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Philadelphia Union Midfielder Dániel Gazdag MLS Player of the Week Presented by Continental Tire for Week 27 ​​​​​​

Published on August 29, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


NEW YORK - Philadelphia Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for the 27th week of the 2022 MLS season.

Gazdag scored his first career hat trick against the Colorado Rapids in Philadelphia's second-consecutive 6-0 victory on Saturday, August 27. Gazdag's three goals marked the second consecutive match in which a Philadelphia player has scored a hat trick, joining Julián Carranza in Week 26. The last time a team had two different players score a hat trick in consecutive matches was LAFC's Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi from March 30 - April 6, 2019. Gazdag became the sixth different player in club history to score a hat trick and he 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).

Gazdag opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Union forward Mikael Uhre chested down a long pass into the path of the Hungarian, who took one touch and fired a shot past the Rapids' goalkeeper. After another nifty passing combination with Uhre, Gazdag was taken down in the box for a penalty kick, which he easily placed into the net for a 2-0 Philadelphia lead in the 20th minute. The Union extended their lead to 3-0, and in the 83rd minute, Gazdag finished off his hat trick to make it 4-0 as Cory Burke found him running behind the last defender and he made no mistake with a delicate chip over the goalkeeper and into the net.

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. His 16 goals are three behind Austin FC's Driussi for the most in the league, as he looks to become the first Union player to win the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi. With his hat trick on Saturday, Gazdag became the 10th player in club history to hit 20 career goals. Since 2010, the Union have had six different players score a hat trick, which is tied for the second most by a single club in MLS.

Gazdag joins Carranza (twice) as the only Union players to win MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire in 2022. The Union are the first team to win consecutive MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honors with two different players since the New England Revolution in Weeks 8-9 of 2021 (Matt Turner and Carles Gil). This is the third time in club history that the Union have earned the honor three times in the same season (2016 and 2019). Gazdag is the 15th different player to win the award in Philadelphia history.

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 FC at Subaru Park on Wednesday, August 31 (7:00 p.m. 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.

2022 MLS Player of the Week

presented by Continental Tire Winners

Week Player Club

Week 1 Carlos Vela Los Angeles Football Club

Week 2 Lewis Morgan New York Red Bulls

Week 3 Dayne St. Clair Minnesota United FC

Week 4 Jesús Ferreira FC Dallas

Week 5 Javier "Chicharito" Hernández LA Galaxy

Week 6 Leonardo Campana Inter Miami CF

Week 7 Valentín "Taty" Castellanos New York City FC

Week 8 Cristian Espinoza San Jose Earthquakes

Week 9 Kamal Miller CF Montréal

Week 10 Ronaldo Cisneros Atlanta United FC

Week 11 Sebastián Blanco Portland Timbers

Week 12 Jamiro Monteiro San Jose Earthquakes

Week 13 Sebastián Ferreira Houston Dynamo FC

Week 14 Dejan Joveljić LA Galaxy

Week 15 Luquinhas New York Red Bulls

Week 16 Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC

Week 17 Brenner F.C. Cincinnati

Week 18 Taxiarchis "Taxi" Fountas D.C. United

Week 19 Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union

Week 20 Jhon Durán Chicago Fire FC

Week 21 Emanuel Reynoso Minnesota United FC

Week 22 Michael Bradley Toronto FC

Week 23 Gonzalo Higuaín Inter Miami CF

Week 24 Gyasi Zardes Colorado Rapids

Week 25 Alejandro Pozuelo Inter Miami CF

Week 26 Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union

Week 27 Dániel Gazdag Philadelphia Union

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Major League Soccer Stories from August 29, 2022


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