Watford striker Odion Ighalo has, unsurprisingly, won New African Soccer's award for being the best African player during the month of December in the Premier League - a decision that was made unanimously on the part of the judges.
Blowing away the competition
In a press release put out by the organisers of the award, New African Soccer, it was revealed that the decision was so overwhelmingly in Ighalo's favour that there was "very little need for a shortlist to be announced".
Ighalo has been astounding this season, scoring 14 goals - putting himself third in the race for the Golden Boot award, just a solitary goal behind joint leaders Romelu Lukaku of Everton and Leicester City's Jamie Vardy.
The 26-year-old has scored seven goals in his last six fixtures for the Hornets, netting in every game over a busy festive period - including goals against Aston Villa, Norwich City, Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur - despite not being able to stop his side from losing to Spurs 2-1 in the Hornets' last game of 2015.
Ighalo also found the back of the net twice in Watford's impressive 3-0 win over Liverpool, and both he and captain Troy Deeney have been instrumental in boosting Watford to ninth place in the Premier League table, with manager Quique Sanchez Flores ambitious for more from his side.
Deserved recognition
It might not be the most prestigious of awards, but at least it is some kind of deserved recognition for Ighalo's impressive performances of late, and award director Tune Adelakum was quick to highlight Ighalo's fantastic achievement of scoring in "all six games" over a "packed December schedule of fixtures", describing the feat as "remarkable".
It is an award that is in its infancy, and director Adelakum went on to explain that Ighalo is the first person to win the award twice in one season, after his success in October. Make no mistake about it: fans of the Hornets will be praying that Ighalo's incredible form continues as we move into 2016.
