FC Cincinnati Forward Brenner Voted MLS Player of the Week Presented by Continental Tire for Week 34

October 10, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release

NEW YORK – FC Cincinnati forward Brenner was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for the 34th week of the 2022 MLS season.

Brenner scored a hat trick and added one assist as part of the club’s 5-2 victory over D.C. United on Sunday, October 9, which clinched a berth in the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs. Brenner became the sixth different player in MLS history to score at least three hat tricks in a single season and the first since Josef Martínez in 2018. It marked his second game this season with at least three goals and one assist, becoming the first player to do so twice in a single season since Landon Donovan for the LA Galaxy in 2007. The Brazilian forward has nine goals in his last five matches, which tied for the most in a five-game span in a single season in MLS history.

After Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead six minutes into the match, Brenner doubled it in the 8th minute when Luciano Acosta slipped in the forward, who delicately chipped it past the goalkeeper and with enough power that the D.C. defender could not clear the ball in time before it crossed the line. Brenner made it 3-0 in the 24th minute as Brandon Vázquez found him on the counterattack and he easily slotted it past the goalkeeper for his second of the match. After D.C. pulled a goal back, Brenner completed his first-half hat trick in the 37th minute by playing a nifty give-and-go with Vázquez, which he completed by firing into the corner of the net with an impressive off-balanced finish. With the score 4-2 in the 53rd minute, the Brazilian added an assist when he picked up a loose ball in the box and found Vázquez for an easy finish into the open net to complete the five-goal victory.

Brenner finished the season with 18 goals, which was tied for the fourth most in MLS alongside his teammate Vázquez and two others. Cincinnati became the first club in MLS history to have two players score at least 18 goals in the same season and their 36 combined was tied for the most by a teammate duo in 2022 (Philadelphia Union’s Julián Carranza and Dániel Gazdag). Since the start of September, Brenner’s nine goals were the most in MLS and two more than the next closest player. With the win against D.C. United, Cincinnati clinched a postseason berth for the first time in club history.

Brenner joins Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar as the only players to win MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire three different times in 2022. Brenner remains the only player in club history to win the award.

Cincinnati travel to face the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in Round One of the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday, October 15 (12 p.m. ET, UniMás / TUDN / TSN / TVA Sports / local English-language broadcast / MLSsoccer.com / MLS App).

The MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.

2022 MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire Winners

Week
Player
Club

Week 1
Carlos Vela
LAFC

Week 2
Lewis Morgan
New York Red Bulls

Week 3
Dayne St. Clair
Minnesota United FC

Week 4
Jesús Ferreira
FC Dallas

Week 5
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández
LA Galaxy

Week 6
Leonardo Campana
Inter Miami CF

Week 7
Valentín “Taty” Castellanos
New York City FC

Week 8
Cristian Espinoza
San Jose Earthquakes

Week 9
Kamal Miller
CF Montréal

Week 10
Ronaldo Cisneros
Atlanta United FC

Week 11
Sebastián Blanco
Portland Timbers

Week 12
Jamiro Monteiro
San Jose Earthquakes

Week 13
Sebastián Ferreira
Houston Dynamo FC

Week 14
Dejan Joveljić
LA Galaxy

Week 15
Luquinhas
New York Red Bulls

Week 16
Han Mukhtar
Nashville SC

Week 17
Brenner
FC Cincinnati

Week 18
Taxiarchis “Taxi” Fountas
D.C. United

Week 19
Julián Carranza
Philadelphia Union

Week 20
Jhon Durán
Chicago Fire FC

Week 21
Emanuel Reynoso
Minnesota United FC

Week 22
Michael Bradley
Toronto FC

Week 23
Gonzalo Higuaín
Inter Miami CF

Week 24
Gyasi Zardes
Colorado Rapids

Week 25
Alejandro Pozuelo
Inter Miami CF

Week 26
Julián Carranza
Philadelphia Union

Week 27
Dániel Gazdag
Philadelphia Union

Week 28
Hany Mukhtar
Nashville SC

Week 29
Hany Mukhtar
Nashville SC

Week 30
Brenner
FC Cincinnati

Week 31
Moussa Djitté
Austin FC

Week 32
Karol Świderski
Charlotte FC

Week 33
Daniel Ríos
Charlotte FC

Week 34
Brenner
FC Cincinnati

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