Toronto's BMO Field is earning a reputation as a rather inhospitable place.

Maurice Edu, Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson and Jeff Cunningham scored goals as Toronto FC delighted a franchise-record crowd of 20,156 with a 4-0 drubbing of FC Dallas on Sunday afternoon at BMO Field.

Toronto FC midfielder Ronnie O'Brien has words with Dominic Oduro of FC Dallas during the first half of Sunday's match.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

The victory over the top team in Major League Soccer's Western Conference was Toronto's fourth in its last six home games.

It was also a rare defensive tour de force for Toronto (4-6-1), which entered the game having given up a league-high 18 goals with only one shutout, but did a masterful job protecting an early lead.

"It was important we got a good start," Robinson told CBC's Brenda Irving after scoring his first goal for Toronto. "We knew Dallas played Thursday, and we took the game by the scruff of the neck from the opening whistle."

Backup goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic — making his third start of the season in place of Greg Sutton, who is with the Canadian national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup — needed to make just four saves for his first career MLS shutout.

Dario Sala was much busier in net for Dallas (7-6-1), facing 10 shots on goal.

With BMO Field set to welcome the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, Toronto will have ample opportunity to pick up its first-ever road win as it embarks on a six-game trip, beginning June 23 against the New England Revolution.

Dichio banged up

Toronto opened the scoring Sunday in the 22nd minute. After Sala made the second of two consecutive point-blank stops on Dichio, the ball found its way to Edu, who chipped it into the top of the net for his second goal of the season.

Just three minutes later, Dichio put Toronto up 2-0 off a set piece. Freeing himself at the top of the goal crease, the Englishman went airborne to neatly head Robinson's long free kick past Sala for his team-leading fourth.

Later in the opening half, Dichio hurt his left ankle in a collision with a Dallas player. After heading to the sidelines briefly, Dichio returned to the pitch. But the striker was clearly favouring his left leg, and coach Mo Johnston replaced him for the second half with Toronto native Andrea Lombardo.

Johnston was worried that his big forward may now be facing time out of the team. 

"He is away for X-rays and we will have to wait and see how he is. It would be a big blow if it is serious," said the coach.

Even without its top scorer, Toronto continued to pour on the pressure in the second half. Robinson made it 3-0 in the 65th minute by heading in a Kevin Goldthwaite cross, and Cunningham capped the scoring in extra time with a header of his own.

It was Cunningham's fifth goal of the season, but second since coming to Toronto in a late-May trade with Real Salt Lake.

Another trade acquisition, defender Tyrone Marshall, who Johnston acquired this week for forward Edson Buddle, was not eligible to play Sunday after receiving a red card in his last game with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Also missing for Toronto were midfielder Chris Pozniak and defender Adam Braz. The Canadian internationals are with Sutton at the Gold Cup.

With files from the Canadian Press