New York City started the game knowing that their neighbors, the New York Red Bulls were already out of the cup, having lost to Montreal in the game that ended just prior to kickoff. They also knew that they had a 2 goal deficit to overturn from their 2-0 first leg loss to Toronto FC a week earlier.
Yet, it was Toronto that began the game by attacking
With Eirik Johansen in the City goal being called on to make some early saves
In the 6th minute Sebastian Giovinco broke through
...and despite a sliding tackle from Maxime Chanot...
...he was able to slot the ball past Johansen to give Toronto a 1-0 lead on the night, leaving City requiring 4 goals to go through.
At the restart, it was Toronto who continued to attack
...with Giovinco continuing to be the primary threat.
In the 20th minute, he broke down the left wing...
...and attempted to go past Frederic Brillant...
...who stuck out a leg and grabbed at Giovinco's jersey...
...resulting in a fall, and a penalty being awarded.
Giovinco steppped up himself, and made no mistake in scoring his and Toronto's second.
Ten minutes later Jozy Altidore decided it was his turn to shine...
...latching on to the end of a cross...
...and slamming it into the back of the net...
...making it 3-0 on the night, 5-0 on aggregate.
Up until that point, City hadn't managed a shot on goal, but they finally managed their first just before half time, which was saved by an underworked Clint Irwin in the Toronto goal.
Toronto didn't sit back on their laurels...
continuing to run through the City defence, almost at will...
...but were unable to add to their total before the end of the half.
Five minutes after the restart, Jonathan Osorio scored to put Toronto 4-0 up.
Suddenly City burst into life, attacking down both flanks.
But nothing was getting past Irwin...
...regardless of whether it was Frank Lampard...
...David Villa...
...or any of the other City players.
Villa pushed and pushed...
...throwing his body into the attempt...
...to no avail...
...leaving him wondering what he had to do.
In the 1st minute of injury time Giovinco completed his hat-trick...
...celebrating with the Toronto fans in the crowd.
Villa...
...and Lampard tried one more time, in vain, to score a consolation goal.
But they were unable to do so, so City ended up losing by five straight goals on the night...
...and seven clear goals on aggregate, meaning that Toronto had set themselves up with an all Canadian Eastern Conference final against the Montreal Impact, 3 games away from winning the whole thing.