De Zerbi Wins Manager of the Month as Gomez and Penders Take Goal and Save Awards

LONDON, November 13, 2026 — From bottom of the table to the top prize: Roberto De Zerbi has been named the Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month for October after an unbeaten run that dragged Tottenham Hotspur out of trouble, while Brighton & Hove Albion’s Diego Gomez and Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders scooped the Goal and Save of the Month awards.

The Premier League confirmed the winners on Friday. It is the first time De Zerbi has won the monthly award, and he is the first Spurs boss to do so since Ange Postecoglou, who took it three months in a row between August and October 2023.

The turnaround was stark. Spurs went into October bottom of the Premier League, without a win from their opening five matches. They then took 10 points from four games. A 1-1 draw at Manchester United, earned with 10 men through Dominic Solanke’s stoppage-time equaliser, was followed by a 3-1 home win over Coventry City, with goals from James Maddison, Omar Marmoush and Ben Davies.

Next came a 2-0 victory at Chelsea, only Spurs’ second league win at Stamford Bridge in 36 years, according to the Premier League, sealed by a Penders own goal and a solo strike from Mathys Tel. A second straight 2-0, against 10-man Crystal Palace with set-piece goals from Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke, completed the month. BBC Sport reported that the run lifted Spurs out of the relegation zone.

“The first five games in this season were not good enough and from Manchester United game we changed things,” De Zerbi told the Tottenham Hotspur website, as quoted by BBC Sport. “We changed behaviour, we changed quality of the play, we changed the quality of performance of the players and for this reaction I am very proud.”

The Italian beat Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Unai Emery (Aston Villa), Xabi Alonso (Chelsea), Marco Rose (AFC Bournemouth) and Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton) after fan votes were combined with those of an expert panel. Tottenham said he is the club’s 10th different manager to win the award, the most of any Premier League club.

Gomez’s winner was simply outrageous. The Paraguayan midfielder lobbed Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez from 51.3 metres for Brighton’s second goal in a 5-0 derby win on October 18. The league said it was the longest-range Premier League goal since Wayne Rooney’s 57.7-metre strike for Everton against West Ham United in 2017. It topped a shortlist of eight goals, and means Brighton players have won three of the last four Goal of the Month awards, after Lewis Dunk in September and Kaoru Mitoma in April.

“I looked and saw the goalkeeper a little bit advanced,” Gomez told Brighton’s official website. “When it went in I didn’t know where to celebrate but I was really happy for the win and to score a beautiful goal.”

Penders, meanwhile, collected the Coca-Cola Save of the Month for a fingertip stop in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Manchester United. Making only his third Premier League appearance, the 21-year-old Belgian tipped Bryan Mbeumo’s fierce late strike onto the bar to protect a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge. He is only the third Chelsea goalkeeper to win the award, after Kepa Arrizabalaga and Robert Sanchez. Newcastle United are the only other club with three different winners. Aston Villa striker Nicolas Jackson completed the set of October winners as EA SPORTS Player of the Month.

Source: Premier League official announcement; Tottenham Hotspur; BBC Sport; Brighton & Hove Albion; Premier League on X.

Credit : Premier League’s X

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