Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes has been nominated for this month’s Manager of the Month, while Bethany England and Ann-Katrin Berger have been put forward for the Player of the Month award – voting is now open to the general public!
Hayes has lead her Chelsea side to an unbeaten run of 15 games in the Barclays Women’s Super League thus far this season. In February the Blues netted 13 goals and conceded just three in three games, with our biggest victory coming at the start of the month against West Ham.
The match ended in an eight-goal drubbing of the Hammers at Kingsmeadow with six players getting their names of the scoresheet. Our No.9 England was heavily involved and bagged herself the second and fifth of the day.
The following week, the Blues saw off Birmingham City at our KT1 home, which was a hard-fought victory for us. It was a frustrating start for Chelsea as we struggled to create many chances in the first 45 minutes. However, the turning point came on the stroke of half-time when we fianlly got a breakthrough. The clincher came on the hour mark when England steered home to make it 2-0.
Chelsea’s latest WSL match was away to title rivals Manchester City last Sunday and the Blues had a share of the points after the top-of-the-table clash finished 3-3. It was an action-packed 90 minutes in this six-goal thriller with the Blues twice falling behind, before taking the lead in the closing 15 minutes, only to be pegged back two minutes later as the match finished all square.
There was a breathless 16-minute spell whereby four goals were scored and a City penalty was saved brilliantly by Berger. We drew level for the second time and England netted to give us the lead again on 74 minutes. However, Man City had other ideas and responded two minutes later to stall the Blues from leapfrogging them in the league.
Other manager nominees are: Hope Powell (Brighton) and Casey Stoney (Manchester United).
The award is decided by a combination of votes from a panel and fans, and you can vote for Hayes here!
Bethany England, who won the prize last month, has now extended her WSL goal tally to 14 with four of those coming in February. The Chelsea forward is now joint-top scorer in the division with Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema and was recently called up to the Lionesses squad for the forthcoming SheBelieves Cup due to her fine form.
In the Blues’ first match of February, England contributed to Chelsea’s 8-0 thrashing over West Ham by earning herself a brace. Firstly she knocked the ball around the keeper and then she climbed above her marker to head home. In the following match versus Birmingham, England extended our lead to 2-0 when she fired past the keeper.
The No.9 scored her 14th WSL goal of the campaign against Manchester City on Sunday with a stunning 25-yard effort that flew into the top corner to put us in front for the second time in the match – what a strike!
Vote for England as your Player of the month here!
Other players shortlisted are: Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea), Gemma Evans (Bristol City), Lauren Hemp (Man City) and Jade Moore (Reading).
While many plaudits go to forwards as the Blues scored an impressive 13 goals in three games this month, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger has equally played just as an important part having kept us in the title race. The German, who this week received a call-up to her national team, made a heroic second-half penalty save against Manchester City which could prove crucial as the end of the season unfolds.
Vote for Berger as your Player of the Month here.
Please note voting closes on Monday 2 March at midday.
London Football Awards nominations
Bethany England, Magdalena Eriksson and Erin Cuthbert have been nominated for Women’s player of the Year in the 2020 London Football Awards, while Emma Hayes is up for Manager of the Year.
You can cast your votes here!
Chelsea take on Arsenal in the Continental Tyres League Cup final on Saturday at Nottingham Forests City Ground. The match kicks off at 5.30pm and you can find out all the information here!