Kekuta Manneh lifts Whitecaps past Sounders as Vancouver claims Cascadia Cup

SEATTLE – Dealing with a painful bruised quad, Kekuta Manneh had one last run down the field left in him and made the most of it.

Manneh scored in the final minute of the first half and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on Friday night to move back into position for a playoff spot and win the Cascadia Cup.

In front of 55,765 fans, the Sounders (19-10-3) needed only a draw to claim the supporter-created Cup. Instead, the Whitecaps (11-8-13) won their third straight game and jumped a point ahead of Cascadia-rival Portland for the fifth and final Western Conference berth.

Manneh’s goal, his fourth of the season, came off a counterattack. Just moments before, he had walked off the field in pain, but was allowed back on almost immediately, and was completely unmarked.

Midfielder Pedro Morales sent a long through ball to a streaking Manneh up the left wing side. Manneh took the ball into the penalty area, deked around defender Chad Marshall, and sent a shot into the corner of the net.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily a game we deserved to win, but it wasn’t a game we deserved to lose,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “A little breakdown at the end of the first half there when Manneh was off injured and came back onto the field catches us by surprise.”

The Sounders remained tied with Los Angeles atop the overall MLS standings.