Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Praise for Southampton skipper’s wonder strike
RALPH Hasenhuttl paid tribute to Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse after the free-kick specialist struck with a set-piece in last night’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Wilfried Zaha put the Eagles ahead early on and the hosts appeared in control but the Saints skipper was on hand to turn the game on its head with a superb 32nd-minute equaliser.
Ward-Prowse curled his effort over the wall and into the top corner from 25 yards to score directly from a free-kick for the 11th time in the Premier League, putting him joint-third on the alltime list.
It sparked the visitors into life at Selhurst Park and Armando Broja drilled them ahead minutes later, but they had to settle for a point after Jordan Ayew levelled for Palace midway through the second half.
Hasenhuttl said of the free-kick: “It helps massively because it was suddenly very calm in the ground here and our fans woke up.
“This is what you need in that moment. It was fantastic how our fans were fighting with us until the end. It is always a pleasure to give everything we can give them.
“For Prowsey, it was a good moment to show his quality and then the belief was there to play how we wanted to play.”
■ BRIGHTON’S winless run stretched to a club-record 11 Premier League games after Romain Saiss’ first-half strike earned Wolves a deserved 1-0 success at the Amex Stadium.
Defender Saiss pounced to volley home a delightful pass from Ruben Neves in added time at the end of the opening period to give manager Bruno Lage’s visitors a first victory in five outings.