Manchester City attacker Oscar Bobb has won the Premier League Goal of the Month award for January for his stoppage-time strike in a 3-2 win at Newcastle United.
With the contest tied at 2-2 at St James' Park, Bobb was brought on by Pep Guardiola in the 82nd minute not long after fellow substitute Kevin De Bruyne had restored parity for the Citizens with his first goal following a five-month injury layoff.
Newcastle were hoping to hold on for a valuable point against Man City, but both De Bruyne and Bobb combined to snatch victory for the reigning champions in the 91st minute.
De Bruyne's sublime delivery from over 40 yards out was met inside the penalty area by the perfectly-timed run of Bobb, whose exquisite control and fancy footwork enabled him to slot the ball past goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from close range.
At the age of 20, academy graduate Bobb celebrated his first-ever Premier League goal in only his seventh top-flight appearance of the campaign, just a month after scoring his first senior goal for Man City in the Champions League.
Enjoy the masterpiece in all its glory 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ZY1tKMuIIT
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 16, 2024
Bobb has become the first Man City player to win the Premier League Goal of the Month award since Rodri cliamed the prize for his venomous long-range strike against Everton in November 2021.
Guardiola praised Bobb for his goal and performance in the win at Newcastle, telling reporters: "Oscar's was a fantastic goal for the control. We were really impressed [with him] in pre-season, I knew from information for the second team he was special.
"When Kevin has the ball and we have runners, Kevin is unique in the world but the finish by Oscar, I am so, so happy for him."
Bobb added: "It's an amazing feeling, Just watching from the bench it was a high tempo match. When I got the shout that I was coming on, the manager told me to go on and score, thankfully I could do that.
© Reuters
"It's a lifelong dream [to score in the Premier League]. To do it with the best team in the world, I can't explain it. We could hear them [City fans] all game. They helped us a lot today. We have to say thank you, this win is for them."
Man City's No.52 managed to fend off competition from teammate Bernardo Silva and Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, whose goals in the same game were up for the January award.
Bobb also saw off the challenge of Crystal Palace duo Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, Brentford's Neal Maupay, Nottingham Forest's Danilo and Sheffield United's Ben Brereton Diaz to claim the monthly prize.
Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma (August), Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes (September), Brentford's Saman Ghoddos (October), Man United's Alejandro Garnacho (November) and Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister (December) have all previously won the Goal of the Month award this season.
Oliver Thomas
