Rate the U: Santos hat trick earns him top spot

When you score the first hat trick for the Philadelphia Union in more than three years, it’s no surprise that you earn the highest rating in our Community Player Ratings poll.

Santos finished with an average rating of 4.98 to take the well deserved top spot after his most dominant performance in a Union uniform. He last took the top spot in the Union’s 2-1 loss to Toronto and also finished first in the MLS is Back knockout game against Sporting Kansas City.

Kai Wagner finished second with an average rating of 4.89, followed by Jim Curtin with a 4.85 average, Jose Martinez at 4.81 and Jamiro Monteiro at 4.79. All but one starter in the game — Kacper Przybylko — finished with an average rating above 4.

Impressive stuff, but understandable given how dominant the performance was and how hard it is to find fault with anything or anyone in the performance.

This is perhaps best described by the answer one reader gave to the question on the poll about what the most important play of the game was. “Opening whistle,” the reader wrote.

Among the keys to the game mentioned in the optional questions in the poll, Martinez’s return is mentioned several times and Monteiro’s third goal is a play many highlighted as finishing off Toronto.

In terms of surprises, this kind of sums those up: “Who the fuck thought we would destroy first place Toronto? Like what was that game?”

Some other miscellaneous comments from the game:

• “Five stars for everyone except Kacper. Hopefully he will get going soon. We need him. Otherwise, outstanding night...wish I could have been there in person.”
• “Still in shock, not sure we are this good or Toronto just had a really bad night so probably both!”
• “Best performance by Philadelphia Union in team history.”
• “Martinez is a monster.”
• “Ray was so good during this match. He wasn’t on the scoreboard so he might not get enough love but he was incredible offensively and defensively.”