Paul Arriola netted a brace to guide the Seattle Sounders to a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 first leg at BC Place.

Arriola, who made his first start in over a year after returning from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, scored on either side of half-time before Paul Rothrock made sure of the win.

Seattle started on top, with Cristian Roldan volleying wide from long range before Arriola had a one-on-one shot smothered by Yohei Takaoka.

At the other end, Kenji Cabrera saw an effort cleared off the line by the backtracking Nouhou Tolo, before Jesus Ferreira latched onto a loose backpass and pulled it back for Arriola, who guided a first-time finish into the net in the 45th minute.

Arriola got his second 13 minutes after the break, being in the right place to bundle home after a mix-up at the back saw Vancouver fail to clear Kalani Kossa-Rienzi's cross.

Thomas Muller headed wide before Stefan Frei made an acrobatic stop to keep out Mathias Laborda's effort, and just over a minute later, Rothrock raced onto a loose ball in the box to rifle in Seattle's third.

Vancouver pushed for a goal to take into next week's second leg, but Muller could only poke his shot against the crossbar of an empty goal in stoppage time as Seattle held onto their clean sheet.

Elsewhere, FC Cincinnati earned a shock 3-0 win over Tigres UANL at TQL Stadium. Kevin Denkey started for the hosts, getting two goals on either side of an assist, as he set up Tom Barlow.

Data Debrief: Arriola makes perfect return

Arriola suffered his serious knee injury in the 2025 Champions Cup, but he put that bad memory behind him with a stunning return on Thursday.

He led the way for Seattle, having a team-high three shots (all of which were on target), four touches in the opposition box, while also creating two chances.

Arriola contributed 1.4 expected goals (xG) to Seattle's overall tally of 1.77, and accumulated more than Vancouver managed as a team (1.36 xG).