What’s the story
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has won the Premier League goal of the month award for December. The Armenian’s scorpion-kick goal against Sunderland was picked as the best goal scored in the Premier League last month.
The Manchester United midfielder has found a new lease of life after a difficult first few months in the PL and has forced his way into Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup after some stellar performances of late.
In case you didn’t know...
The 27-year-old joined the English giants from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window for a fee believed to be in the region of £27 million to £30 million. After coming off the bench in his first three Premier League matches, Mkhitaryan started for the Red Devils in the Manchester derby.
The match proved to be too big an occasion for the creative midfielder and he was taken off by Mourinho at halftime due to a lacklustre first half. After missing first-team action for a couple of months due to an injury, the Armenian started in United's 4-0 Europa League win over Feyenoord and has never looked back since.
Heart of the matter
The goal that won Mkhitaryan the award was scored in the 86th minute of United’s 3-1 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford. The home side were leading 2-0 courtesy a goal each from Daley Blind and Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the Armenian decided to light up the Theater of Dreams.
Antonio Valencia‘s pass saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the ball with acres of space around him on the right wing. The Swede picked Mkhitaryan’s run in the centre and delivered a looping cross, which the Armenian overran a bit. However, he showed presence of mind to scorpion kick the ball from over his head to the right of Jordan Pickford and into the net.
Also Read: EPL 2016/17: Henrikh Mkhitaryan describes wonder goal against Sunderland as the "best of his career"
Surprisingly, along with this goal, Mkhitaryan scored three goals in December and all of them made it to the top three of Manchester United’s top goals for the month. While the ‘scorpion-kick’ won with emphatic 79% of votes, his solo effort in the Europa League against Zorya Luhansk received 9% of votes and the solitary goal of United’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur bagged 4% of votes.
What’s next?
The former Borussia Dortmund star picked up his form after returning from his brief spell on sidelines and has never looked back since. His brilliant run of form started in the EFL Cup match against West Ham, where he gave two assists. In the following five matches, he scored three more goals.
The Armenian will now be looking forward to getting his name etched in the United folklore with a stellar performance against perennial rivals Liverpool. The north-western derby is said to be played this Sunday, January 15 at Old Trafford.
Also Read: 5 insane scorpion kick volleys in football
Sportskeeda’s take
Mkhitaryan’s goal is certainly a contender for the Premier League goal of the year. However, his goal will be closely contested by Olivier Giroud’s scorpion kick which he scored in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on the first of January.
It will be interesting to see which of the two win the award come the end of season, or if someone else overtakes them with another wonder goal in the matchweeks to follow.
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