Manchester United's duo Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo, have taken home two of the monthly Premier League awards for February (Player of the Month and Goal of the Month awards), while Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta scoops the Manager of the Month award.
Man United’s striker Hojlund has made Premier League history, as he was on Friday, voted as the Premier League’s Player of the Month for February.
Fans had until 12 PM GMT on March 4 to vote for their winner and United fans voted in bunches to secure their new fan favourite his first Player of the Month award for the club. The public's votes on the EA SPORTS website were combined with those of a panel of football experts.
Hojlund was level with Saka and Watkins, having six goal contributions in February but the bond the boyhood United fan has forged with the supporters was always going to make him the favourite for the award.
The 21-year-old, netted five times while also claiming an assist, and scored in all four of his February appearances, with United winning all four of the games against Wolves, West Ham, Aston Villa and Luton Town respectively. Overall, he netted in six consecutive games, becoming the youngest player in Premier League history to do so.
His recent performances has blown past expectations after a slow start to the season and was one of the biggest reasons for United’s mini-revival in the league in February, directly leading them to eight points, propelling the Red Devils into the race for European qualification.
Adding to that, Hojlund also becomes the first ever Dane to be named the Premier League’s Player of the Month.
He topped a seven-person shortlist that also included Phil Foden, Joao Gomes, Pascal Gross, Rodrigo Muniz, Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins.
He is the second United player this season to win the award after Harry Maguire claimed it in November.
“I’m very happy,” he told club media on Wednesday. “Of course, it’s a big privilege to get this award, especially with the other contenders who were nominated as well.
“So yeah, I’m very grateful and happy for the award.”
It isn’t a coincidence that United’s performance levels crashed as soon as their in-form striker got injured and it has been a slog since then.
Hojlund has been sidelined with a muscle injury for the past couple of weeks, which United promptly finished with a 2-1 loss at home against Fulham on Saturday Feb. 24 due to the absence of their focal point.
He also missed United’s game against derby rivals Man City last Sunday which they loss 3-1 despite Marcus Rashford scoring first (a screamer) at the Etihad.
United would be hoping to get back to winning ways, as they preparing to take on relegation-threatened Everton side at Old Trafford on Saturday. The Red Devils boss, Erik ten Hag has won all three games against the Toffees since taking over at United.
Ahead of the fixture, Ten Hag has revealed Hojlund will only return from injury just in time to face Liverpool in the FA Cup next Sunday.
Hojlund will be tasked with downing a resilient Liverpool team to secure a place in the FA Cup's final four and a trip to Wembley.
United have won just one of their last six games against the Premier League table-topping Reds who recently won the Carabao Cup already this season.
Alongside Hojlund, Man Utd February awards was double, with Kobbie Mainoo also winning the Goal of the Month.
Mainoo's brilliant match-winning strike in Man United's dramatic 4-3 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Feb. 1 wins the Goal of the Month award.
With the game tied at 3-3, the 18-year-old United academy graduate, picked up the ball after a one-two pass with Omari Forson and dribbled past two Wolves defenders before slotting the ball into the far bottom corner past Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa in the seventh minute of second half stoppage time Molineux Stadium.
The goal, which turned out to be the match-winner, was his first in the Premier League and his second for Erik Ten Hag’s side, as it sealed all three points for the Red Devils.
It remarkably, makes it the second successive month in which a player has won the Goal of the Month award with their maiden goal in the competition, after Man City's Oscar Bobb claimed January's prize.
It also means Man Utd have won three of this season's seven Goal of the Month awards, following Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho’s previous wins in September and November, respectively.
Mainoo becomes the youngest player to ever win the Premier League Goal of the Month, and also the latest ever goal in a match to win the award.
Mainoo's goal topped a shortlist of eight of the best in February, Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur), Joao Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Jefferson Lerma and Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), and Emerson Palmieri (West Ham) to win the accolade.
Goal of the Month shortlist for February:
Kobbie Mainoo (Wolves 3-4 Man Utd)
Richarlison (2nd goal) (Everton 2-2 Spurs)
Joao Pedro (Brighton 4-1 Crystal Palace)
Declan Rice (West Ham 0-6 Arsenal)
Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea)
Darwin Nunez (Brentford 1-4 Liverpool)
Jordan Ayew (Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace)
Emerson Palmieri (West Ham 4-2 Brentford)
Elsewhere, across London, Mikel Arteta basks in the glory of being named the Manager of the Month following Arsenal's flawless February performance after winning all four matches in the month.
The Gunners also had the best attack, scoring 18 goals, six more than anyone else, and the joint-best defence, conceding only twice.
They were the only Premier League team with a 100 per cent winning record in February, beating leaders Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates, a 6-0 win away at West Ham United, 5-0 win at Burnley, and 4-1 win at home against Newcastle United.
Arsenal's impeccable run, under Arteta's astute guidance, has seen them close the gap between them, Liverpool and Man City at the top of the Premier League table to just two points.
Arteta, who has now claimed the Manager of the Month title on seven occasions since 2019, remains focused on pushing Arsenal even higher in the league standings, as
Arteta topped a three-man shortlist that also included Man City's Pep Guardiola and Man United's Erik ten Hag.
Only seven managers in Premier League history have won the prize more times than the Arsenal boss who moves level with Rafa Benitez.
Most Manager of the Month awards via the Premier League website;
Manager Matches managed Times won
Sir Alex Ferguson 810 27
Arsene Wenger 828 15
Pep Guardiola 293 11
David Moyes 686 10
Jurgen Klopp 323 10
Martin O'Neill 359 8
Harry Redknapp 641 8
Rafa Benitez 359 7
Mikel Arteta 160 7
Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken also won February’s Premier League Save of the Month award for his impressive stop against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 10 February.
With the Bees leading 1-0 at the time courtesy of Christian Nørgaard, it happened that a cross from Pablo Sarabia fell to Pedro Neto, who met it with his forehead at the back post. The ball looked destined for the bottom corner, but Flekken clawed it off his line and on to the post, before it was hooked away and the danger was cleared.
Brentford went on to win the game 2-0 – Ivan Toney doubling the lead 13 minutes from time.
Flekken's save topped a shortlist of six of the best saves by goalkeepers across the month.
Save shortlist:
Jose Sa (Wolves 3-4 Man Utd)
Guglielmo Vicario (Everton 2-2 Spurs)
Emiliano Martinez (Sheff Utd 0-5 Aston Villa)
Andre Onana (Man Utd 3-0 West Ham)
Mark Flekken (Wolves 0-2 Brentford)
Alphonse Areola (West Ham 0-6 Arsenal)
2023/24 Player award winners:
August: James Maddison (Spurs)
September: Son Heung-min (Spurs)
October: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
November: Harry Maguire (Man Utd)
December: Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
January: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
February: Rasmus Hojlund (Man Utd)
2023/24 Goal of the Month winners:
August: Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
September: Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
October: Saman Ghoddos (Brentford)
November: Alejandro Garnacho (Man Utd)
December: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)
January: Oscar Bobb (Man City)
February: Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd)
2023/24 Manager of the Month winners:
August: Ange Postecoglou (Spurs)
September: Ange Postecoglou (Spurs)
October: Ange Postecoglou (Spurs)
November: Erik ten Hag (Man Utd)
December: Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
January: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
February: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
2023/24 Save of the Month winners:
August: Alisson (Liverpool)
September: Robert Sanchez (Chelsea)
October: Alphonse Areola (West Ham)
November: Thomas Kaminski (Luton)
December: Wes Foderingham (Sheff Utd)
January: Jordan Pickford (Everton)
February: Mark Flekken (Brentford).
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