Photo by Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports
By SBI SOCCER
Sebastian Giovinco and Toronto FC came into Saturday on a bad skid.
Both snapped their respective droughts, though, with a vital 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids.
MLS MVP contender Giovinco scored two goals four minutes apart during the first half, snapping his four-game goal drought, and also provided an assist to once again lead his side to an important win at BMO Field.
With his 18th and 19th goals, the Italian playmaker also moved into second all-time in goals scored for Toronto FC, only now sitting behind Dwayne De Rosario, who has 28.
Dillon Powers gave the visitors a glimmer of hope just before halftime, but the dark and rainy afternoon belonged to Toronto FC, which snapped its three-game losing streak and put it in prime position to reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. With the win, Toronto FC now has 40 points on the year, four behind the Columbus Crew in fourth and a comfortable 12 points ahead of Orlando City SC in seventh.
Robbie Findley combined with Giovinco in the team’s own half during the 14th minute, and from there, the Italian international took over. Sprinting down the right wing, Giovinco approached the penalty box and sent a low-driven shot to the bottom-left corner. Goalkeeper Clint Irwin got a hand to it, but the ball had enough force behind it and found the back of the net.
Jonathan Osorio laid off a succulent pass for Giovinco four minutes later, and just a few steps outside the box, he finessed the ball around Irwin and into the right corner for his brace.
Giovinco claimed his assist from a corner kick, as Damien Perquis rose high at the near post to give the Reds their third of the day in the 38th minute.
Toronto FC would have had a shutout if not for some indecision from goalkeeper Chris Konopka. The 30-year-old netminder decided to come out on a corner kick but misread the flight of the ball, and Powers was there to make him pay two minutes after Perquis’ tally.
However, Toronto FC held on in the second half, surviving the Rapids’ persistent attempts to counter and the torrential weather.
Toronto FC will look to continue its push for the playoffs against the Chicago Fire next Saturday, while the Rapids stay on the road to meet the Houston Dynamo the same day.
As much as I want to comment negatively on Altidore and Bradley’s performance……I think I’m going to sit this one out lol
Why not just make up some fake quotes about how bad they are and then lol at them?
no need to fake, they are doing it all for me lol (…and yes that was at them)
there should be a trade. get Don Gerber and Sepp to do another “blind draw” US gets giovinco and Italy gets Altidore, allocation money, and unnamed future considerations
Why a trade for jozy in particular? Gio is light years better than any USMNTer of all time. So choosing jozy only makes u seem desperate for a topic to mock him. We would have also been better if we had traded Landon, Mcbride AND Wynalda for Gio. Doesn’t mean much in the end
chuch.
Altidore and Bradley are quickly becoming a national embarrassment. Not only are they below mediocre players with below average effort but do they have to argue with the referee all the time?
If they’d produce at half their pay rate the referee would be the last thing on their minds
People just focus on Feilhaber’s higher goal and assists numbers but he actually has a higher interception and tackle rate then Bradley as well. I feel like Bradley often just jogs around with little purpose. He doesn’t really press or fill in passing lanes that well.
They do seem to produce little bang for the big buck sometimes. I check Toronto’s stat sheets weekly only to see how Jozy “the log” did in the current week’s game. His result this week was a one yellow card and one shot effort. Wonderful huh?
Those guys are lucky they have Klinsmann so snowed cause their MLS stats would not excite anybody and certainly doesn’t make them look like NAT starters anywhere but in the USA
Form comes and goes for even good players from time to time, but these two are starting to be a bit curious. That said, the sky isn’t falling because both of these guys are still doing relatively good. Jozy still has the second best scoring chance percentage in MLS and is our best striker in MLS. Nobody else in the pool can do what these two can do when they have their heads on straight, and I’m not one to bet against them turning it around soon.
In light of Seba’s AMAZING year, what is the most points a player has earned in a MLS season? You know, hockey style? 2 points for goal and one point for assist. Seba is at 19 goals and 14 assists now which would be a FILTHY 52 points.
That’s a good question. I have no clue but who might have scored AND assisted as much as him in the past. I can’t think of a potential player other than Landon (:-/). Usually the MLS scoring leaders are solely finishers. And similarly the assist leaders focus on wing play or cam play. I will say that I don’t know most MLSers from before 06 or so. I didn’t follow early on.
That’s actually the exact total Keane had last season 19 goals 14 assists, in winning the MVP.
hmmm this years MVP battle between gio and kamara is gonna be tight
Wondo in 2015 with 27 and 7 for 61 pts. Lassiter in 1996 with 58, Stern John with 57 in 1998, Mamadou Diallo in 200 with 57 and BWP last year with 56.
Thank you!
It’s gonna be a good wild card race in the east.
Nyc might pull a miracle, impact are leaning on drogba and kakas lions won’t gI’ve up.