Petar Musa scored his first MLS hat trick in FC Dallas' 5-3 win over Minnesota United FC, earning Player of the Matchday honors for Matchday 21.
The Croatian striker, acquired in the offseason for a club-record fee from Portuguese powerhouse Benfica, paved the way for FCD's second straight victory under interim head coach Peter Luccin while extending their unbeaten run to three.
Musa is Dallas' first European-born Player of the Matchday and their most recent honoree since homegrown Jesús Ferreira took home the prize in Matchday 4 of the 2022 MLS season.
Wednesday's three-goal outburst improved Musa to 8g/2a in his maiden MLS season, moving into FCD to 11th place in the Western Conference – just four points off the ninth and final playoff spot – with a 5W-8L-5D record.
Dallas will look to continue their rise up the standings on Saturday night when visiting Seattle Sounders FC in Matchday 22 (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday 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 an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
