By John F. Molinaro, CBCSports.ca

TORONTO — One horrendous streak has come to an end, but another lives on.

Toronto FC players celebrate Miguel Canizlez's goal, Toronto's first in 824 minutes, during the first half of Saturday's game against Columbus.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Toronto FC scored their first goal in 824 minutes, but still lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on a sunny Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

Miguel Canizalez was the unlikely hero, ending the team's record goal-scoring drought in the second minute of the game, but Toronto gave up two second-half goals to extend a winless streak to 11 games (seven losses and four draws).

Jacob Thomas notched his first goal of the season for Columbus with seven minutes left in regulation, ruining the celebration for Toronto.

The expansion franchise entered the contest having gone 822 consecutive minutes without a goal, obliterating the Major League Soccer record of 557 minutes established by Real Salt Lake in 2005.

Toronto's last goal came on July 7 during a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire, while the team's previous win was against Real Salt Lake on July 4.

Coach Mo Johnston bemoaned the fact Toronto squandered several scoring chances in the first half, and felt that was the reason why his team lost.

"We were naive today. We got the early goal and we should have been settled. We had two clear chances after that and we should have taken them.… We didn't put our chances away, and for me that was the difference," Johnston told reporters after the game.

Slack defending

Johnston was also left shaking his head over some slack defending, especially on the winning goal. Thomas won the ball at midfield and then went on a dazzling 50-yard run down the right wing, whizzing by defender Andrew Boyens before unleashing an unstoppable shot from inside the box.

"Andrew just had to come across and block him. It's fairly simple.… You have to come across the forward and he can't really go anywhere," Johnston explained.

Boyens said he was out of position on the play, but took full responsibility for not stopping Thomas.

"He burst through and it ended up being a one-on-one chance. I tried to push him out wide but I couldn't get close enough, he got a good shot off and he smacked it in," Boyens admitted.

The loss dropped Toronto to 5-14-6, and the team remains rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 21 points.

With only five games left in the season and the team all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, Johnston said his players are now playing for their jobs next year.

"They're playing for that jersey. Each and every one of them," Johnston said.

Early goal

It didn't take long for Toronto to get the monkey off the team's back. Captain Jim Brennan played a cross into the box and after Columbus failed to clear the ball, Canizalez pounced on it and slammed a close-range shot home in the second minute of play.

The goal set off an eruption among the team's long-suffering supporters as Canizalez, making only his third start of the season, was mobbed by his teammates.

"I was so happy that we finally scored. The team deserved it, we had a lot of bad luck the last few games.… It's a shame that it wasn't a game-winning [goal]. It's bad luck, I guess. It wasn't meant to be," Canizalez said.

Full of confidence, Toronto pressed for another and nearly doubled the team's lead after 20 minutes when Canizalez turned playmaker and fed a perfect pass to Jeff Cunningham who managed to drag his shot just wide of the far post.

A few minutes later rookie midfielder Maurice Edu misfired from seven yards out, squandering a glorious scoring chance.

Just before the halftime break, Toronto beat Columbus's offside trap when a defence-splitting pass from Collin Samuel sprang Cunningham on a breakaway.

Driving shot

Cunningham had plenty of time, but Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer made an expert save on the veteran forward's low, driving shot from inside the box.

"I'm just rusty and not comfortable in front of the net right now. If I had a few more games [under my belt], maybe I would have done better," said Cunningham, who's missed most of the past two months with a hernia injury.

"I'm not making any more excuses for myself or the team. It was crap and I was crap. So, no more excuses because it wasn't good enough," Cunningham added.

Columbus knotted the score after 61 minutes when Toronto defenders failed to close down Eddie Gaven inside the box. The midfielder found an open Jason Garey in the middle, and the Crew forward scored from 10 yards out.

All of a sudden, Columbus controlled the match and Thomas sealed Toronto's fate when he went on a blistering run down the right wing, blowing by Boyens before firing a wicked shot past Stamatopoulos in the 83rd minute.

Star Argentine forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto did not make the trip to Toronto for the Crew due to a nagging hamstring injury.

Toronto's next game is Sept. 29 in Washington against D.C. United.