The Liverpool forward was rewarded for his performances which have yielded 41 goals in all competitions since joining from AS Roma last year.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Manchester City humbled their neighbours United by beating them 6-1 and Levante still lead in Spain where European champions Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla.
Manchester City crushed Manchester United 6-1 for their biggest win at Old Trafford for 56 years to go five points clear of the champions at the top of the Premier League on Sunday.
Manchester City made the most of a case of mistaken identity and kept alive their faint title hopes thanks to a much-needed 3-0 victory over 10-man West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
ManchesterCity booked their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup as Pablo Zabaleta scored a late winner with a neat finish to beat an organised StokeCity 1-0 on Saturday.
Substitute David Silva saved world champions Spain's blushes with a stoppage-time equaliser for a 1-1 draw against Mexico at the Azteca on Wednesday.
Portugal's Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo scored first-half goals in a comfortable 3-1 win away to Poland in the Nations League on Saturday as the Group A1 leaders continued their perfect start to the competition with three wins.
The cream began to rise to the top of the Euro 2012 qualifying groups with world and European champions Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal all winning their matches in style on Friday.
France's completely new team lost 2-1 to Norway in a friendly on Wednesday with the ghosts of World Cup controversy and failure also hanging over England despite Steven Gerrard's brace in a 2-1 win over Hungary.
Striker Alvaro Negredo scored twice and created two more goals to lift European champions Spain to a 5-2 victory over Bosnia on Wednesday and make it 10 wins out of 10 in World Cup qualifying Group Five. Coach Vicente del Bosque gave Negredo his first starting spot in place of Fernando Torres and the Sevilla forward took his chance to impress with two goals in five second-half minutes and assists for David Silva and Juan Mata.
Manchester City moved within touching distance of a first appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals after a dynamic first-half display at Dynamo Kiev helped them secure a 3-1 last-16 first-leg win
Valencia tore Real Madrid apart 3-0 on Saturday to give Barcelona the chance to wrap up the Primera Liga title as early as Sunday's game against Villarreal.
Sevilla topped the Primera Liga on Saturday with a 3-0 home win over Valencia, who had midfielder David Silva sent off after just 17 minutes.
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will not make his return from injury in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris St Germain, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Monday. Central defender Kompany, who took part in the open section of a training session, has endured an injury-disrupted campaign and a recurrence of a calf problem has kept the Belgium international on the sidelines for nearly a month. "He is not 100 percent. It is not possible," Pellegrini told reporters.
Photos from the EPL match played between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion on Monday
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini insists he will not change the way his team play despite suffering two defeats in a week and losing playmaker David Silva ahead of Manchester United's visit on Sunday.
Diego Costa's equaliser for Spain against Portugal on Friday was the first time a World Cup goal was awarded after a review from the video assistant referee (VAR).
Valencia earned a valuable 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Wednesday in a combative first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Spain squeezed past dogged Iran 1-0 in their World Cup Group B encounter on Wednesday, thanks to a fortuitous goal from Diego Costa, but the Europeans suffered a string of second-half scares.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played across England on Sunday.
Manchester City clinched a 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur, while Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Aston Villa.
The omens are good for a Chelsea side heading into Christmas top of the Premier League tree but manager Jose Mourinho does not want to give title rivals Manchester City any reason to cheer over the festive season. Check out the big games on Boxing Day.
Manchester City are brimming with optimism with coach Manuel Pellegrini 'absolutely sure' of winning the Premier League title.
Chelsea kept up their pursuit of the Premier League's top three clubs with a 1-0 win away to London rivals Crystal Palace on Sunday, thanks to a strike by N'Golo Kante early in the second half.
Sergio Aguero won his personal striking duel with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, scoring the winner for Manchester City as they ended a four-game losing streak on the road in the Premier League on Sunday.
Manchester City set a new top-flight record of 15 consecutive wins as their seemingly unstoppable march towards the English Premier League title continued with a 4-0 romp at bottom club Swansea City.
'It's difficult even for me to find a reason why but you have to insist and talk about the game, the way they play and try to do more, concede as few as possible and score up front.'
'We were not lying yesterday when we said in the press conference Iran is a tough team'
Australia's stand-in skipper David Warner led by example, hitting a brilliant century in their five-wicket win against Sri Lanka to complete a 4-1 series victory on Sunday.
Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez scored two goals apiece as the hosts showed their impressive strength
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero and goalkeeper Joe Hart could return from injury in time for Saturday's Premier League game against Stoke City, manager Manuel Pellegrini has said.
Blessed with silky technical skills, vision, anticipation and an eye for goal, Phil Foden offers coach Gareth Southgate several options, either wide in a three-pronged attack, a more orthodox central midfield role or even as a "false nine".
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Defending champions Manchester City scintillated a stellar performance to record an emphatic 5-0 win over Newcastle, and reduced Chelsea's advantage to five points in the Premier League table on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday
Manchester City will be without David Silva, Raheem Sterling and captain Vincent Kompany for this weekend's visit to Chelsea, manager Manuel Pellegrini told reporters on Friday.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been named the Premier League manager of the month for February, while in-form Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane picked up his fourth player of the month award.
Mumbai City FC grabbed their maiden victory of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season with a closely-fought 2-1 win against FC Goa in Margao on Saturday.
