It’s an Everton double as Ancelotti and Calvert-Lewin win September awards

Everton’s excellent start to the season has been recognised with an awards double, with Carlo Ancelotti named manager of the month for September, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin is named player of the month.

Ancelotti collects the award after Everton won all three of their league games in September, beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0, West Bromwich Albion 5-2 and Crystal Palace 2-1 to top the early Premier League table.

Though officially judged just on league games, the Toffees’ form spilled over into the Carabao Cup, with wins over Salford, Fleetwood and West Ham securing their place in the quarter-finals.

Speaking about his award, Ancelotti said:

“I am really pleased to win this award. I think it is a great achievement for this month. I have to share with my team because they started the season really well.

“We hope to continue and to win this award again.

“I think the key point was the first game against Tottenham.

“Tottenham is a really good team, but we did well and won away. That victory increased our confidence and belief for this season. It was a really good start.”

Ancelotti is the first Toffees boss to win Manager of the Month since David Moyes in March 2013 and is just the 13th time an Everton manager has won the award in the Premier League era.

Calvert-Lewin meanwhile is recognised for a blistering start to the season with the Player of the Month award.

The 23-year-old scored five goals in the three league matches in September, including a hat-trick in the 5-2 win against West Brom.

He also turned out some superb displays in the league cup, scoring a hat-trick in the fourth round win against West Ham.

His headed opener against Brighton last week made it nine goals in six games to start the season, which soon turned into 10 from seven when he scored the opener on his England debut against Wales at Wembley on Thursday.

It is the ninth time an Evertonian has won the Player of the Month award and the first since Romelu Lukaku in March 2017.

It is also just the second time Everton have won both monthly awards since Moyes and Phil Jagielka in February 2009.

Everton return to action against rivals Liverpool on October 17 seeking a first Merseyside derby victory in a decade.

Liverpool were thrashed 7-2 by Aston Villa last weekend but Ancelotti is keen to play down the significance of the result.

He is, however, backing his players to perform as he targets European qualification this season.

“We are confident. “It doesn’t matter what happened last week [the 7-2 defeat at Villa], they are still a fantastic team with a fantastic manager.

“It will be a difficult game but we have confidence.

“The ambition is to stay at the top as long as possible. Our target is to be competitive and, at the end of the season, to be in the European places.”