Philadelphia Union: Tai Baribo named Player of the Matchday | OneFootball

By MLSsoccer staff

Player of the Matchday 2: Tai Baribo

Philadelphia Union hat-trick hero Tai Baribo has been named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 2.

The Israeli international striker's three-goal outburst powered the Union to a 4-1 home win over FC Cincinnati as Philly opened the season with consecutive victories for the first time since 2011.

Baribo also found the back of the net twice in a 4-2 win at Orlando City SC during MLS is Back weekend, becoming just the fourth player in league history to score at least five goals in the club's first two games of the season – joining Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020) and Brian Ching (2006).

Baribo now has two career MLS hat tricks, and two Player of the Matchday awards, after getting the nod during Matchday 27 of the 2024 season for his three tallies in a 5-1 rout of the New England Revolution.

He's the fourth player in Union history to earn Player of the Matchday honors multiple times, along with Julián Carranza (4), Dániel Gazdag (3) and Sébastien Le Toux (2).

Baribo and the Union will look to improve to three wins in as many games this season when visiting the New England Revolution on Saturday night in Matchday 3 (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra 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 Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.