Sadio Mane pips Raheem Sterling to Premier League Striker of the Season award

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 May 2019

Sadio Mane pips Raheem Sterling to Striker of the Season award

Liverpool's Sadio Mane narrowly pips Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero to Sports Mole Premier League Striker of the Season award.

Liverpool's Sadio Mane has beaten Manchester City counterpart Raheem Sterling to be named the Premier League's striker of the season in Sports Mole's 2018-19 Reader Awards.

Mane ended the campaign as joint-winner of the Golden Boot with 22 goals, but ultimately missed out on the Premier League title to Sterling's Man City by a solitary point.

Sterling enjoyed a memorable campaign of his own with 17 goals and 10 assists - form which saw him named the FWA Footballer of the Year - but he picked up just 19.2% of the SM reader votes compared to Mane's 28%.

A fiercely competitive shortlist also saw Sergio Aguero run the pair close with 17.6% of the votes, while the other two Golden Boot winners - Mohamed Salah (12%) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (11.2%) - rounded off the top five.

Chelsea's Eden Hazard directly contributed to more goals than any other player this season, scoring 16 and creating 15 for his teammates, but he is forced to settle for sixth place with 10.4% of the votes.

Bournemouth's Callum Wilson, Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, Jamie Vardy of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez also made the final shortlist, but failed to compete with the top six.