Lanson / Arsenal.com Player of the Month
April's winner - Jens Lehmann
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Farewell to Highbury - visit our index pageLehmann is Arsenal.com's Player of the Month
Four clean sheets, a string of commanding performances and - of course - that penalty save from Juan Roman Riquelme at El Madrigal. No wonder Jens Lehmann won by a landslide in our April Player of the Month poll.
The Arsenal goalkeeper kicked off April with a shutout against Aston Villa and made a couple of important stops as Arsenal advanced to the last four of the Champions League with a 0-0 draw at Juventus.
Lehmann was blameless as Manchester United, Portsmouth and Tottenham took points off Arsenal in the Premiership, and he was relatively untroubled when Villarreal visited Highbury for the first leg of their European Semi-Final.
It was a different matter in Spain. Lehmann made vital first-half stops from Guillermo Franco and Juan Pablo Sorin before outsmarting Riquelme in the dying minutes, plunging to his left to save the playmaker's penalty.
Lehmann was the hero of the hour for Arsenal and Gunners fans clearly agreed. The Germany No 1 received 60.2 percent of the votes in our April poll. Kolo Toure, magnificent at the heart of defence, got 12.7 percent of your votes. Thierry Henry finished third.
March's Player of the Month Results Player %
Jens Lehmann 60.2%
Kolo Toure 12.7%
Thierry Henry 7.5%
Others 20.7%
Arsenal supporters Paul and Jackie Beirne from Feltham will present Jens with his award before the game against Wigan on Sunday.
"Jens has been fantastic," says Paul. "Last summer many people wrote him off and only looked back at the few mistakes he made the previous season.
"People have short memories though because the season before that he helped us win the league and go 49 games unbeaten. Are they the statistics of a bad goalkeeper?
"I feel that Jens' stature and leadership throughout April has helped a young defence become men in the eyes of football."
The player of the month and the prize winner will both receive a Magnum of Arsenal-Lanson Black.
Player of the Month homepage
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Previous Player of the Month winners
Jens LehmannApril 2006
Cesc FabregasMarch 2006
Jens LehmannFebruary 2006
Thierry HenryJanuary 2006
Jose Antonio ReyesDecember 2005
Robin van PersieNovember 2005
Thierry HenryOctober 2005
Sol CampbellSeptember 2005
Alexander HlebAugust 2005
[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006]