NorthEast United FC midfielder Lalengmawia has been voted Hero of the Month for February in Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21. The young midfielder has been chosen after fans and experts cast their votes between March 1 (from 12 noon) and March 4 (till 12 noon). He received the trophy ahead of the Highlanders’ first-leg semi-final against ATK Mohun Bagan on Saturday. 

As per the voting criteria, fans' votes count towards 50% of the vote share and experts' votes account for the remaining 50%. Lalengmawia came out on top ahead of teammate and January’s Hero-of-the-Month Federico Gallego, FC Goa midfielder Alberto Noguera, ATK Mohun Bagan’s Roy Krishna (Hero of the Month for November) as well as Hyderabad FC skipper Aridane Santana.

The 20-year-old midfielder won 2,343 out of a total of 6,489 votes from fans in addition to four of the experts’ votes out of a total of six, taking his overall percentage to 51.39%. Gallego meanwhile received 1,541 fans’ votes, while Krishna came a close third with 1,387 votes. The remaining two experts’ votes were shared by both Gallego and Krishna. Noguera and Santana got 875 and 343 fans’ votes respectively.

Lalengmawia, also Emerging Player of the Month for February, was integral to his side’s semis qualification. The Highlanders won three and drew three of their six games in February, and Lalengmawia made 16 successful tackles for his team during this period. He also scored his first ever Hero ISL goal in their final league stage game against Kerala Blasters FC. In the same game, he was adjudged Hero of the Match for a lively performance on the pitch. He is the first Indian player this season to win a Hero-of-the-Month award with Krishna, Igor Angulo and Gallego having won the previous ones.