TORONTO – A midweek draw away to New York City could prove costly for Toronto FC.
Coach Greg Vanney confirmed that leading scorer Sebastian Giovinco is questionable for Saturday night’s home game against the Colorado Rapids after he bruised his lower back in Wednesday’s 2-2 stalemate against NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.
The Italian suffered the injury when he took a knee to his right side just as he was taking a shot. He returned to the match shortly after the incident before being subbed out just before halftime.
“He got out [in today’s practice] and went through three quarters of the way through the session, and after that we sent him in for treatment,” Vanney said. “He’s questionable [for Saturday]. We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow and get him moving around. He’s doing much better today than he was yesterday.”
Vanney later added: “It’s a muscle injury. It not like it’s going to necessarily get worse, but if you can’t move, you can’t move. But he was moving a lot better today, so we’re optimistic.”
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Giovinco has a team-leading nine goals and five assists in 15 MLS appearances in 2017. He’s previously missed four games due to injuries, including a quad strain and a bruised heel.
TFC is already without captain Michael Bradley, forward Jozy Altidore and left wingback Justin Morrow, who are all away with the United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Right wingback Steven Beitashour is recovering from a recent operation, and is still a few weeks away from returning to full training.
The good news for Toronto is that right fullback Nick Hagglund is available for selection on Saturday. He’s been sidelined with a torn MCL since mid-May.
Should Giovinco not be available to play against the Rapids, possible replacements include Canadian Jordan Hamilton and rookie Ben Spencer. Canadian Tosaint Ricketts, who is returning from Gold Cup duty, would be another possibility.
Even with Altidore out of the mix, Vanney said he won’t rush Giovinco back into the line-up on Saturday unless the Italian is fully fit. Altidore is TFC’s second-leading scorer this season with eight goals and five assists in 17 games.
“We’ll only push Seba if he feels like he’s good to go,” Vanney said. “[Ricketts] coming back, and with Jordan and Ben, and we’ve got some guys that we can use as options … we’ll have guys, and we’ll ultimately just make a decision on Seba based on how he feels.”
TFC sits atop the overall standings with a 11-3-6 record and is unbeaten at home this season with seven wins and two draws. Saturday’s contest marks the only meeting this year between Toronto and Colorado (6-11-1).
Defender Drew Moor, who spent six years in Colorado before coming to Toronto last year, can become the 10th player (not including goalkeepers) in MLS history to play in 350 regular season games should be make an appearance on Saturday.
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