NEW YORK (Thursday, June 3, 2021) – LA Galaxy forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández has been voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Month by members of the media for April/May of the 2021 MLS season.
Hernández scored seven goals and added one assist in seven matches to lead Major League Soccer across April and May to open the 2021 season, helping to lead the Galaxy to third place in the Western Conference with a 5-2-0 record.
Hernández started the season with a two-goal outing vs. Inter Miami CF at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for which he was named the season’s first Player of the Week. Then the following weekend, Hernández scored a hat trick to lead the Galaxy to a 3-2 win against the New York Red Bulls at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., again named the league’s Player of the Week.
Hernández became just the second player in MLS history to have five goals through the season’s first two games, joining Brian Ching, who scored five goals in the first two games in Houston Dynamo club history in 2006, and became the sixth Mexican-born player to score a hat trick in league history. His seven goals through the Galaxy's first five games were tied for the second-most to start a season in league annals, just one off the league record set by Landon Donovan, who netted eight goals in the first five games in 2008 for the Galaxy.
Hernández then added to his goal tally in back-to-back games, scoring his sixth of the season and adding an assist as he was involved in both Galaxy goals in a 2-1 win against inter-city rivals Los Angeles Football Club on May 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park, then he scored his seventh of the season the following weekend, sealing a 2-0 win against Austin FC at home.
The Galaxy return to action following the international break on June 19 in a top-of-the-table clash in the Western Conference against still-undefeated Seattle Sounders FC at Dignity Health Sports Park (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+).
MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
