Ejuke beats Akinfeev and Zabolotny to CSKA Moscow's Player of the Month award twitter facebook reddit twitter facebook reddit

Chidera Ejuke has been announced as the winner of CSKA Moscow Player of the Month award for September.

Although he did not find the net, the skilful winger delivered notable performances for the Red Blues who were unbeaten in all four matches played during that period.

To clinch the individual accolade, Ejuke saw off competition from captain Igor Akinfeev and Anton Zabolotny.

While the Super Eagles accrued 55 percent of total votes, Akinfeev boasts 21 percent of votes to finish in second place.

Russia international Zabolotny polled 20 percent to end up in the third position.

Thanks to his notable outing with Dutch Eredivisie side Heerenveen, he was handed a four-year contract by CSKA Moscow for an undisclosed fee.

On arrival, the 23-year-old expressed his desire to emulate his international teammate Ahmed Musa by flourishing with the 13-time Russian kings

"It's crazy like how they talk about him because of his time at CSKA Moscow," Ejuke told Omasports.

"He did a lot of things. He is really loved in the city and everyone knows him and talks about him a lot.

"Now I'm here and hopefully I can bring in what I have, support the team and take them to the next level."

Ejuke began his professional career at Gombe United in 2016 before heading to Europe where he represented Norwegian side Valeranga between 2017-2019.

On the international scene, he made his Super Eagles debut on October 13, 2020, as Gernot Rohr's men settled for a 1-1 draw with Tunisia in an international friendly played at the Jacques Lemans Arena.

With 12 minutes left on the clock, he was subbed in for Villarreal star Samuel Chukwueze.

Having represented Nigeria in October's 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against the Central African Republic, Ejuke - who has scored just two goals in the Russian topflight in the 2021-22 campaign would be hoping to help the Moscow based outfit defeat Igor Shalimov's Ural in a Russian Premier League game slated for October 17.

As it stands, Aleksei Berezutski's men occupy the sixth spot in the Russian topflight having garnered 17 points from 10 matches. Five days later, CSKA Moscow welcome Krylya Sovetov to the VEB Arena.