NEW YORK (Monday, July 25, 2022) – Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for the 22nd week of the 2022 MLS season.
Bradley scored the second brace of his career and his first in the opening half of a game in Toronto FC’s 4-0 win over Charlotte FC on Saturday, July 23. He became the first Toronto midfielder to score a brace in the first half since Alejandro Pozuelo on April 19, 2019 against Minnesota United FC. Bradley is also the seventh different midfielder to score multiple goals in the first half of a game in 2022. Toronto scored four goals in the first half of a game for the first time in club history and it was their second time this season scoring four times in a match (April 24 at New York City FC).
With Toronto up 1-0 in the 10th minute, Bradley scored his first goal of the match when Federico Bernardeschi curled in a cross from a corner kick, which Bradley flicked with a header and into the net (Watch Here). After Bernardeschi added a goal on his MLS debut to make it 3-0, Bradley scored the club’s fourth goal and his second of the match in first half stoppage time. Newcomer Lorenzo Insigne played a delicate no-look flick into the path of Bradley who dribbled past one defender and chipped the Charlotte goalkeeper to cap off a terrific team goal (Watch Here).
Bradley has started all 22 games for Toronto this season and played in 1,970 of the club’s 1,980 minutes. The club captain leads the team in accurate passes (1,166), interceptions (27), tackles won (26), and headed goals (two). Bradley now has three goals on the season, which is his most since 2019 (three) and two behind his career high of five in 2015.
Bradley is the first Toronto player to win MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire since Richie Laryea in Week 14 of 2020. This is the first time that Bradley has been named MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire in his career.
Toronto will look to win consecutive matches when they travel to face the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, July 30 (8 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.
