FC Cincinnati Forward Brenner Named MLS Player of the Month for September/October 2022
October 12, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK – FC Cincinnati forward Brenner was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Month for September/October 2022.
Brenner completed his 2022 season with a bang, scoring nine goals and recording two assists in his final five games of the regular season, all of which came in the months of September and October. Brenner’s nine goals over a five-game span are tied for the most in a five-game stretch in a single season in MLS history and helped propel FC Cincinnati to a 3-1-1 mark to close the season, while clinching the club’s first Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs berth in their fourth season of play.
The second-year forward’s brilliant late-season run of form began with a hat trick and an assist against the San Jose Earthquakes on September 10, the Brazilian’s second hat trick of the season. He would go on to add three goals over his next two contests at Real Salt Lake (two goals) and at Seattle Sounders FC (one goal), propelling the club to a much needed four points over the two-game road trip.
In the final match of the regular season and with FC Cincinnati on the cusp of a postseason berth, Brenner erased any suspense early in the match, registering his MLS-best third hat trick of the season with all three goals coming in the first half of a 5-2 victory at D.C. United. The sensational striker also added an assist on teammate Brandon Vázquez’s second-half score, which made him the first MLS player since Landon Donovan for the 2007 LA Galaxy to record multiple games with at least three goals and an assist in a single season. He is the sixth different player in MLS history to record at least three hat tricks in a single season and the first since Josef Martínez in 2018.
Brenner (18 goals, six assists) and Vázquez (18 goals, eight assists) are the only pair of teammates in MLS history to record at least 18 goals each in a single season, and combined with midfielder Luciano Acosta (10 goals, 19 assists), the Cincinnati triumvirate scored 46 goals this season, which was more than FC Cincinnati had scored in full in any of their first three seasons.
FC Cincinnati is one of two clubs to have multiple MLS Player of the Month recipients this year, joining Austin FC, who saw Sebastián Driussi win the award in both April and July. Luciano Acosta was voted the MLS Player of the Month in June 2022. Brenner was also one of two players in MLS this season to be named the MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire on three occasions (Weeks 17, 30, 34), joining Golden Boot presented by Audi winner and Landon Donovan MLS MVP contender Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC.
Backed by Brenner, FC Cincinnati will make their postseason debut as they travel to face the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, October 15 (12 p.m. ET, Univision / TUDN / TSN / TVA Sports / MLSsoccer.com / MLS App) in the opening match of the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs.
MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
2022 MLS Player of the Month Winners
Month(s)
Player
Club
March
Lucas Zelarayán
Columbus Crew
April
Sebastián Driussi
Austin FC
May
Paul Arriola
FC Dallas
June
Luciano Acosta
FC Cincinnati
July
Sebastián Driussi
Austin FC
August
Hany Mukhtar
Nashville SC
September/October
Brenner
FC Cincinnati
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