Tottenham’s remarkable run has at least kept some degree of pressure on Chelsea but it continues to look likely that the Premier League trophy will be heading to Stamford Bridge this season.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men won all six of their league games in April, including the North London derby, to remain just four points behind Antonio Conte’s Blues, who themselves suffered two defeats against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

And it all means that we have a fascinating final few weeks of the season to look forward to with both sides looking to land the Premier League title, although it’s the Blues that hold all the cards going into the final month of the campaign.

Elsewhere, the battle for the remaining two Champions League places continues between four sides who have under-achieved this campaign, while at the bottom the inevitable was confirmed for Sunderland and the writing appears on the wall for Middlesbrough after just one win in seven during April.

Sam Allardyce has worked his escapology magic once more at Selhurst Park to move them away from the bottom three, meaning that it looks like one of Hull or Swansea will fall into the Championship.

So, following an enthralling month of action in English football’s top tier, here are the Shoot! awards for the month of April…

Manager of the Month – Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)

Whether Spurs can catch Chelsea remains to be seen, but they look set to improve on last season’s third place finish at the very least.

Their league form in April was impressive – six straight wins, sixteen goals scored, just one conceded and capping the month off with a North London derby win that guarantees a long overdue finish above Arsenal.

It’s been a superb month and season for Tottenham and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be eager to use this as a springboard for even greater things.

Player of the Month – Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace)

Unexpected victories over Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool lifted Crystal Palace out of danger and the form of the Belgian centre-forward has been key to that.

The winner at Stamford Bridge was followed up with a consolation strike against Southampton, before Benteke sealed a comeback point against Leicester and a brace against his former club at Anfield in a 2-1 victory.

In all, he scored five times in April for Allardyce’s men, and they will want him to keep that form up next season.

Goal of the Month – Gylfi Sigurdsson (Manchester United v SWANSEA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXhPBiv5zWc

Paul Clement’s Swansea City were trailing 1-0 at Old Trafford and really needed a moment of magic to remain within touching distance of safety.

And they got just that thanks to Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson.

The midfielder has so often been Swansea’s saviour this term, and he again produced a moment of brilliance to fire an unstoppable free-kick past United goalkeeper David De Gea, who was left to just stand and admire as the ball sailed into his top corner.

It was a goal that earned the Swans a vital point in their battle to stave off relegation.