Deadly Brunt’s king of dead-ball assists
WEST Brom might have lost last Saturday – but what the afternoon did at least highlight was the quality from set-pieces that Chris Brunt provides.
Brunt collected two more assists against Southampton, supplying for Salomon Rondon and Ahmed Hegazi to add to his rather impressive collection.
One from a dead ball and the other from open play, Brunt was one of the picks in blue and white on Saturday and outlined why, even though he’s been at The Hawthorns for more than ten-and-a-half years, he remains one of the most important players on the playing staff.
The cross from the corner which Hegazi bulleted home was Brunt’s 30th set-play assist in his time in the Premier League, stretching back to 2008. Currently in his ninth Premier League campaign with the Baggies (having gained promotion from the Championship in 2008 and 2010) no Premier League player can top the 30 dead ball set-ups that Brunt has provided for his teammates.
He has 48 in total, which places him 38th in the all-time Premier League assist rankings – the same as ex-Albion striker Nicolas Anelka. Evergreen Gareth Barry is 15th on the list with 64 – the same number as legendary pairing Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier. Brunt, though, can say that he is above Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Theo Walcott, Juan Mata and Gianfranco Zola on the list.
The Northern Irish international even tops Kevin De Bruyne – for now!