MX23RW : Friday, April 26 05:29:19| >> :120:18788:18788:

James Ward-Prowse relishing "boyhood dream" at Southampton

James Ward-Prowse relishing
© Reuters
James Ward-Prowse has scored eight free-kicks for Southampton in the Premier League.

Southampton skipper James Ward-Prowse admits he is living the dream after his double downed Aston Villa.

The Saints sit fourth after Sunday's impressive 4-3 victory, despite conceding three times in the second half.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side raced into a 3-0 lead at the break after Ward-Prowse, on his 26th birthday, set up Jannik Vestergaard before scoring two brilliant free-kicks to help lift them into the top four in the Premier League.

He told the club's official site: "I've said it a couple of times, but to be playing in the Premier League, captain of this club and to score a couple of goals, it's my boyhood dream and I'm enjoying every minute at the moment.

"Any goal in the Premier League whether it's a tap in or a free-kick, it doesn't matter and helped us to the three points today."

As a result, Ward-Prowse has overtaken club great Matt Le Tissier for goals scored from direct free-kicks in the Premier League for Southampton.

"To beat a legend of the club like Matt Le Tissier is a big honour and hopefully I can extend that record soon.

"It's nice to be rewarded for the hard work on the training ground. You have some days when they all go in and some days when don't and they're the ones that count. To score two was very special."

Villa were 4-0 down by the 58th minute after Danny Ings' rocket, although the striker needed a scan on Sunday night after being forced off late on with a knee injury.

Tyrone Mings started Villa's attempted fightback with a header before Ollie Watkins' penalty and Jack Grealish's strike – both in stoppage time – made the scoreline respectable for the hosts.

It was Villa's second successive defeat after they won their opening four matches and defender Mings insists they must improve.

"We showed good fight to come back but we should never really have been in that position in the first place," he told Villa TV.

"I don't think it was really a 3-0 game at half-time but unfortunately we gave away fouls in dangerous areas and they capitalised.

"I'm sure that we will learn from it but it was very disappointing to concede in the manner that we did in the first half.

"It shows that there is a lot of work to do. We have shown great resilience and bounced back from poor runs last season, so we have to go and do it."

ID:420816: cacheID:420816:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4190:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Southampton's Danny Ings celebrates scoring against Aston Villa in the Premier League on November 1, 2020
Read Next:
PL roundup: Everton miss chance to return to summit while Southampton win thriller
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Bublik
Carballes Baena
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
11.30am
Altmaier
Fils
11.30am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
11.30am
Alexandrova
Krueger
11.30am
Bucsa
Kasatkina
11.30am
Dolehide
Kalinina
11.30am
Jimenez Kasintseva
Paolini
11.30am
Linette
Sabalenka
1pm
Baez
Van Assche
1pm
Hurkacz
Draper
1pm
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
1pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
1pm
Kostyuk
Sherif
2pm
Zheng
Putintseva
2.30pm
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
2.30pm
Darderi
Fritz
2.30pm
Boulter
Montgomery
3pm
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
3.30pm
Vondrousova
Rogers
4pm
Griekspoor
Daniel
4pm
Munar
Struff
5pm
Navone
Rune
7pm
Coric
Zverev
8.30pm
Collins
Danilovic
11.30am
Shang
Davidovich Fokina
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Manchester CityMan City33237380324876
3Liverpool34228475344174
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton331111115254-244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!