Thomas Muller scored a hat trick on his birthday and Emmanuel Sabbi added two goals of his own for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who dismantled the visiting Philadelphia Union 7-0 on Saturday night.
Mathias Laborda and Rayan Elloumi also found the net for the Whitecaps, who clinched a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs thanks to LAFC’s 4-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes earlier in the evening.
Vancouver (15-6-7, 52 points) also won for the second straight match and stretched its unbeaten streak to three (2-0-1).
The Union (17-7-6, 57 points) saw a brief two-game win streak come to an end.
Muller’s first two goals came from the penalty spot, first in the 29th minute and then in first-half stoppage time.
The German legend, who signed with the Whitecaps after 17 seasons at Bayern Munich, completed his hat trick in the 88th minute. He now has four goals in three matches with the club.
The Whitecaps opened the scoring in the 18th minute on a corner kick routine. Sebastian Berhalter’s corner from the right side found its way to Laborda, who headed it past Union goalkeeper Andrew Rick to make it 1-0. It was Laborda’s fourth goal of the season.
Sabbi scored in the 24th minute to double the Whitecaps’ advantage to 2-0. Ali Ahmed slid a perfect pass from the left side of the box, who calmly struck it to the back of the net.
After Muller scored a pair from the spot in the first half, Sabbi completed his brace in the 61st minute, increasing the Whitecaps’ lead to 5-0 with his seventh goal of the season.
Elloumi, signed to a first-team contract on Friday, added a sixth goal in the 80th minute, his first in MLS, before Muller ended the scoring.
Berhalter finished the night with three assists, giving him a team-high nine on the season. Jayden Nelson had two assists of his own. Muller, Ahmed, and Giuseppe Bovalina had an assist a piece.
Yohei Takaoka turned aside both Union shots he faced as he kept a clean sheet.
–Field Level Media
