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'Caps roll past Union

May 10, 2015 - 1:07 AM Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) - Vancouver Whitecaps FC returned to winning ways on Saturday with a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union at BC Place.

After struggling to find the back of the net in a scoreless draw against the Portland Timbers last time out, Pedro Morales, Octavio Rivero and Darren Mattocks had little trouble scoring on Saturday to lead the Whitecaps back to the top of the Western Conference with 20 points.

Philadelphia's struggles continued as Jim Curtin's side was wasteful with its chances and remains stuck on just one win from its first 11 matches.

The home side opened the scoring in the 32nd minute as youngster Cristian Techera did well to chip the ball into space for Morales, who took a touch and lofted it over out-of-position Union goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre.

It was 2-0 for the 'Caps one minute before the break when Cristian Maidana put the Union in a difficult spot with a poor back pass and Rivero outmuscled Philadelphia defender Ethan White, went in alone and easily slotted it past Sylvestre.

Philadelphia made several attack-minded substitutions in the second half hoping to find an offensive spark, including sending forward Conor Casey onto the field in place of White in the 76th minute, but the Union remained largely toothless at the offensive end of the field.

Things then got even worse for the visitors when rookie defender Richie Marquez was shown a straight red card by referee Ismail Elfath for a late challenge in the 78th minute.

Vancouver then put an exclamation point on the performance with nine minutes to play when Mattocks blasted one past Sylvestre for his third goal of the season to wrap up all three points.