Alonso Martinez's hat-trick saw New York City fight back to beat FC Dallas 4-3 in MLS on Friday, lifting them into a playoff spot.

Pascal Jansen's visitors took an 11th-minute lead via Jonny Shore's header – his first goal in MLS – but they were quickly on the back foot as Petar Musa and Logan Farrington struck for Dallas within the next six minutes.

Martinez's first goal of the night came following a piece of excellent close control from Maximiliano Moralez's pass to make it 2-2 in the 20th minute, but a thrilling first half ended with Farrington getting his brace in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

However, NYCFC drew level immediately after half-time as Martinez beat Maarten Paes at his near post, and the best was yet to come from the Costa Rican.

With six minutes of the 90 remaining, he latched onto a wonderful pass from Fernandez Mercau before rounding Paes and slotting into the unguarded net.

The victory lifts NYCFC above Charlotte FC and into the final automatic playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Crown hosting Toronto FC on Saturday.

Orlando City are three points above NYCFC in sixth, having beaten the Columbus Crew 3-1 with a stirring fightback of their own.

Oscar Pareja's team looked set for defeat when Diego Rossi gave the Crew a 66th-minute lead from the penalty spot, but Ramiro Enrique came off the bench to change the game.

He scored in the 76th and 79th minutes to flip the contest on its head, before Martin Ojeda fired past Patrick Schulte to clinch the result in stoppage time.

Friday's other matches saw Western Conference leaders San Diego FC extend their lead over the Vancouver Whitecaps to four points with a 1-0 win over Nashville SC, with Hirving Lozano on target, while the Portland Timbers beat Los Angeles FC by the same scoreline.

CF Montreal beat the New England Revolution 3-1 in a game between two struggling sides in the East, while the Houston Dynamo's match against the LA Galaxy was postponed due to severe rainfall rendering the pitch at Shell Energy Stadium unplayable.

Data Debrief: Martinez the hero

Martinez's hat-trick was his second in MLS and his first in just over a year, having also netted three in a 5-1 rout of the San Jose Earthquakes last June.

He is one of only two Costa Ricans to net a treble in MLS, with Alvaro Saborio netting three hat-tricks for Real Salt Lake over the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.