Southampton’s defining moments 2019/20: Ward-Prowse’s match-winner

In Southampton’s 2019/20 season so far, there have not been many more vital moments than this one we are going to recall.

In our previous lookback articles, we remembered an inconsistent start to the campaign and then a terrible spell where Saints hit rock-bottom, culminating in a club-record loss to Leicester.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men were rooted in a relegation battle come late November/early December and results really needed to pick up.

A point away at a struggling Arsenal side provided a boost and saw the team regain confidence in their tactical setup, but back-to-back home meetings with Watford and Norwich were crucial.

Good results would give Saints the upper-hand over their rivals at the bottom of the Premier League, whilst bad ones would only make their tough situation that much harder to resolve.

Come half-time in the first of the vital fixtures against Watford though, things were not looking good.

Ismaila Sarr had already put the Hornets 1-0 up at St Mary’s and the visitors had also seen further chances go begging to add to their lead.

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Things didn’t look to be going well for Saints going forward either – until a late turnaround thanks to some inspired moments from individual players.

The mood around the stadium lifted in the 78th minute. Moussa Djenepo isolated his marker one-on-one and wriggled to the goalline before advancing towards goal and stabbing the ball across the six-yard box.

As predatory strikers make a habit of doing, Danny Ings arrived at just the right time to slam high into the net. Game on.

Five minutes later, an ideal opportunity arose for James Ward-Prowse to cement his status as a set-piece expert even further. Saints won a free-kick wide on the left of the Watford penalty area, and fans waited in suspense.

The England mans strike was not as perfect as he would have liked. The ball was not heading right for the top corner, and Ben Foster managed to get his hands to it.

Crucially though, the ball crossed the line via the crossbar and Saints’ season was well and truly alive once more.

Ward-Prowse has really stepped up to become a key man under Ralph Hasenhuttl’s management and its his ability to keep his cool in moments like this that makes him a transformed player these days.