Birthday boy Thomas Muller played a starring role as his first MLS hat-trick helped the Vancouver Whitecaps thrash the Philadelphia Union 7-0 on Saturday.

The Whitecaps, who are third in the Western Conference, claimed their biggest-ever MLS victory in sensational style at BC Place.

On the day he turned 36, Muller scored two penalties before completing his hat-trick in the 88th minute, having also assisted Emmanuel Sabbi, who helped himself to a brace.

Mathias Laborda and substitute Rayan Elloumi were also on target in the rout, as Philadelphia, who top MLS with 57 points, were handed a chastening defeat and Vancouver sealed their playoff spot.

"Philly are still top of the league," said Muller. "To win 7-0 against them, even at home, that's a very special day, so we can be proud, and then we go again."

"What I love about this team is, and you saw it in all three games I've played now, is that we're not stopping. We don't stop, even if we’re up or down or if it's a draw, we don’t stop. That's the message we want to send.

"Firstly, to us internally, but also to the other teams. We won't stop until the last minute. That should be our mentality for the rest of the season and also for the future."

Two places back from Vancouver in the West sit Los Angeles FC, who claimed a 4-2 away win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Son Heung-min scored inside a minute at Levi's Stadium, where Denis Bouanga then made it 3-0 with two goals in quick succession.

Preston Judd pulled one back for San Jose, but LAFC never looked likely to let their lead slip, and Bouanga rounded out his hat-trick in the 87th minute to restore the visitors' three-goal cushion, before Sergi Palencia turned into his own goal.

Atlanta United, meanwhile, just failed in a remarkable comeback attempt as they were edged out by the Columbus Crew in a nine-goal thriller.

The Crew soared into a 5-0 lead inside 39 minutes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Diego Rossi scoring three times.

Yet Atlanta fought back, with Jamal Thiare's second goal of the game setting up a grandstand finish, but the Crew just about held firm.

Minnesota United continued their surge towards the top spots with a 3-1 win over Western Conference leaders San Diego FC.

Debutant Nectarios Triantis came up with the highlight goal, sending an audacious 55-yard strike looping over stranded San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos in second-half stoppage time.

Data Debrief: Bouanga brilliance does for San Jose

Bouanga has now scored eight times in eight regular-season matches against San Jose, who are one of five teams he has netted at least five times against in league play.

No other player has scored five or more goals against more than three different teams since Bouanga debuted in MLS in August 2022.

Muller, meanwhile, scored his first hat-trick in club football since April 2018, when he netted one for Bayern Munich against Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal.