VANCOUVER - Thomas Muller scored a hat trick on his birthday and the Vancouver Whitecaps clinched a playoff spot with a dominant 7-0 win over the visiting Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Muller converted a pair of first-half penalty kicks, then added an assist and a goal from open play in the second half.

Emmanuel Sabbi also scored twice for the ‘Caps (15-6-7) as the club secured a post-season berth for the third year in a row.

Mathias Laborda and Rayan Elloumi each added a goal, and ‘keeper Yohei Takaoka stopped two on-target shots to record his Major League Soccer-leading 12th clean sheet of the season.

The Union (17-7-6) came into the game sitting atop the league standings but the ‘Caps were the dominant side for much of the game, much to the delight of the sellout c

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