowse crowed: “This is a special moment, a special day for us a club, hopefully a springboard to turn things round.
“Ruben only came into the club this week. He has given us real stability, a calmness and a familiar way of playing - that is what we have needed. I wasn’t too sure about the suit when we saw it in the team meeting. He joked that we would have buy him a new suit if we won, so we will be off down to the local tailors to get him a nice one.
“As players, it’s not our decision or our choice, but it doesn’t matter who the manager is. We are in a position that is not great, but of course this result helps. We have to make sure that we give 100 per cent, no matter who the manager is. That’s the task.”
Is James Ward-Prowse the best free-kick taker in the history of the Premier League? Have your say in the comments!
Ward-Prowse's laser-like quality from 25 yards is the result of hundreds of hours on the training ground, executing dreams he first indulged in the back garden as a kid. As ever, he celebrated his goal with a golf swing – this one looked like a seven iron, fading into the breeze with a touch of backspin – and the reigning US Open champion's attention to detail has caught his eye.
He added: “I was watching a golf documentary the other day about Matt Fitzpatrick logging every shot that he takes – I think I'd better start doing that with free-kicks and putting some stats into it. There is definitely an air of confidence because I have done the practice, I have done the pressure moments in training.
“My son keeps telling me to do the golf celebration every week, so I have to stick with it now. When I was a young kid in my mum and dad’s garden, the aim was to be like David Beckham. To put in all the hours validates that hard work.”
Asked if there was a deadlier free kick specialist than Ward-Prowse, Telles - who led the fist-pumping celebrations with 3,000 travelling fans – said: “There will be nobody better in the history of the Premier League when he breaks Beckham's record.”
