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Toronto FC blanks Chivas USA

Apr 23, 2009 - 3:16 AM Toronto FC head coach John Carver had a good view of his team's first home victory of the MLS season Wednesday night, 1-0 at BMO Field over previously undefeated Chivas USA on a first-half goal by midfielder Amado Guevara.

Carver watched the match from a booth in the media box area above the stands while assistant Chris Cummins handled things from the sideline. And it was Cummins who addressed the media after the game.

"John's obviously got his reasons and I don't want to talk about it," Cummins said after the game.

Cummins handled a game from the sidelines last season but that was when Carver was suspended. Although Carver was fined $750 by the league for his comments about the refereeing of Sunday's 3-2 road loss to FC Dallas, he was not under suspension.

Toronto (2-2-2) was called for a penalty late in that contest that resulted in the winning goal. The victory over Chivas (4-1-1) was Toronto's first since the season opener in Kansas City on March 21.

"I nearly lost my voice," Cummins said and admitted that the final 10 minutes that so often has been Toronto's downfall over the past two seasons "felt like 30 minutes for me but we handled it well."

Toronto beat Chivas for the first time in five games since joining MLS in 2007.

"It was a hard-fought game in difficult conditions," Chivas head coach Preki said after the game was played on a wet field. "Toronto wanted it a little bit more than us and they got the result. They created a couple of more opportunities than we did and out of one of those they scored a goal and that was enough."

Toronto rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei earned his first professional shutout in easy fashion. His toughest stop came on a free kick by Sacha Kljestan in the 41st minute -- the only official shot on goal by Chivas.

"We defended as a team from the strikers all way to the back." Frei said. "And we worked real hard for 90 minutes this time. We didn't have any let downs and that's why we won the game."

Toronto broke through in the 36th minute as Guevara received a header from forward Danny Dichio, who was making his first start of the season, and then outfought the Chivas defenders.

Toronto came close to scoring again in the 44th minute as forward Chad Barrett took a pass and ran between two defenders but goalkeeper Zach Thornton blocked his shot.

Dichio tested Thornton with a header in the 62nd minute, but the goalkeeper made a reflex save.

Midfielder Paulo Nagamura, who missed Saturday's 2-0 victory over Seattle because of a suspension, was back in Chivas' starting lineup. He took the brunt of a hard foul in the 38th minute from Dichio, who was shown a yellow.

Toronto midfielder Dwayne De Rosario suffered a torn hamstring in the loss to FC Dallas and will be out at least two games.