Sebastian Giovinco’s Toronto FC faced the Columbus Crew in the MLS in a match that ended in a 3-0 victory for them. The Italian struck the ball powerfully from 35 metres out or so for the opening goal, which looked like it hit the back of the net straight off his boot.
A second look at the video revealed that the ball took a deflection off his teammate Tsubasa Endoh’s back before curling sweetly past the keeper into the top left corner of the goal. The eighth-minute goal was awarded to Endoh. Although Giovinco struck the ball brilliantly, it was the deflection that put the additional spin on the ball, which was crucial to beating the keeper.
The early goal helped Toronto FC achieve their second win in the week, thanks to which they are now likely to earn themselves a spot in the playoffs. The team will face Real Salt Lake and the New England Revolution in their upcoming fixtures.
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Giovinco managed to score a goal for himself in the 24th minute of the game. At the end of a move which involved some slick passing with Jay Chapman, the 29-year-old striker put the ball past Columbus Crew keeper Steve Clark who was beaten at the top left corner for the second time that game. The goal was the 12th of Giovinco’s season.
The Italian forward played a role in all three goals of the game. Besides the goal he scored, he also added two assists to his name. He was awarded an assist for the early deflected wonder goal, and in the 87th minute he also set up Jozy Altidore to score his first goal of 2016.
“Getting this week off to a start of three points was huge in my eyes, because we don’t have a lot of depth at the moment and we know we’re going to be pushing guys deep this week, and to start off with three points is massive,” said Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney.
Giovinco had endured a rough patch in his MLS season, failing to score a single goal for eight consecutive games. However, the Italian emphatically broke the goal drought by scoring a hat-trick against D.C United in a game that ended 4-1 in Toronto FC’s favour.
