TOTTENHAM Hotspur’s Ange Postecoglou made history today as he won the English Premier League Manager of the Month award for the third time in a row, with Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah claiming the Player of the Month prize.

The Australian adds the October prize to those he received for August and September, making him the first head coach ever to win the first three Manager of the Month awards available to him, and the first to claim the first three awards from the start of any EPL season.

Only three other managers have won the award for three consecutive months, with Postecoglou joining Antonio Conte, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.

Postecoglou is however yet to match Guardiola’s record run of four consecutive awards, which the Manchester City manager accomplished in the 2017/2018 campaign.

Spurs finished October at the top of the Premier League table, and were the only side to win all of their matches during the month. They achieved away wins over Luton Town and Crystal Palace, and a 2-0 home victory against Fulham.

Postecoglou topped a poll of a four-man shortlist, beating Guardiola, Klopp and Aston Villa’s Unai Emery after votes from fans were combined with those of a panel of experts.

Salah’s brilliant form throughout October led him to win the Premier League Player of the Month award ahead of five other nominees, including Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Brentford’s Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo.

With the win, Egypt forward Salah moves alongside Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie to earn the accolade for a fifth time, and now has more Player of the Month awards than any other active Premier League player.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo (six), Steven Gerrard (six), Harry Kane (seven) and Sergio Aguero (seven) have won the award more times.

The 31-year-old Salah joins Tottenham Hotspur pair James Maddison and Son Heung-min as this season’s Player of the Month winners so far.

 [NaijaTimes]