Pellegrino Matarazzo, LALIGA EA SPORTS Manager of the Month for January

Pellegrino Matarazzo has been named LALIGA EA SPORTS Manager of the Month for January. Known as 'Rino' to his friends, he was hired by Real Sociedad to turn the team's fortunes around, and he has certainly done that: they are unbeaten and have accumulated 10 points out of a possible 12, including a victory over leaders FC Barcelona.

He did not have an easy start, with just a couple of training sessions with the group after Christmas, but he made a very good impression at home against Atlético de Madrid, beyond the point earned thanks to a solitary goal from Gonçalo Guedes that equalised Alexander Sorloth's goal.

In their first away game, at Getafe, they secured a dramatic 2-1 victory with a header from Jon Aramburu in the final minutes. After reaching the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, they went on to win two consecutive games at Anoeta, against FC Barcelona (2-1) and Celta Vigo (3-1).

While the victory against Barça was impressive, the win against Celta was no less so, as they played the entire second half with 10 men due to Çaleta-Car's sending off on the stroke of half-time. In fact, Borja Iglesias equalised Mikel Oyarzabal's great goal in the first half in the 72nd minute... but the captain scored another left-footed goal, similar to the first, to put the team back in front. Brais Méndez sealed the match with a penalty, confirming the winning streak they have achieved thanks to Matarazzo, and they are now looking up the table.

The American coach (with Italian roots) won the award, beating Míchel (Girona FC) and Claudio Giráldez (Celta) in the final vote, and succeeds RCD Espanyol de Barcelona coach Manolo González, who won the award in December.