Andy Welsh probably didn't shake up Major League Soccer when he scored the fourth goal in Toronto FC history.

But the fact his header came in the 25th minute and stood as the winning score against the defending champion Houston Dynamo no doubt raised more than a few eyebrows.

Toronto FC goalkeeper Greg Sutton dives to make a point blank save on Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Toronto prevailed 1-0 at a cold and rainy BMO Field Wednesday night, its second straight win after four straight losses by a 10-0 margin in total to open the season.

Welsh headed in a beautifully flighted free kick from Ronnie O'Brien.

"Ronnie can pick anyone out from 30, 40 yards," said Toronto coach Mo Johnston. "And it was a great header."

Greg Sutton posted his first shutout of the season for FC.

"I'm more pleased not giving up any goals, because we've worked hard, very hard, these last two, three weeks in terms of defence," Johnston said.

Houston slipped to 2-3-1 with coach Dominic Kinnear complaining that Toronto's approach was to cut down his players.

"I thought Toronto's idea tonight was to disrupt us and foul us at key areas," he said.

The home side kept a lid on Dynamo star and Toronto native Dwayne De Rosario as six of Toronto's 23 fouls were inflicted on the stylish attacking midfielder.

Welsh beat another Canadian, Pat Onstad, in the Houston net to join Danny Dichio, Kevin Goldthwaite and Maurice Edu as the FC marksmen to date.

What made Tuesday's victory more impressive is it came without Dichio in the lineup. The Englishman was serving a one-game suspension for his part in a scuffle last Saturday with Chicago fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens.

Alecko Eskandarian, who missed Saturday's 3-1 home win with a calf injury, started in place of Dichio.

Passes went astray regularly in the awkward conditions, played on wet artificial turf.

Visitors had 1st chance

Houston had the first scoring chance in the 11th minute when Brad Davis forced a diving save from Sutton off a swerving free kick from 30 yards-plus.

On the ensuing corner, Toronto winger Ronnie O'Brien had to clear the line when Eddie Robinson's header bounced underneath a sprawling Sutton.

Onstad, who hails from Vancouver and played for the A-League Toronto Lynx in 1997, was taken by the atmosphere at BMO Field.

"It was fantastic. I kind of welled up a little bit during the national anthem, hearing everyone sing," said the 39-year-old keeper. "That was pretty special. The fans at the back were giving me a bit of grief. That was kind of nice too.

"It's great to see. It's been a long time since Canadian soccer has had that kind of atmosphere. If it's ever had it."

While announced as a sellout, a Toronto team official said only 19,123 of the 20,000 ticket-holders actually showed up.

Toronto wraps up a four-game homestand Saturday against D.C. United (CBC, 3:30 p.m. ET).

"We have a lot of banged up guys in our locker room. They're very sore," said Johnston.

With files from the Canadian Press