Opta Player of the Month

See who took Opta Player of the Month for December.

December is always a key month in English football, with a multitude of games being packed into the schedule and plenty of points on offer for teams looking to become upwardly mobile before the New Year arrives. December 2006 in the Premiership saw Manchester United consolidate their lead at the top of the table, despite a rare loss at West Ham, and the Opta Player of the Month reflects United's general dominance.

Cristiano Ronaldo was virtually unplayable throughout December, featuring in all six of Manchester United's games, and scoring in four of them. Indeed, the Portuguese scored two goals in three successive matches for United, contributing six of the nine goals the Red Devils knocked past Aston Villa, Reading and Wigan Athletic. Not only was Ronaldo in deadly goalscoring form, but he also created two more strikes for his side and delivered 25 crosses, second only to Ryan Giggs. If he can continue this form for another month or so then surely he will be named the Premiership's player of the season. He was the league's top scorer in December with seven goals.

In second place is Newcastle United captain Scott Parker who was a key figure in the Magpies' steady recovery during December. His side played a mammoth seven games in the month, winning four of them, with Parker notching his side's third goal in their 3-1 win against Spurs. He also ended the month with one assist and made 25 tackles in the heat of the engine-room.

Third place goes to Manchester United's Louis Saha who may not have generated headlines as glowing as Ronaldo but was still effective for the league leaders. The Frenchman scored only one goal but was constantly involved in their build-up play and had a pass completion of well over 80%.

Fourth and fifth places go to two players from London clubs, Arsenal's Robin Van Persie and Chelsea's Frank Lampard. The former finally hit a rich vein of goalscoring form in December, ending the month with three goals, while the latter was one of the few Chelsea players to show some consistency, scoring twice and creating three other goals for the champions.

Player	Team	Index Score
Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	2270
Scott Parker	Newcastle United	1520
Louis Saha	Manchester United	1494
Robin van Persie	Arsenal	1448
Frank Lampard	Chelsea	1384