THE CANADIAN PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Toronto FC hung on for a 0-0 draw with Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night, collecting a rare point for an MLS team in Mexico.
The draw, at altitude before a sparse crowd at Estado Azul, came in Toronto’s debut in a competitive match in Mexico. MLS teams have a combined 0-20-3 record all-time in Mexico in meaningful games.
The Mexican side dominated possession and outshot the visitors by a heavy margin, but failed to create many good scoring chances. And Cruz Azul played the last 10 minutes down a man when defender Fausto Pinto was sent off for a second yellow.
Cruz Azul (2-1-1) remains atop Group A with seven points while Toronto (1-2-1) is third with four in the club competition that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Real Salt Lake (2-1-0) is second with six points, while Panama’s Arabe Unido (1-2-0) is fourth with three. Those two teams meet in Panama on Wednesday.
Toronto’s final games in the group stage are at home to Real Salt Lake and Arabe Unido.
The top two teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals.
Scoreless after 45 minutes, Toronto was let off the hook in the 49th minute when star striker Javier Orozco sent a header high off the post off a fine cross from the left from Manuel Vela.
In the 63rd, Argentine substitute Christian Gimenez was just wide on a free kick just outside the box.
The home side had another chance in the 65th when goalie Jon Conway punched the ball way and the ensuing shot flew off a defender.
Vela missed wide in the 77th.
Toronto was coming off its first win under interim coach Nick Dasovic, following a 2-1 MLS victory in Houston on Saturday. Dasovic, with an eye to a Saturday home game against San Jose in MLS action, made seven changes from his Houston lineup.
Only defenders Adrian Cann and Ty Harden and midfielders Julian de Guzman and Joseph Nane remained in the starting 11. And Nane went off injured in the ninth minute, replaced by Martin Saric.
It marked a first start for 18-year-old forward Nicholas Lindsay, a graduate of the Toronto FC academy.
Cann captained the team in the absence of Dwayne De Rosario, but gave up the armband to De Rosario when Dasovic was forced to bring on his star midfielder for the injured Saric in the 29th minute.
The Mexican side had most of the possession in the first half but could not convert that into chances against Conway, who handled anything sent his way.
Toronto offered little in offence, although De Rosario tried his luck with a long-distance free kick from well outside the penalty box that flew over the bar.
Five Toronto players were cautioned in the game.
Toronto opened the group stage with a 2-1 home win over Cruz Azul before losing 1-0 at Aribe Unido and 4-1 at Real Salt Lake.
Cruz Azul, which came in on a six-game win streak, has reached the final in its other two previous trips to the tournament, losing to Mexican rivals Atlante and Pachuca.