Giovinco-inspired Toronto eases to Trillium Cup defeat of Columbus

Toronto - Tsubasa Endoh and Sebastian Giovinco scored in the first half and Jozy Altidore added a late goal in Toronto FC's 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on Sunday night.

Endoh opened the scoring for Toronto (9-7-6) in the eighth minute when a shot from Giovinco deflected off his back, which provided a spin that threw off Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clark.

Related - Watch: Giovinco's strike takes massive deflection off Endoh to open scoring

Giovinco scored in the 24th minute. He passed to Canadian midfielder Jay Chapman, continued his run, got the ball back from Chapman and hit the ball with the outside of his right foot past Clark's outstretched right hand.

Altidore, who came off the bench in the second half, had his 87th-minute shot deflected by Columbus defender Michael Parkhurst for his first goal of the season.

The victory gives Toronto the Trillium Cup, an in-season competition between the two teams that acknowledges their geographical proximity, after TFC and Columbus (3-9-10) had drawn their previous two meetings this season.

Named after the plant that's both the official flower of Ontario and the state wildflower of Ohio, the Trillium Cup heads north of the border for just the third time in the nine years it has been contested.