Richie Laryea and
\u200bChristine Sinclair have been named Canada Soccer’s Players of the Month for
\u200bSeptember 2020. The two Canadian stars featured prominently for their
\u200bprofessional clubs in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Women’s Soccer
\u200bLeague (NWSL), with both players scoring important goals and keeping their clubs near or
\u200bat the top of their respective league standings.
Laryea helped
\u200bToronto FC qualify for the 2020 Canadian Championship Final as the club
\u200bfinished first among three Canadian teams in the first phase of Major League
\u200bSoccer’s revised league schedule. Returning from injury on 9 September, Laryea
\u200bprovided the decisive pass to Pablo Piatti’s opening goal of a Toronto 2:1
\u200bvictory over Montréal. The victory provided Toronto FC with an important three
\u200bpoints which ultimately helped Toronto FC clinch first place ahead of the
\u200bImpact de Montréal.
Across four matches in September with Laryea in the lineup, Toronto FC posted three wins and a draw as they moved to within two points of first-place Columbus Crew in the MLS standings. In a 2:2 draw with DC United on 19 September, he was part of the build up on Ayo Akinola’s goal in the second half. In an emphatic 3:1 win over Columbus on 27 September, he earned Man of the Match honours after recording an assist and then scoring a highlight-reel goal from inside the box. Laryea’s performance against Columbus earned him MLS Player of the Week honours.
In NWSL action, Sinclair pushed Portland Thorns FC
\u200binto first place after back-to-back wins in the NWSL Fall Series, a new segment
\u200bthat will feature 18 matches over the course of seven weeks. Captain Sinclair
\u200bhelped Thorns FC win 3:0 over Utah Royals FC and then 4:1 over OL Reign,
\u200bhighlighted by Sinclair’s third career hat trick in the league. In that
\u200bWednesday 30 September win, Sinclair opened the scoring on a right-footed
\u200bblast, made it 2-0 from the penalty spot, and then danced her way past a trio
\u200bof defenders to make it 4-1 with a left-footed shot from inside the box.
Sinclair has now scored 300 goals across her international and club career at the senior level since 2000, including 55 goals with Thorns FC across all NWSL competitions. This marks the second time this year that Sinclair has won Canada Soccer Player of the Month honours, having previously won the honour for January 2020 after setting the world’s all-time international goalscoring record with her 185thinternational “A” goal scored at the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship on 29 January.
Also in the month
\u200bof September, Alphonso Davies won his fourth and fifth trophies in 2020,
\u200blifting the UEFA Super Cup and German DFL-Super Cup less than a week apart.
\u200bDavies has been part of FC Bayern’s streaks of 23 consecutive wins (16 February
\u200bto 24 September 2020) and 32 undefeated matches (11 December 2019 to 24
\u200bSeptember 2020), which included the 2019-20 Bundesliga title through 27 June,
\u200bthe DFB-Pokal on 4 July, the UEFA Champions League title on 23 August, and UEFA
\u200bSuper Cup title on 24 September (Davies featured in 30 of those 32 matches). He
\u200blifted the German DFL-Super Cup on 30 September, including an assist in the FC
\u200bBayern 3:2 win over Borussia Dortmund.
In MLS action,
\u200bMark-Anthony Kaye scored two goals and had three assists across six
\u200bmatches while Michael Baldisimo, Tajon Buchanan, Lucas Cavallini and Samuel
\u200bPiette all scored their first MLS goals. In Europe, both Jessie Fleming and
\u200bShelina Zadorsky made their FA Women’s Super League debuts while Janine Beckie
\u200bhelped Manchester City FC reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. From Scotland,
\u200bScott Arfield scored two goals and had three assists in six matches, keeping
\u200bRangers FC in first place in the league and helping them reach the playoff round
\u200bof UEFA Europa League Qualifying.
In the NWSL, Sophie Schmidt
\u200bscored two goals herself and also assisted on a Nichelle Prince goal for the
\u200bHouston Dash, the league’s Challenge Cup winners in August. While Schmidt
\u200bearned NWSL Player of the Week honours, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan earned NWSL
\u200bSave of the Week honours one week earlier with Sky Blue FC.
From the Canadian
\u200bPremier League Island Games, Forge FC Hamilton won the North Star Shield and
\u200balso qualified for the 2020 Canadian Championship Final against Toronto FC. In
\u200bthe final, captain Kyle Bekker led Forge FC to a 2:0 victory over HFX Wanderers
\u200bFC. Player of the Match Molham Babouli assisted on the opening goal by
\u200bAlexander Achinioti Jönsson and then Maxim Tissot scored late for the 2:0 win.
\u200bIt marked the second year in a row that Forge FC Hamilton won the Canadian
\u200bPremier League’s North Star Shield.
Canada Soccer Players of the Month
\u200bSeptember 2020 – Richie Laryea & Christine Sinclair
\u200bAugust 2020 – Kadeisha Buchanan & Alphonso Davies
\u200bJuly 2020 – Alphonso Davies & Sophie Schmidt
\u200bFebruary 2020 – Kadeisha Buchanan, Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies
\u200bJanuary 2020 – Liam Fraser & Christine Sinclair