Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min was named the Premier League's Player of the Month for the second time this season after claiming the April award on Friday.
The English Premier League announced on its website that Son beat out his teammates Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen, Manchester United defender Eric Bailly, Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard, Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero and Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke to win the accolade, which was based on votes from a panel of experts, EPL captains and fans.
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Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min (left) celebrates with teammate Dele Alli after scoring a goal against Bournemouth in their English Premier League match at White Hart Lane in London. (AP-Yonhap) |
The 24-year-old South Korean is now the first player to win Player of the Month twice in the 2016-17 season. Son became the first Asian winner of the honor when he took the award last September. He is also only the second Tottenham player to win the award twice in a single season after Harry Kane did so in the 2014-15 season.
Son scored five goals and delivered one assist, and helped Tottenham win all six league matches in April to stay in the EPL title race against the leaders Chelsea.
"This is just an unbelievable feeling," Son told the EPL's official website. "This is not my finish line. I want to keep working hard and win it a third time. I'm still hungry."
Son, who joined Tottenham from the German club Bayer Leverkusen in 2015, is on the verge of setting a single-season scoring record by a South Korean in Europe. He has so far scored 19 goals in all competitions this season, matching Cha Bum-kun's tally in the 1985-86 season with Leverkusen.
Son has 12 goals in the EPL, in addition to six goals in the English Football Association Cup and one goal in the UEFA Champions League.
"My goal was to score 10 Premier League goals (this season)," he said. "But we have three games more and I just want to score more goals, make more assists and get more points."
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, picked up the Manager of the Month award for April. Tottenham's next match is against Manchester United on Sunday at home. (Yonhap)
