the times | Monday April 4 2022 1GG 11
thegame
1
Harrison 29RATINGS
Leeds (4-2-3-1): I Meslier 8 — L Ayling 6 (Struijk
89min), 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 Ayling.
Southampton (4-4-2): F Forster 7 — T 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.Leeds United Southampton
1
Ward-Prowse 49Since the turn of the year only
Liverpool have taken more points
in the Premier League than
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Merseysiders’ tally of 31 is
TIM NASH
“We know their strikers weren’t
going to press our defenders, leaving
Conor Coady [the centre back] to
play, and instead of putting one man
on Coutinho, we put two, so it was
harder for them,” Lage said.
“They needed to bring midfielders
to control our midfielders and we
found spaces for Jonny, [Fernando]
Marçal, [Daniel] Podence and
[Francisco] Trincão, and after that
we played against their defensive line.
It was perfect.”“It was very good, not just his
offensive work but also his defensive
work,” Lage, the Wolves head coach,
said. “I don’t remember a game,
especially with me, that Fábio wins as
many duels, especially body contacts.”
Lage won the tactical battle against
Steven Gerrard by putting both João
Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker
against Philippe Coutinho, rendering
the on-loan Barcelona forward
anonymous for the third game in a
row, all of which Villa have lost.substantially superior to any other
team, but the 24 that Wolves have
amassed in that time is testament to
their stoic and committed defending.
Perhaps their total is even more
surprising given that Arsenal have
done the double over Bruno Lage’s
side in 2022 and Wolves went into
this match having succumbed to a
Leeds United comeback — losing
3-2 after being 2-0 ahead — in their
previous game.
Without key players such as Rúben
Neves and Raúl Jiménez, it looked
like the ideal time to play Wolves. But
regardless of personnel, they offered
abundant evidence of just how
important their core values are.
“If Mings can play for England so
can I,” the Wolves supporters sang
to Tyrone Mings, Aston Villa’s
inconsistent defender.
The 19-year-old Fábio Silva
outmuscled, harried and bullied the
towering Mings, and Ezri Konsa
alongside him, to prove that defence
— from the front — can be the best
form of attack.Jose Sá, the Wolves goalkeeper,
made excellent saves from Coutinho,
Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins and Matty
Cash to further underline his case as
the best signing in the Premier
League this season. Only Illan
Meslier and David de Gea, of Leeds
and Manchester United respectively,
have made more saves than the
Portuguese in this campaign.
Only five teams have scored fewer
goals than Wolves’ 33 this season but
Jonny made it two in two before
Ashley Young’s own goal confirmed
the hosts’ supremacy, until Watkins’s
late penalty jangled a few nerves.
Gerrard hinted that his players are
playing for their futures and that
there will be serious investment this
summer. “What the owners have
done for this club has been
phenomenal,” the Villa head coach
said. “I don’t think they’ll change
because they’re very ambitious.
“The players in the building have
got to help me fix it in the next eight
games, and if not, we’ll get players in
to help me fix it.”Gerrard: Players have eight games to fix it or I’ll get others
2
Jonny 7
Young (og) 36RATINGS
Wolves (3-4-3): J Sá 8 — M Kilman 7, C Coady 7,
W Boly 7 — Jonny 8, L Dendoncker 7, J Moutinho 8,
F Marçal 6 — F Trincão 7 (P Neto 74min), D Podence
8 (Hwang Hee-Chan 68, 6), F Silva 8 (Chiquinho
90+1). Booked Coady, Jonny, Marçal, Neto.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): E Martínez 6 — M Cash 6, E Konsa
6, T Mings 5, L Digne 6 (A Young 13, 6) — J McGinn 6,
M Sanson 5 (Douglas Luiz 72), J Ramsey 6 — L Bailey
6, P Coutinho 5 (E Buendía 73), O Watkins 7.
Booked Konsa, McGinn, Young.
Referee D England.
Attendance 31,012.Wolves Aston Villa
1
Watkins 86 (pen)Jonny scores the opener for a Wolves side missing key players for the derbygoalkeeper. As it is, victory in their
next match, away to third-bottom
Watford, will go a long way to
ensuring another top-flight season.
They were boosted by the return of
the influential duo, Liam Cooper and
Kalvin Phillips, for the first time since
December. The Leeds pair could find
themselves in opposition at the World
Cup this year if Cooper’s Scotland
emerge through the play-offs.
For now, there is more banter of an
England v United States variety, given
their Wisconsin-born coach’s links to
England’s group opponents. “Me and
Jesse had a little chat after [the draw]
and it’s exciting to see it happening,”
Phillips said. “Hopefully I can do
enough to be in the [England] squad
but right now it’s just nice to be back
on the pitch.”27-year-old said. “I was tempted to go
the other way with this one but Jan
Bednarek pulled me to the side and
said, ‘Just stick to what you normally
do.’ That was enough to put me into
my routine and away I went.”
Ward-Prowse ensured that his side
stemmed a four-match losing streak
to earn a share of the spoils in their
efforts to seal a top-half finish. Both
teams could have claimed all three
points but a draw was about right for
a frenetic encounter that panned out
like a tribute match to the recently
ended chaotic reign of Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds would have been ten points
clear of the relegation zone had they
been able to defend their lead after
Jack Harrison’s eighth goal of the
season, stabbed in following an error
from Fraser Forster, the SouthamptonAs the camera panned in on James
Ward-Prowse stepping up to take a
free kick, the Leeds United supporter
in the background doing a passable
impression of The Scream by Edvard
Munch summed up what the majority
of the Elland Road crowd expected to
happen next.
Jesse Marsch, the Leeds head
coach, likened it to conceding a
penalty, and he was not far wrong.
There was an inevitability about
Southampton’s 49th-minute equaliser,
after Luke Ayling had felled Kyle
Walker-Peters in what the England
midfielder surely needs to instruct his
people to trademark as “Ward-Prowse
territory”.
Faced with a wall of six men —
five standing, one lying down — he
did not disappoint. The shuffle, the
puffing of the cheeks, three steps and
the perfect delivery into the top
corner of Illan Meslier’s goal, 25 yards
away.
Ward-Prowse tries to avoid being
predictable with his set pieces, but
what is predictable is that they almost
invariably end up in the net. It is now
13 Premier League goals directly from
free kicks, taking him above Thierry
Henry and Gianfranco Zola, with
David Beckham’s 18 in his sights. “I’m
confident with the up and over,” theJASON MELLORIAN WALTON/APDEAD-BALL DEMONMost Premier League free-kick goals
David BeckhamJames Ward-ProwseGianfranco ZolaThierry Henry18131212Ward-Prowse’s free-kicks by season31.828.928.7Top three by distance, yards
v Wolves, Jan 2022v Newcastle, Feb 2021v West Brom, Jan 20161 1
2021-22
3
02020-21
42019-20
22018-19
22015-16 2016-17 2017-18When he scores them76-90461-751
46-60330-45416-300
0-151Minutesoals18- 8
28. 928. 74 3
2 27 6- 90475Unerring Ward-Prowse
closing in on Beckham
Eriksen averages more touches per 90 minutes than any
Brentford team-mate since his debut in February
Christian Eriksen
Christian Norgaard
Ethan Pinnock
Rico Henry
David Raya68
60
58
56
53