Pep Guardiola has won the Premier League Manager of the Month award again after his Manchester City side won all five of their top-flight games in April.
City beat Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Manchester United and Burnley in the previous month, scoring nine times and conceding just once to ensure they stayed ahead of Liverpool in a title race that will go down to the wire this weekend.
Guardiola has now won the award seven times in his three seasons in England and twice in the past three months, with City having won 13 matches in a row since losing to Newcastle on January 29.
Jurgen Klopp, whose Liverpool team won four out of four in April, was also nominated for the award along with Wolves’ Nuno Espirito Santo and Fulham’s Scott Parker, who led his team to three straight victories after they started the month with a loss to Watford that resulted in their relegation being confirmed.
Guardiola’s City now look strong favourites to win the Premier League title after winning their first game of May last night against Leicester.
The Manchester club were struggling to break down a resolute visiting team, managed by former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, but a spectacular second-half strike from Vincent Kompany ended the deadlock.
A win against Brighton on the final day of the season would now secure City’s title defence.
But even if they do not manage that, they simply have to equal or better Liverpool’s result against Wolves at Anfield.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, meanwhile, has been named the Premier League Player of the Month after scoring five times in four games.
The former England international, 32, scored braces against Huddersfield Town and Arsenal, and also found the net in the draw with West Ham for Rodgers’ resurgent Foxes.
Vardy pipped the likes of Eden Hazard, Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah to take the prize.
The striker now has 18 league goals for the season, making him the top flight’s fifth-top scorer.
