Seattle Sounders x Vancouver Whitecaps

In a dramatic turn of events, the Vancouver Whitecaps emerged victorious 2-0 over their arch-rivals, the Seattle Sounders, at Lumen Field on Saturday night. The match was a tight affair until a red card just before halftime swung the momentum in Vancouver's favor.

Seattle started strong with Pedro Vite forcing a diving save from Stefan Frei in the 11th minute. However, the tide turned dramatically in the 43rd minute. A challenge by Jackson Ragen on Ryan Gauld initially received a yellow card, but a VAR review upgraded it to a red, leaving the Sounders a man down. Despite the disadvantage, Seattle nearly equalized in stoppage time through a Jordan Morris header, but it went just wide.

The second half belonged to Vancouver. A Sounders turnover in the back led to the opening goal in the 58th minute. Sam Adekugbe found Ryan Gauld with a perfect cross, and the Scottish midfielder coolly slotted it past Frei. Disaster struck Seattle again in the 75th minute as Alex Roldan received a straight red card for a reckless tackle, leaving them with only nine men.

Brian White capitalized on another Seattle error in the 71st minute, putting the game out of reach with his third goal in three matches. Frei kept the deficit down with a phenomenal double save on Damir Kreilach and White late in the game. Seattle's best chance came in stoppage time, but Yohei Takaoka denied their final effort to secure the clean sheet for Vancouver.

This loss marks a challenging start to the Cascadia Cup campaign for the Sounders, while the Whitecaps will be brimming with confidence after securing their second win against their Pacific Northwest rivals.

[Photography by Alejandro Sanchez Ochoa and Erick Ramirez]