The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 3Janelt is
congratulated on his
equaliser by Toney
and Mbeumo as
Brentford enjoyed
derby success at
Stamford BridgeMARK D FULLER/FOCUS IMAGESMATCH
OF THE
DAY
LEEDS UNITED
Harrison 29 1SOUTHAMPTON
Ward-Prowse 49 1Ward-Prowse show
saves Southampton
Worryingly for his team’s top-flight
rivals, the Southampton manager
Ralph Hasenhüttl believes that James
Ward-Prowse will only improve when
it comes to scoring from set pieces.
And Jesse Marsch, the Leeds
United head coach, said that
conceding free kicks on the edge of
the penalty area was akin to
conceding a spot kick against the
Southampton midfielder after his
13th goal direct from a free kick
yesterday — a total bettered in the
Premier League era only by David
Beckham with 18.
The air of grim inevitability at
Elland Road once Luke Ayling had
unwisely felled Kyle Walker-Peters on
the edge of the area early in the
second half suggested what the vast
majority of the 37,000 crowd were
expecting. Ward-Prowse duly
delivered, curling an unstoppable
effort over the six-man wall and into
the top corner despite Illan Meslier
getting his fingertips to the ball.
“It’s another exceptional free-
kick,” reflected Hasenhüttl after his
side snapped a four-game losing run
to underline their credentials for a
top-half finish. The Southampton
head coach added: “James is one of
the best in the world in these
situations. We need to have more
free-kicks around the box — that must
be the target. It sounds easy but we
know that James is always a threat.
“He’s not so easy to read and it’s
not so easy to say what’s coming
because he can score in either corner
and it will be a quality delivery every
time. He deserves to be part of the
England team. The more free-kicks he
gets the more he can show quality.”
Marsch’s warnings about the
dangers of conceding free-kicks
proved prophetic. He said, “In effect,
it was a penalty because he’s so
precise from those situations.”
Leeds had only themselves to
blame for failing to add to Jack
Harrison’s goal as they spurned a
series of chances that could have putthem out of sight before
Southampton’s belated fightback.
Unmarked defender Diego
Llorente set the tone for wayward
finishing by heading Harrison’s
corner wide. When Harrison finally
found the net, his effort was ruled out
for pushing by Rodrigo after
Raphinha’s corner had hit a post.
The deadlock-breaking effort owed
much to the persistence of midfielder
Raphinha, who got the better of
Walker-Peters before standing up an
inviting centre which Fraser Forster
could only parry into the path of
Harrison to stab home.
Southampton recovered from a
torrid start to create clear-cut
chances either side of Harrison’s
strike. Mohamed Elyounoussi should
have done better when he shot at
Illan Meslier from a Che Adams
knockdown. Adams was a constant
threat, and only a brilliant save low to
his left from Meslier prevented the
Scotland striker equalising.
Ward-Prowse levelled after the
restart in Saints’ best spell, but Leeds
fought back after throwing on fit-
again England midfielder Kalvin
Phillips. They had two late penalty
claims when Raphinha and substitute
Joe Gelhardt went down theatrically —
but both were waved away by well-
positioned referee Anthony Taylor.
Leeds are eight points clear of the
relegation zone with seven games
left. They have taken seven points
from three games and can move
towards a third consecutive season of
Premier League football with a win at
third-bottom Watford on Saturday.
“It was intense and it was tight,”
Marsch said. “They put a lot of set-
pieces in and that made for an ugly
match. They got their goal that gave
them momentum but we weathered it.
“The points are always important
but the focus is on our development
because we know we have the quality.”Star man James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Leeds United (4-2-3-1): I Meslier 8 — L Ayling 6
(Struijk 88min), D Llorente 6, L Cooper 6, S Dallas
6 — M Klich 6 (K Phillips 66, 6), A Forshaw 6 —
Raphinha 7, Rodrigo 7, J Harrison 7 — D James 6
(J Gelhardt 59, 6). Booked Cooper.
Southampton (4-4-2): F Forster 7 — V Livramento
6, J Bednarek 6, M Salisu 7, K Walker-Peters 7 —
I Diallo 7, O Romeu 7 (S Armstrong 64, 5),
J Ward-Prowse 8, M Elyounoussi 6 — C Adams 7
(N Tella 87), A Broja 5 (S Long 90). Booked
Elyounoussi.
Referee A Taylor. Attendance 36,580.James Ward-Prowse celebrates his fine equaliser with Ibrahima DialloJason MellorMOLLY DARLINGTON/ACTION IMAGES/REUTERS