Joel Matip was named Premier League Player of the Month for the first time – because he not only impressed defensively.
Liverpool FC had strung together twelve competitive wins by Tuesday’s ultimately insignificant 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan, seven of them in a packed February alone. Now Joel Matip has been handed another belated success.
The Premier League named the Reds centre-back as their Player of the Month. A double first: for the first time since his transfer on a free transfer from FC Schalke 04 to Liverpool almost six years ago, Matip won the award – and for the first time a Cameroonian.
In Liverpool’s four February league games, which served as the basis for the assessment, the Bochum native had not missed a minute and helped ensure that his team conceded only one goal. He also set up Diogo Jota’s 2-0 final goal against Leicester and scored himself in the 6-0 win over Leeds.
That was enough for the 30-year-old to leave behind Ché Adams (Southampton), Ryan Fraser (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Ben Mee (Burnley) and Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace), who were also nominated. After Mohamed Salah in October and Trent Alexander-Arnold in November, Matip is already the third decorated Liverpool player this season.