Ighalo voted EPL’s December player of month

Nifemi Daniel

Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, has been voted the Premier League Player of the Month for December, while his coach at Watford, Quique Sanchez Flores, was voted the Manager of the Month.

The 26-year-old, who has been a revelation in the EPL, netted five goals in December including scoring twice against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on December 20 to earn Watford a stunning 3-0 win.

He bullied Martin Sktrel for the first goal and terrorised the Reds defence alongside his strike partner Troy Deeney.

The Nigerian international got the nod ahead of Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, who netted six times in December, and Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, who also scored five times. The other three players to be shortlisted were Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Marko Arnuatovic of Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli.

Read also: Watford coach fumes at Ighalo’s goal deduction

Ighalo scored five in December to take his tally for the season to 13, while a sixth ‘goal’ at Stamford Bridge was taken off him by the Premier League’s Goal Accreditation Panel at the start of this week and credited as a Gary Cahill own goal.

Flores guided Watford to three successive wins last month as Norwich City and Sunderland were beaten 2-0 and 1-0 respectively, before the Hornets stunned Liverpool 3-0. A 2-2 Boxing Day draw at Chelsea followed and Watford came within minutes of completing an unbeaten month until they suffered an agonising late 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Flores, who is the first Watford boss to win the top-flight award, was shortlisted alongside Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, Leicester City manager, Claudio Ranieri and Crystal Palace’s Alan Pardew.

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