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Sebastian Giovinco sidelined three weeks for Toronto FC with quad strain

Toronto FC will be without Sebastian Giovinco for the next three weeks after the star forward picked up a quadriceps strain in Saturday's win, which also saw defender Nick Hagglund suffer a serious knee injury.

Giovinco opened the scoring from the penalty spot in what was to be Toronto's sixth-straight victory, 3-2 over Minnesota, but he limped off the field just before halftime.

Toronto coach Greg Vanney said at the time that the substitution was merely precautionary after Giovinco felt tightness, but on Monday the club confirmed a more serious diagnosis.

Giovinco, the MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner in 2015, has also been dealing with a heel injury that kept him out of the lineup for a win at Columbus on Wednesday. He's tied for the club lead with six goals this season.

Hagglund suffered a torn MCL in his left knee during the second half of Saturday's game and will be out for the next eight to 12 weeks.

Hagglund, 24, is in his fourth season with Toronto after the club drafted him out of Xavier in 2014. He made only eight starts in the regular season but started every playoff game and had been a regular in the starting XI this season.

The injuries come at the end of a stretch of five games in just 16 days for Toronto, after which captain Michael Bradley complained MLS must find "a better way" to plan its scheduling.