Daniel Gazdag, fresh off a hat-trick performance in the Philadelphia Union’s 6-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, has won MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honors for Week 27.
The Hungarian midfielder’s three goals marked the second consecutive match in which a Philadelphia player has scored a hat trick, joining Julian Carranza in Week 26. He scored twice from open play and once from the penalty spot, fueling Saturday’s lopsided result at Subaru Park over the 10-man Rapids.
Gazdag now has 16 goals on the season, which is tied with CJ Sapong (2017) for the most by a Union player in a single season. His 16 goals are tied for the second most in MLS and his 24 goal contributions are the third most behind Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (27) and Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi (26).
Firmly in the Golden Boot presented by Audi chase, Gazdag’s 24 goal contributions (16 goals, eight assists) are the second most in a single season in club history, and he is one shy of tying Sebastien Le Toux’s 25 in 2010.
The 26-year-old’s effort helped Philadelphia become the first club in league history to record four six-goal victories. All of those results have occurred since early July.
Philadelphia will look to set the MLS record for the most goals scored in a three-game span (15 by the LA Galaxy in 1998) when they host Atlanta United on Wednesday evening (7 pm ET | FS1, FOX Deportes).
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.
