James Ward-Prowse says he practised penalties with Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Fraser Forster in his garden
Tottenham Hotspur fell to a very, very irritating 3-3 draw against Southampton at St. Mary’s earlier today (18 March) as James Ward-Prowse scored the decisive spot-kick past former Saints teammate Fraser Forster in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
Che Adams cancelled out Pedro Porro’s first-ever goal for Spurs early in the second half before goals from Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic meant we were 3-1 in front with 74 minutes on the clock.
Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott scored just a couple of minutes later to set up a nervy finish for Spurs. Which it was. Every second of it.
At one point, fans would have felt an equaliser was coming, solely because of how our season has panned out so far. James Ward-Prowse then converted a penalty won by Ainsley Maitland-Niles to seal a draw in the 93rd minute of the game.
JWP makes Fraser Forster admission
After the game, Ward-Prowse was, of course, the man of the hour as he spoke to the media after slamming the ball into the top corner when it mattered most. He revealed to Premier League Productions that he even practised penalties with his son in his garden against Forster during their time as neighbours (h/t BBC Live):
“Yes there was a lot [of pressure]. I know Fraser [Forster] very well, he used to be my next-door neighbour so I’ve taken a few penalties against him in my garden with my little boy, so we have something going on there.”
Ward-Prowse and Forster played 130 games with each other during their time at Southampton from 2014 to 2022. The mind games here would have been as intense as the one where Harry Kane stepped up against Hugo Lloris to take, and miss, his penalty for England against France at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
To Forster’s credit, he dove the correct way, i.e. to his left. But the English midfielder perhaps knew that he couldn’t risk it against the 34-year-old and hit his kick into an unsavable part of the goal.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
- Transfer News: Chelsea make the first move for Tottenham Hotspur target Andre Onana
- Real Madrid join Bayern Munich and Manchester United in pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane
- Pundit urges Tottenham Hotspur to be patient with Pedro Porro
It’s a draw that could have been prevented had we not downed our tools when two goals ahead. We have to learn how to manage games, kill tempo and protect leads if we hope to make the top-four this season.
