Marcelino Nunez has been awarded the Championship's Goal of the Month award for his stunning volley against Birmingham City. 

The Chilean international has beaten off competition to win the gong for his strike in Norwich City's 3-1 victory over the Blues at Carrow Road last month. 

Nunez connected with Kevin Long's clearance from a corner and volleyed the ball past John Ruddy from range to open the scoring in the 27th minute. 

The strike was viewed millions of times on social media and received plenty of acclaim, especially in his home country. 

Nunez has become the first City player to win the award in over five years - with James Maddison the last award recipient for his goal against Middlesbrough in 2018. Emi Buendia was nominated back in April 2019 for his strike against Hull, but lost out to Jack Grealish. 

City's midfielder beat off competition from Chuba Akpom of Middlesbrough, QPR midfielder Ilias Chair and Cardiff's Perry Ng to be crowned the winner of February's award. 

Nunez arrived at Norwich last summer in a £3.3million move from Chilean side Universidad Catolica as part of their scaling up operation in South America after changes to Brexit regulations. 

Consistency has been hard to come by in his debut season at Carrow Road, but Nunez has proven himself capable of producing moments of magic - graphically illustrated by his thunderous volley against Birmingham. 

“I saw it coming out of the sky and I just hit it and had faith that it would go in," Nunez told SkyBet. "It was a special feeling to get my first league goal at Carrow Road.

“I’m thankful to the head coach, my teammates and our staff for all of their support since I joined this club.

“We will continue to work hard for the season and try everything possible to achieve our goals.”

The Pink Un: Marcelino Nunez' volley against Birmingham City has seen him win Championship Player of the Month. Marcelino Nunez' volley against Birmingham City has seen him win Championship Player of the Month. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman, who is also Lead Sky Bet EFL Goal of the Month judge, has explained why the Chilean international's strike sat above the rest. 

"Volleys are pretty much always spectacular but some are more spectacular than others and this one sits right at the top of the tree," the former Wolves striker said. 

“Nunez needed to move quickly and decisively to get into the right position to strike, and having done this, his technique to meet the dropping ball perfectly was sensational."