While you were sleeping, Sebastian Giovinco exploded.
Even with his team down 3-0 to FC Dallas after half an hour, then subjected to an hours-long weather delay as storms crackled over Toyota Stadium, Toronto FC's crafty Italian playmaker never lost his spark.
And when the FCD defense gave him a few slight openings in the final moments of an endless night, he nearly turned the game on its head in what might be the most individually dominant seven minutes of the MLS season to date.
It started in the 83rd minute, when Giovinco latched on to a searching pass from Nick Hagglund and slashed past Je-Vaughn Watson, tight-roping along the endline before scooping a cold-blooded finish past Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
Four razor-sharp touches, one amazing goal.
Not content with that glorious solo strike, Giovinco conjured up more magic barely two minutes later, this time cutting inside on Watson and curling in a menacing shot that dipped inches wide of the far post.
He did his calculations perfectly in the 89th, using a short run-up to lift a delicate, devastating free kick over the FCD wall and past Seitz's outstretched hand into the top corner to destroy Dallas' three-goal cushion and force the home side to sweat out injury time in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Sure, you could chalk it up to a case of “too little, too late.” But it's really another useful reminder that Giovinco is worth the price of admission, every week – and for every last second of the 90-plus minutes.
