With a massive win fueled by Mikael Uhre's hat trick, the Philadelphia Union have both momentum and the Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire on their side heading into this week's Concacaf Champions League semifinal showdown against LAFC.
The Danish forward took home top individual honors for Matchday 9, striking three times as the Union pummeled Toronto FC, 4-2, to head into the highly-anticipated MLS Cup 2022 final rematch on a high note.
Thanks to his three-goal outburst, Uhre reached five tallies on the season and now only trails Seattle’s Jordan Morris (8), LAFC’s Dénis Bouanga (7) and San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza (6) in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race.
Signed from Danish powerhouse Brøndby IF ahead of the 2022 campaign, Uhre has averaged 0.73 goals per 90 minutes – tops among all players to see at least 2,000 minutes of action. His 18 goals over this time period are the ninth most in MLS and second most on the Union, behind fellow Designated Player Dániel Gazdag (25).
This is Uhre's first Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire award, and he's Philly's first recipient of the accolade since Gazdag in 2022. The Eastern Conference club boast four recipients since the beginning of last season, more than any other team in MLS.
Philadelphia host LAFC Wednesday night (9 pm ET | FS1, TUDN) at Subaru Park in the first leg of their CCL semifinal series, with the return leg scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at BMO Stadium.
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
