Toronto FC striker Chad Barrett, left, battles for the ball with Houston's Patrick Ianni Saturday at BMO Field in Toronto. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Marvell Wynne picked an opportune time to score his first goal in Major League Soccer.

The Toronto FC defender found the back of the net with 17 minutes left in regulation time to help the Canadian club earn a 1-1 tie against the Houston Dynamo on a grey Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

Despite Wynne's best efforts, things still look pretty bleak for Toronto.

The team remains in last place in MLS with a 7-12-7 record, and could be as many as eight points out of a playoff berth by the end of the weekend with only four games left in the regular season.

Toronto is also winless in its last seven games, with just one win since June 14.

Still, Toronto coach John Carver hasn't given up hope.

"It's going to be extremely difficult," Carver conceded, "but the thing I told the guys was that we have four games left."

Carver was barred from the sidelines for Saturday's game, the result of a suspension handed down by the league after he was ejected during last week's 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards.

Assistant coach Chris Cummins took charge of the team while Carver watched the game from a private box and maintained contact with his assistant via cell phone.

Carver, who was irate over his team's lacklustre and lackadaisical showing in Kansas City, thought the fans saw "the real Toronto FC" during the second half against Houston, praising his players for their hard work and ability to come from behind to earn a point.

However, he was utterly dismayed over the team's performance in the first half and let his players know about it.

"I thought the first half was similar to last week … and I was really disappointed, and if you would have been flies on the dressing room wall at half-time, [you would have heard me yelling] because the paint was stripped off the wall," Carver said.

"It was probably the most violent and animated I have ever been," the English coach added.

Sloppy defending

Toronto overcame some sloppy defending and turnovers in midfield to carve out a pair of early scoring chances against Houston, the two-time defending MLS Cup champions.

Amado Guevara whipped a dangerous free kick that whizzed by the post after 12 minutes, and three minutes later Chad Barrett broke into the box all alone before blasting a shot over the crossbar.

All of Toronto's hard work was undermined midway through the first half when defender Hunter Freeman's back pass off a header sailed over the head of onrushing goalkeeper Greg Sutton and trickled over the goal-line.

Toronto pressed for the equalizer right from the start of the second half, but Houston's defence comfortably withstood the pressure.

Just when it appeared Toronto seemed doomed, Wynne stepped forward and tied the game with a brilliant individual effort.

The American defender slalomed his way through two Houston players before unleashing a curling shot from 20 yards out that beat Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad in the 73rd minute.

The No. 1 pick overall in the 2006 draft, Wynne had not previously scored during his three seasons in MLS.

"I knew in the first half I had a similar scoring opportunity and I had it in my head that the next time I get a chance I'm going to take a shot and when the opportunity came up again I went for it," explained Wynne.

The teams traded scoring opportunities in the final 10 minutes, but the game ended in a stalemate.

Toronto's next two games are on the road — against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 4, and FC Dallas on Oct. 11 (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 8:30 p.m. ET) — before returning home to host the Chicago Fire on Oct. 18 (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 3:30 p.m. ET).