Sebastian Giovinco scores twice, streaking Toronto beats Montreal 3-1

Sebastian Giovinco scored twice, Jozy Altidore added a goal and MLS-leading Toronto FC beat the host Montreal Impact 3-1 on Sunday to run its unbeaten streak to nine games.

With seven games left in the regular season, Toronto (16-3-8) – which hasn’t lost since a 3-1 setback in Dallas on July 1 – remained on pace for the most points in MLS history. Toronto has 56 points, 12 shy of the league record set by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1998. The Reds also improved their MLS-best road record to 6-3-5.

Ignacio Piatti scored his 15th goal for Montreal (10-9-6) in second-half stoppage time. The Impact had won four straight.

The boisterous crowd booed when Altidore sold a heavy fall to the ground to referee Robert Sibiga when he felt Blerim Dzemaili’s hand on his back, giving Toronto a free kick from about 22 yards in front of the Montreal goal.

Giovinco, perhaps the league’s most dangerous dead-ball kicker, left goalkeeper Evan Bush no chance as he curled it over the wall and inside the near post in the 41st minute. The Italian took a dig at Montreal fans by pretending to wipe tears away as part of his celebration.

Dzemaili was shown the yellow card just before halftime as he protested Sibiga’s calls.

Altidore connected in the 52nd minute. Victor Vazquez put a long throw-in down the right side for Marky Delgado. The midfielder sent a cross into the middle for Altidore to redirect past Bush for his 11th goal.

After Piatti cut it to 2-1, Giovinco completed the scoring in the final seconds with his 15th of the season.

San Jose 3, Los Angeles 0: Valeri Qazaishvili scored his second goal in three games and third in his MLS career and the Earthquakes beat the Galaxy in Carson, California, to snap a three-game winless streak.

Los Angeles (6-14-10) is winless in its last 10 matches and has lost four in a row.

Qazaishvili gave San Jose (10-11-6) a 1-0 lead in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. Shea Salinas’ corner kick slipped untouched to the far side of the area, where Qazaishvili first-timed a shot that deflected slightly off defender Dave Romney and into the net.

Marco Urena tapped it past a charging Jon Kempin in the 80th minute, and Chris Wondolowski added a goal, his 11th of the season, in stoppage time.

Andrew Tarbell had three saves for his first MLS shutout. The 23-year-old had allowed nine goals in the previous three games, the first three starts of his career.

Seattle 1, Portland 1: Cristian Roldan scored his sixth goal of the season on a wild scramble to give host Seattle an early advantage, and Diego Valeri scored on a penalty kick just before halftime to help the Timbers escape with a draw with the rival Sounders.

The 99th meeting between the Sounders and Timbers featured the top two teams in the MLS Western Conference standings with two months left in the regular season. Seattle had the better of the chances and extended its unbeaten streak to 11, but for the second time in the past week was forced to accept a 1-1 draw. The Sounders tied Vancouver 1-1 on Wednesday despite playing the majority of the second half with a one-man advantage.

Roldan scored in the 18th minute to ignite the crowd of 51,796, but Darren Mattocks drew a penalty during first-half stoppage time, and Valeri beat goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Valeri has 16 goals this season, scoring in sixth straight games.