Sebastian Giovinco and Toronto FC showed no mercy as they crushed NYCFC 5-0 in the second leg of their tie to ease into the MLS Eastern Conference championship against the Montreal Impact.
Americans shine in MLS playoffs
Last season’s MVP Giovinco scored a hat trick in Sunday’s second leg to lead Toronto to a devastating 7-0 aggregate success and to within three matches of winning the MLS Cup.
NYCFC captain Villa played the full 90 minutes of the five-goal home defeat at Yankee Stadium and finds the result tough to accept.
“When I go home, it is difficult for me to sleep because we lost 5-0,” the former World Cup winner said to the MLS’ official website. “But I will try to sleep with a steady conscience because I gave 100 percent in every time of my life for NYCFC. Of course, I wanted to score a hat trick like Giovinco and give the victory to my team, but I couldn’t.
“The defeat is not about one thing or two things, it’s not about giving up a lot of goals or scoring a lot of goals. Everything is bad and we play against a better team than us in this round.”
Fellow designated players Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo also played in New York’s heavy defeat, with the 7-0 margin of victory an MLS postseason record.
