JAMES Ward-Prowse scored his 50th and 51st goals for Saints to claw the visitors back from a goal down in an enormous and rare 2-1 win at Everton.

Amadou Onana opened with a header from a corner to put the Toffees ahead at the break but Nathan Jones’s side secured the boss a first Premier League victory.

The result meant Saints avoided an unwanted record of losing seven league games in a row for the first time in their 137-year history.

Saints remain bottom of the table but have won three in their last three, including the FA Cup and a magic EFL Cup quarter-final win over Manchester City on Wednesday.

It was set to be an interesting atmosphere in the footballing cauldron that is Goodison Park, with an organised sit-in protest towards the owners from the Everton fans.

The club’s board of directors were told to not attend the match after a safety assessment was carried out, following an aggressive incident during a previous fixture.

And it took only 10 minutes for a verbal altercation between supporters in the home end, right next to the press box, to require police intervention.

Demarai Gray shot over from a tight angle with the first big chance of the game while Ward-Prowse overplayed in the other box when he should have hit it moments later.  

Everton’s aerial prowess from the St Mary’s meeting in October continued, as six-foot three-inch Onana was left blocked only by Moi Elyounoussi on his way

Saints began to fall apart under the Everton pressure and needed half-time, but it was Ward-Prowse who had an effort saved onto the post just before the referee’s whistle.

Jones’s players had been fluid in shape and it looked like both a four-man defence and five at times – and it was mostly an even half.

The scores reflected that just 120 seconds into the second period, when Ward-Prowse latched onto a nod down by Che Adams, slipped it past a sliding Ben Godfrey and finished.

The travelling supporters then got to see Charly Alcaraz make his Saints debut after the hour mark, in a straight swap for an increasingly advanced midfielder in Romeo Lavia – whose minutes continue to be monitored closely.

Ward-Prowse’s confidence is fully back so he took aim from range and nearly troubled Jordan Pickford with a bouncer, but it was well gathered.

Everton’s supporters felt they had equalised on two occasions as the far-side netting bulged, with a strong Gavin Bazunu intervention on one.

Then Ward-Prowse did what he does best. To move just two behind David Beckham’s Premier League record, his free-kick from 25 yards left Pickford rooted as it nestled into the bottom corner.

His set-piece was enough to seal all three points at Goodison Park for the first time since 1997 and match last season’s away Premier League wins (three) midway through the campaign.

Everton: Pickford; Coleman (Gordon, 69), Godfrey, Tarkowski, Coady, Mykolenko; Gueye (Simms, 81), Onana, Iwobi; Gray, Calvert-Lewin.

Unused subs: Holgate, Mina, McNeil, Doucoure, Davies, Maupay, Begovic (g/k).

Saints: Bazunu; Lyanco, Caleta-Car, Salisu, Walker-Peters; Lavia (Alcaraz, 61), Diallo (Maitland-Niles, 85), Ward-Prowse; Elyounoussi (Perraud, 85), Edozie (A Armstrong, 61), Adams (Mara, 85).

Unused subs: Aribo, Djenepo, Orsic, Caballero (g/k)

Booked: Lavia, Diallo, Lyanco

Referee: John Brooks.

VAR: Lee Mason.

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