Player of the Month awards: January

After a week of voting and thousands of votes, Sportskeeda’s readers have decided who their January Players of the Month are. Here are the winners:

Goalkeeper of the month: Tim Howard

One of the reasons Everton are on the cusp of a Champions League berth is the presence of their American keeper Tim Howard.

In electric form all season, Howard kept two clean sheets and conceded only two goals in four games as David Moyes’ men went through an unbeaten January. Successfully parrying twelve shots directed at him by Swansea, Southampton (both goalless), Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion (both 2-1), the United States international has been one of the key men in the Liverpool-based side’s ascent into the top four.

Howard won more than 65% of the votes, and is rightfully our Goalkeeper of the Month for January.

Defender of the month: Leighton Baines

Two 2-1 wins and two goalless draws gave further momentum to Everton’s push for the coveted Champions League spots, but they would not have been able to do so without left-back Leighton Baines’ brace (one a penalty) against West Brom and the equaliser against Newcastle.

Goalless draws away to Southampton and at home to Swansea and 2-1 wins away at Newcastle and at home to West Bromwich Albion saw Baines make waves with the Toffees yet again.

Another runaway victory for Leighton Baines with more than half the votes, and deservedly he is our Defender of the Month for January.

Midfielder of the month: Frank Lampard

The England international and Chelsea midfielder wasn’t sure where he would be at the end of the season. But with some dazzling displays, he made Chelsea re-think their decision of not renewing his contract. The midfield ace scored three goals in five games in the Premier League. Frank Lampard equalled Kerry Dixon’s all-time scoring record of 193 for Chelsea with a goal from the penalty spot against Southampton, and that strike put him joint-second behind Bobby Tambling.

Frank Lampard wins Midfielder of the Month for January by a landslide margin!

Striker of the month: Cristiano Ronaldo

Another month full of goals from the sheer genius that is Ronaldo. 8 goals in the month sets him up to be one of the highest goal-scorers in the major European leagues in January. It’s hard enough for most strikers to score a hat-trick in a season, while Ronaldo just went to make it child’s play, scoring a couple of them against the hapless Valencia and Real Sociedad. If Messi is the genius we all admire, Ronaldo is not far behind. He may not win the Ballon d’Ors, but he is still an amazing player.

Once again, it was very close between Ronaldo and Messi, but the Portugese wins Striker of the Month for January with 43% of the votes.