The Vancouver Whitecaps secured the Cascadia Cup on Sunday night behind two second-half goals that helped them grab a 2-0 win over a battered and bruised Seattle Sounders side.

The ‘Caps had the bulk of the possession but had trouble finding the knockout punch on a reeling Seattle side. Rayan Elloumi ultimately obliged, before Thomas Müller put things out of reach with a second goal. 

Jesper Sørensen opted to mix things up as the ‘Caps returned to MLS play, with Emmanuel Sabbi taking a turn at striker in place of Brian White. Cheikh Sabaly, Müller, and Jeevan Badwal completed the attacking band. Midfield remained the same, with Ralph Priso and Mathias Laborda swapping in at centreback in between Tate Johnson and Edier Ocampo.

The ‘Caps were content to cede some possession early as both teams tried to find their feet. Vancouver tried to figure out how best to use Sabbi as a striker and ramped up the press on Seattle. When the ‘Caps did have the ball, they pushed all 10 outfield players into the Seattle side of the pitch to try to break through the Sounders’ back line.

Sørensen’s game plan went out the window in the 15th minute, when Badwal was bashed into from behind by Nouhou Tolo and suffered a head injury, forcing Rayan Elloumi to come on and shift Sabbi over to his natural winger position. It was a blow for Badwal, who started the match brightly, and an example of poor officiating, as Nouhou wasn’t even called for a foul when the offense warranted a yellow card.

The Sounders had their share of half-chances in transition as the ‘Caps captured the lion’s share of possession, testing Yohei Takaoka a half hour into the match. In truth, Seattle could have had more fruitful chances going forward, but for some disjointed passing.

Vancouver’s best chance of the first half came off a set piece, with Müller crashing the box on a late run, only to have his half-volley cleared off the line by a combination of Paul Rothrock and Andrew Thomas. That moment seemed to galvanize the ‘Caps, and they finished the first half with a bit more purpose and attacking intent.

The second half started with very similar patterns of play, albeit with a bit more intensity. Vancouver’s pressure gave the Sounders headaches, but it didn’t lead to any clear-cut chances. Meanwhile, Seattle conspired to fluff a 3v2 breakaway at the other end.

The addition of Ryan Gauld gave the ‘Caps a slightly different look. Gauld added a bit more quality on the ball on the right-hand side, and he immediately began linking up well with Edier Ocampo and Elloumi. For a time, a Vancouver goal seemed inevitable.

Indeed, it was a transition moment for the ‘Caps that led to their breakthrough. It was a well-worked move forward that saw Sabbi play a perfectly weighted chip for Elloumi. Despite a trying last month, Elloumi made no mistake with an expert finish and made it 1-0 for Vancouver.

A foul-up from the Sounders allowed the ‘Caps to double their lead. A great bit of effort from Elloumi and Gauld forced Nouhou to tap a loose ball back to Taylor and the Seattle keeper got his lines crossed, picking up the ball and triggering an indirect free kick. A well-worked routine saw Müller slot it in first time off the post. 

Stray Thoughts

• We didn’t get to see much of it, but I think the Sabbi-as-striker experiment has some legs. After one miscue early, he picked up quickly on when and where to position himself against the ball, and he provided something different up top. 
• But a massive credit to Rayan Elloumi, who was fantastic in his unexpected appearance, even before the goal. This was the most confident we’ve ever seen Elloumi on the ball, and his movement was really good as well. The goal was the cherry on top as he tries to build confidence. If you’ve wondered what has happened to Elloumi’s development, this match showed that the sky is still the limit for the youngster.
• It feels like every match that I write some variation of the sentence “I don’t think Oliver Larraz is a long-term replacement for Sebastian Berhalter but …” and this match certainly falls into that category. His four key passes were the most of anyone on the pitch, and he is perfectly comfortable on the ball in tight spaces, with Seattle unable to box him in. He worked well with Cubas to shut down the middle of the pitch as well. 
• A truly poor refereeing performance worked out in Vancouver’s favor. Nouhou should have had two yellows in the first 20 minutes, and then was finally booked for deking Yohei Takaoka in the second half. But he and Andrew Thomas gifted the ‘Caps their second, so all’s well that ends well.
• Man, it has gotten to the point where I almost feel bad for the Sounders. I remember past iterations of the Whitecaps where the team looked lost, key players were hurt, and the fans were fuming. The ‘Caps won’t care that this is Seattle’s reality now, and they did what they needed to do against an overmatched rival. Seattle did a pretty good job of minimizing the danger from the ‘Caps for the first hour or so, but they were outworked, outmuscled, and outplayed in pretty much every dimension. The final scoreline was deserved and should settle the nerves.
• And, oh yeah, the ‘Caps won the Cascadia Cup.

Man of the Match

There are no shortage of options for this one. Ralph Priso didn’t put a foot wrong in defense, while Oliver Larraz and Andres Cubas were fantastic in the midfield. But while Rayan Elloumi hasn’t had much to celebrate lately, he played like a man possessed in this one. His goal was well taken but his distribution and quality on the ball were just as good. This could be the turning point for the youngster’s 2026 season.