Josef Martínez HAT TRICK guides San Jose Earthquakes to anniversary rout | OneFootball

By Dylan Butler

On the anniversary of the first-ever Major League Soccer match 29 years ago, Josef Martínez turned back the clock, scoring a hat trick to pace the San Jose Earthquakes in a 6-1 home romp over D.C. United.

WATCH: Josef Martínez nets hat trick for San Jose Earthquakes

Josef Martínez

Forward · San Jose Earthquakes

El Rey

It was the Venezuelan international's seventh career hat trick – and first since scoring three times against D.C. United as Atlanta United’s talisman on July 21, 2018.

The legendary striker also claimed sole possession of sixth place on the MLS all-time goals list (120). He is 51 goals behind Earthquakes icon Chris Wondolowski, who retired with a league-best 171 goals.

“Today's special, not because of the three goals, but because my son was here," said Martínez, who signed in free agency. "That’s what was most important for me."

Bounce-back result

While San Jose Clash fans at Spartan Stadium had to wait until the 88th minute for Eric Wynalda’s winner on April 6, 1996, the Earthquakes essentially sealed Sunday’s victory inside the opening 20 minutes on goals by Cristian Arango, Martínez and Cristian Espinoza.

Martínez added two more goals inside the final 10 minutes to put the bow on a decisive victory over D.C. United at PayPal Park.

"He’s a pure 9," head coach Bruce Arena said post-game. "He has a great nose for the goal.

"I think some of our issues in our first six games away, Josef missed one of the games with international duty. We haven’t found him. We haven’t noticed some of the runs he’s made today. He’s getting some chances. He scored three goals. He could have had a fourth one right at the end. That’s a real positive."

The Earthquakes improved to 3W-3L-1D and moved up to eighth place in the Western Conference standings. They're now the highest-scoring team in the West (15) during Arena’s first season at the helm.

“[Major League Soccer has] made a lot of progress,” said Arena, who was in charge of D.C. United in that inaugural match. “I’m just thinking in the case of San Jose, if we can schedule this game every 30 years, we’d be in good shape.”

San Jose, which snapped a four-match winless streak, return to action next Saturday at LAFC (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

WATCH: San Jose Earthquakes drop six goals on DC United