Arsenal's Mikel Arteta has been named the Premier League Manager of the Month for January.
The 40-year-old led his side to two victories and a draw from meetings with Newcastle United, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to maintain their lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.
The Gunners were held to a goalless stalemate with Newcastle in their opening fixture of 2023, prior to back-to-back wins over fellow top-four hopefuls Tottenham and Man United later in January.
Hugo Lloris's own goal and Martin Odegaard's strike saw Arsenal ease to a 2-0 win over Spurs in the North London derby, before Man United were on the wrong end of the scoreline in a five-goal Emirates thriller.
Two strikes from Eddie Nketiah either side of a Saka thunderbolt saw Arsenal render strikes from Lisandro Martinez and Marcus Rashford inconsequential, sending the Gunners five points clear in first place.
© Reuters
Arteta's side also have a game in hand on second-placed Man City, and they can extend their lead at the top to eight points with victory over Everton on Saturday lunchtime at Goodison Park.
Having led the North London giants to their best-ever haul of 50 points from their first 19 games of the Premier League season, Arteta has been named Manager of the Month for the third time this term.
The Spaniard has now won back-to-back accolades after scooping the prize for November/December, where Arsenal captain Odegaard was also named the Player of the Month.
Arteta previously won Manager of the Month awards in September 2021, March 2022 and August 2022, and he joins Carlo Ancelotti, Eddie Howe, Claudio Ranieri and Kevin Keegan in winning five such honours.
Former Arsenal manager and current Aston Villa coach Unai Emery was also up for the award, as were Brighton & Hove Albion's Roberto De Zerbi, Brentford's Thomas Frank and Nottingham Forest's Steve Cooper.
© Reuters
Bukayo Saka was also nominated for January's Player of the Month award, but unlike November/December, there was to be no double prize haul for Arsenal this time around.
Manchester United's Rashford was crowned the Player of the Month for the second time this season, having scored three goals in four games for the Red Devils in January, helping Erik ten Hag's side take seven points in the process.
Prior to his sublime opener in their defeat to Arsenal, Rashford also found the back of the net in wins over Bournemouth and Man City - taking his total for the season to 18 goals in 31 games.
As well as beating compatriot Saka to the award, Rashford also fended off Brennan Johnson, Dan Burn, Riyad Mahrez, Solly March and David Raya to win his third accolade, having also got his hands on the trophy in September 2022 and January 2019.
Ben Knapton
