Müller’s birthday hat-trick propels Whitecaps to dominant win over Supporters' Shield leader Philadelphia Union

MEGAN SWAIN/ GATG

On September 13, 2025, the Vancouver Whitecaps played the current Supporters' Shield leaders, Philadelphia Union. A dominant showing from the Whitecaps saw them take down the top of the league 7-0, the clubs largest margin of victory in their history.

To clinch their third consecutive trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Whitecaps needed a draw against Philadelphia. With this decisive win, the Whitecaps have officially punched their ticket to the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.

The last time the Whitecaps played Philadelphia was in 2019, which resulted in a 1-1 draw. Coming off a 3 week break, the rest and practice time did the Whitecaps good.

The Whitecaps came out strong, keeping possession of the ball early in the match, and by the end had kept possession of the ball for 70% of the game compared to 30% for Philadelphia.

Mathías Laborda struck first for the Whitecaps in the 18’. Berhalter took a corner kick that he put into the centre of the box, which Laborda connected with, heading the ball into the net.

6 minutes later, in the 24’, Emmanuel Sabbi doubled the Whitecaps lead 2-0. Ali Ahmed ran the ball down to the left corner, then passed it up to Sabbi in the centre of the box. Sabbi put it to the top left corner and celebrated with his usual backflip.

This goal marked Sabbi’s seventh goal and Ahmed’s seventh assist of the season across all competitions.

A penalty kick taken in the 29’, got the birthday boy, Thomas Müller his first goal of the game. Müller got the Philadelphia goalie to go right and put the ball in the bottom left corner. This was his second goal across all competitions.

Philadelphia got on the scoresheet in the 40’, but an official review saw the goal overturned due to an offside call, keeping the score 3-0.

Ahmed drew a penalty kick in the 45’ +1’, taken again by Müller. Müller put the ball in the bottom left corner again, taking a slight pause before taking the kick. This time the goalie jumped to the left, but Müller still got the ball in the net.

The Whitecaps lead 4-0 at the half. This is the first time they have scored 4 goals in the first half in the MLS era.

Sabbi scored his second of the game and eighth of the season in the 61’. The assists went to Müller, his first in the MLS, and Berhalter, got his second assist of the night, and tenth across all competitions.

The Whitecaps had 3 substitutions in the 67’ and 68’. Ahmed was substituted out for Jayden Nelson, Daniel Ríos was substituted out for Rayan Elloumi, and Édier Ocampo was substituted out for Tate Johnson.

This was Elloumi’s MLS home field debut, and 2 minutes after coming onto the pitch, in the 80’, he scored his first in the MLS, and first as a Whitecap. A header into the net, Elloumi became the first Whitecaps FC homegrown player to score in his debut.

The first assist went to Berhalter, his third of the night and eleventh across all competitions, giving him sole possession of the team-lead in assists. The second assist went to Nelson, his first of the night, and tenth across all competitions, putting him second for team assists across all competitions.

In the 88’, Müller completed the birthday hat-trick and scored the Whitecaps seventh of the night. His hat-trick was the fourth of the day in the MLS. Müller’s third of the night and fourth of the season came in only 3 games played and 2 games started.

The first assist went to Giuseppe Bovalina and the second assist went to Nelson. Nelson’s second assist of the night and eleventh across all competitions, ties him with Berhalter for team-lead in assists across all competitions.

With a final score of 7-0, Yohei Takaoka claimed his twelfth clean sheet of the season, leading the MLS.

For the third game in a row BC Place had a sell-out crowd of 26, 031. This is the first time in MLS history the Whitecaps have had 3 consecutive sell outs of 26, 031.

The Whitecaps go again on Tuesday, September 16, as a part of the 2025 Telus Canadian Championship in Leg 2 against Forge FC. This game will be played at BC Place before they go on the road to play Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, September 20.