Alan Gordon scored the equalizer against his former team and Toronto FC earned a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA on Saturday.
Alejandro Moreno scored for Chivas less than three minutes into the game, netting a goal from about 10 yards out after a poor clearing effort by Toronto's defense.
Moreno's goal appeared to be the start of an ugly afternoon for Toronto, which had traded disgruntled captain and leading scorer Dwayne De Rosario to the New York Red Bulls on Friday.
Chivas had a few terrific scoring chances over the minutes that followed, including a header from Justin Braun in the sixth minute that grazed the top of Stefan Frei's net.
Gordon gave the red-clad BMO Field crowd of 18,568 something to cheer in the 36th minute, connecting on a 40-yard free kick from Jacob Peterson with a perfectly timed header past goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.
The goal came about 10 minutes after another Gordon header went off the post. Toronto acquired him from Chivas for midfielder Nick LaBrocca in a trade last month.
Gordon's goal seemed to inspire Toronto, and in the 44th minute the home team briefly appeared to take the lead before the referee ruled Maicon Santos' goal from inside the 6-yard box was offside.
The first half ended with the teams tied with two shots on goal apiece.
While Toronto might have suddenly been missing its go-to scorer - De Rosario had 27 goals in 57 career games for his hometown club - it wasn't lacking on the offensive end, with several rushes by Dutch winger Javier Martina, Gordon and Santos whistled off as offside.
Newcomers Tony Tchani, in the midfield, and Danleigh Borman, at left back, acquired in the De Rosario trade along with a first-round pick in next year's draft, started for Toronto in a game that also featured the first appearance this season of midfielder Julian de Guzman. He started the second half and showed no signs of his offseason knee surgery.
For the third straight game it was Toronto's back line that looked suspect, with numerous turnovers that had Frei diving to make saves.
Notes: Toronto was missing Mikael Yourassowsky, who was serving a one-game suspension. ... Toronto is in San Jose to face the Earthquakes next Saturday.
