West Ham flop Simone Zaza beats Lionel Messi to win La Liga player of the month award after impressing with Valencia
Italian scored four times in September as the Mestalla side have soared to second place and have yet to taste defeat
WEST HAM flop Simone Zaza has beaten Lionel Messi to win the La Liga player of the month award for September.
Valencia have been the surprise package this season and find themselves in second places with five wins from their first eight matches.
Zaza has been at the forefront of their impressive start, with seven goals so far — four of which were scored in September.
And that included an eight-minute hat-trick in the 5-0 victory over Malaga.
However, Messi will feel he had a good case to win the monthly gong with seven goals in September — despite only scoring in TWO La Liga matches during that period.
The Barcelona superstar, 30, has scored 17 goals for club a country in a sublime start to the 2017-18 campaign, including three trebles.
Yet, Zaza was selected ahead of the Argentine.
The Italian, 26, also netted a late winner in the 3-2 victory over Real Sociedad.
Zaza moved to the Mestalla after a dismal period in the Premier League with West Ham.
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But he has found his feet in Spain as Valencia enjoy an impressive start to the campaign — reminiscent of when they reached back-to-back Champions League finals at the start of the 2000s.
Boss Marcelino was even forced to play down talk of a title challenge.
Valencia are one of the three teams — along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid — who have yet to lose in La Liga.
They were unlucky not to get all three points at the Bernabeu this season, when Real Madrid hit a late equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw.