Manchester City attacker Raheem Sterling has been named the Premier League Player of the Month for December after a stellar month for the England talisman.
Sterling hit a rich vein of form in the final weeks of 2021, scoring five times in five appearances and providing an assist in another.
He played a pivotal role in @ManCity‘s brilliant form ?@sterling7 is December 2021’s @EASPORTSFIFA Player of the Month!#PLAwards pic.twitter.com/TpyHIZBM4y
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2022
Among those strikes, Sterling’s penalty against Wolves on 11 December saw him join the exclusive, 32-man Premier League 100 club.
It was a month where Sterling rediscovered his goalscoring touch and demonstrated his predatory instinct after a relatively quiet season in front of goal to that point.
After providing a fine assist against Aston Villa to kick off December, the 27-year-old netted a tap-in against Watford before that landmark spot-kick against Wolves.
His manager Pep Guardiola gave him another rest against Leeds before he returned to the side with another pair of close-range finishes and another penalty across victories over Newcastle and Leicester.
Those contributions helped to stretch Man City‘s ridiculous winning streak to nine games, and it was ten before the year was out as they beat Brentford as in-form Sterling was once again rested to the bench.
The forward came out on top in a seven-man shortlist that also included his City teammate Joao Cancelo, James Maddison, Gabriel Martinelli, Mason Mount, Martin Odegaard and Son Heung-min.
This represents the third time Sterling has claimed the prize, and his first since way back in November 2018.