NEW YORK (Monday, September 12, 2022) – FC Cincinnati forward Brenner was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for the 30th week of the 2022 MLS season.
Brenner earned his second MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honor of the season after scoring a hat trick and adding an assist in Cincinnati’s record-setting 6-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, September 10 (Watch Highlights from His Performance Here). Brenner became the fourth player this season and the first in FC Cincinnati history to record at least three goals and one assist in a match. His three-goal performance marked his second hat trick of the season after he scored three goals against New York City FC on June 30. Brenner joins the Philadelphia Union’s Julián Carranza as the only players in MLS this season to score multiple hat tricks. Additionally, Cincinnati scored six goals in an MLS game for the first time in club history.
With Cincinnati leading 1-0 in the 47th minute, Brandon Vázquez flicked on a header from a free kick, which Brenner took one touch with his chest and then volleyed it into the net from short range (Watch Here). After the home side added another goal to make it 3-0, he then added an assist in the 77th minute, placing a perfect pass in between two defenders to Yuya Kubo who finished the chance with a perfect strike into the side netting (Watch Here). In the 90th minute, Brenner’s ferocious pressing paid off when he intercepted a pass from an Earthquakes defender, sprinted on goal, and chipped the ball over the diving goalkeeper (Watch Here). The Brazilian finished off his hat trick in the fifth minute of extra time after Cincinnati earned a penalty kick, which he blasted into the roof of the net to give the club a 6-0 win (Watch Here).
Brenner’s 12 goals are the second most on the team, behind only Vázquez (16), and Cincinnati is one of three clubs in MLS this season to have multiple players score at least 10 goals, joining the Philadelphia Union and LA Galaxy. Brenner’s 12 goals are already a career high, and he now has 20 in his past two seasons with Cincinnati. Among players that entered MLS in 2021 or later, the Brazilian forward joins LAFC’s Cristian Arango (30), Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi (25), and the Philadelphia Union’s Dániel Gazdag (23) as the only players to score at least 20 goals over that time span.
Brenner joins Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar and the Union’s Carranza as the only players to win MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire multiple times in 2022. Brenner is the only player in FC Cincinnati history to win the award after doing so in Week 17 earlier this season.
Cincinnati will look to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games for the first time in club history when they travel to face Real Salt Lake at America First Field on Saturday, September 17 (9:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
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.
