The month of February might have been a tad shorter than the others, but as far as the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 was concerned, it was a pivotal 29 days. The action-packed month saw the league phase conclude with FC Goa, ATK FC, Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC emerging as the top four. The final day of the month also treated fans to a riveting semi-final first leg tie between the Gaurs and Marina Machans,

With the business end of the season in full throttle, here’s a look at the five top performers for the month gone by, who have been nominated for the title of February’s Hero of the Month. Over the next few days, fans and a panel of experts will cast their votes to choose the eventual winner.

How to vote:

• Head to indiansuperleague.com
• Click on Fan Zone and select Hero of the Month
• Pick your Hero of the Month
• Register your vote

Here’s how the votes are counted:

Fans' votes will count towards 50% of the vote share and experts' votes account for the remaining 50%.

For example, if nominee ‘A’ gets 80 % of votes from fans, it will be counted as 40% in the final tally.

Similarly, if nominee A gets 60% of the experts' votes, it will be counted as 30% in the final tally and his final count will be 70% (40%+30%).

The nominee with the highest cumulative percentage (fans + experts) after voting ends will be named the Hero of the Month.

In the event that two players end up with equal final percentage (fans & experts' votes), the nominee with the higher percentage of experts' votes will win.

Here are the Hero of the Month nominees for February:

Hugo Boumous 

FC Goa have been in fine form this month, picking up nine points and scoring 14 goals in their last three matches. Hugo Boumous was at the centre of it all, scoring five of these goals, while assisting five others. In the process, he also became the first player in Hero ISL history to register double digit goals and assists tally in a single season. 

Roy Krishna 

The Fiji international scored six goals and laid out an assist for ATK FC in February to help his team to a second-place finish in the league table. Krishna began the month with two goals and an assist against Jamshedpur and followed it up with a brilliant hat-trick against Odisha. The ace striker also scored ATK’s only goal in their 3-1 loss to Chennaiyin. Besides his goal contributions, Krishna also created 5 chances for his team and had a shot accuracy of 80%. 

Ferran Corominas 

The 37-year-old striker had another spectacular month in front of goal, scoring five and assisting one in Goa’s last three league phase matches, helping his team clinch the League Winners Shield and the coveted AFC Champions League spot. 

Bartholomew Ogbeche 

Ogbeche started the month with a stellar hat-trick against Chennaiyin, albeit in a losing cause. After a goalless draw against NorthEast United FC, however, the Kerala captain went on to register consecutive braces against Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC respectively. Three of his seven goals in the month were from the penalty spot, including the winner over Bengaluru and the late equalizer in an entertaining 4-4 draw against Odisha.    

Manuel Onwu 

The Spaniard has been in fine touch since joining Odisha on loan from Bengaluru. Onwu scored in each of Odisha’s three outings in February, including a hat-trick against Kerala in the Bhubaneswar-based club’s final match of the campaign. He also had an assist to his name, created five chances and had a stunning 87.5% shot accuracy over the course of the month.