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Three Tridents in Canadian Premier League Team of the Week – Week 6

The Canadian Premier League announced the Team of the Week for Week 6 of the CPL season on Monday and three Pacific FC players earned their way into the XI: Jamar Dixon, Manny Aparicio, and Alejandro Diaz.

Dixon made his first appearance in the Team of the Week this season after leading his team to another victory at home, the fourth in four games to start the season. The Pacific FC captain had 73 touches in the match and completed 88% of his passes as he helped run the show in midfield. Dixon stuck to his defensive duties as well, winning three tackles and eight of 12 duels, as well as having four clearances, eight recoveries and one interception over the ninety minutes. Dixon’s leadership was been key in Pacific maintaining their foothold at the top of the league despite the target on their back as champions.

Aparicio, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Team of the Week these days. After being named again this week, that is now back-to-back nominations for Aparicio, and four weeks out of six for the season. The 26-year-old has simply been one of the best players in the league in 2022, after already setting an incredibly high bar for himself last season. On Saturday, Aparicio lined up as part of a midfield two with Dixon – the first time James Merriman has set his team up in that system this year. It’s no surprise both midfielders made the team of the week as their partnership worked seamlessly against FC Edmonton despite having to cover extra ground in the middle of the park without a third midfielder. In an all-action performance, Aparicio’s biggest contribution on Saturday was for Josh Heard’s winning goal. After a trademark run forward from midfield, Aparicio slid a perfect cross to the back-post for Heard to tap in and double Pacific’s lead at that point.

The final PFC man to make the Team of the Week for Week 6 was Diaz,  the scorer of the first goal in the match. That scrappy finish gave Diaz his fifth goal in seven matches and moved him two goals clear at the top of the Golden Boot race. Diaz’s predatory instincts in the box make Pacific dangerous in any attacking phase and a loose ball in the box is an immediate nightmare for the opposition’s defence.  His movement and timing off the ball is top-class and it doesn’t seem like it’ll be long before he becomes Pacific FC’s all-time leading goalscorer – Terran Campbell has 25 career goals for Pacific, Diaz is now on 20. This was the Mexican striker’s second time being named to the Team of the Week in 2022.