Toronto FC coach Aron Winter wanted to set the record straight.

Just minutes after Toronto FC battled to a 1-1 tie with Chivas USA on Saturday and less than 24 hours after the club jettisoned Dwayne De Rosario, Winter was still smoldering over scathing criticism from the team's former captain and leading scorer, who said he had not wanted to be traded.

"What I want to make clear to everybody is we made a very good offer for three years and he was not happy with that, and he came to us and asked to be traded. And that is the real story," Winter told reporters. "He has made his own choice, it was his decision."

Alan Gordon scored the lone goal for Toronto (1-1-1) in the club's first game of the post-De Ro era, a lopsided performance by a home team that nearly gave up several other goals but narrowly missed on a few of its own scoring chances.

Alejandro Moreno scored for Chivas (0-2-1).

But most of the talk still swirled around the one player missing from the pitch, after Friday's stunning deal that sent the disgruntled De Rosario to the New York Red Bulls for Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman, and a first-round pick in next year's MLS SuperDraft.

"We have made a good trade for him because we have opened our cap space to help us rebuild our team, and we got two good players back," Winter said. "Nobody is bigger than the club, and he has made his own choice, and we helped him.

"At the end he was not happy because he was not a DP (designated player). We tried everything to get him the DP, but in the end. . ."

Winter was responding to De Rosario's parting shots at the team in the Toronto Sun, over what he felt was shoddy treatment from Toronto, including his insistence he'd wanted a new deal but not a trade.

"It's a bit different (mood) when you lose an important member, a key figure, but this game is all about being professional and these are the things that happen in football that you have no control over," said Julian de Guzman, who made his season debut Saturday. "The most important thing is you handle it well and keep moving on.

"That's one thing we demonstrated today on the pitch is that unity. We were able to stay together and fight for each other."

Adrian Cann said the veteran midfielder will be sorely missed.

"You know, DeRo was my brother, man. He's still with us in spirit," Cann said. "He played a big role in this team, this organization as well as the city."

The opening moments at BMO Field had fans fearing an ugly afternoon as Moreno put Chivas on the scoreboard less than three minutes in. He scored from about 10 yards out after a poor clearing effort by Toronto's defence.

The visitors would miss on a couple more terrific scoring chances over the ragged minutes that followed for Toronto's back line -- including a header from Justin Braun in the sixth minute that grazed the top of Stefan Frei's net -- prompting fans to plead with Toronto's defence to "Wake up!"

Gordon finally gave the red-clad BMO Field crowd of 18,568 something to cheer about in the 36th minute when he connected on a 40-yard free kick from Jacob Peterson with a perfectly-timed header past Goats goalkeeper Dan Kennedy. The goal came about 10 minutes after another Gordon header went off the post.

The goal seemed to inspire Toronto, and in the 44th minute the home team briefly appeared to take the lead before the referee ruled Maicon Santos's goal from inside the six-yard box was offside.

The first half ended with the teams tied with two shots on goal apiece.

Santos, wearing the captain's armband, would miss on another glorious chance in the 60th minute. After beating Kennedy he seemed to have a clear path to the net but Chivas defender Andrew Boyens got there just in time to deflect his shot.

Winter said Santos was the obvious choice as captain because of his position in the midfield.

While Toronto might have suddenly been missing its go-to goalscorer -- De Rosario had 27 goals in 57 career games for his hometown club -- the team wasn't lacking on the offensive end, with several rushes by Dutch winger Javier Martina, Gordon and Santos whistled off as offside.

Martina, who scored both goals in Toronto's 2-0 win over Portland a week earlier, seemed to supplant De Rosario as the crowd favourite -- based on the cheers during the opening-game intro.

De Guzman's appearance also drew big cheers when he came on to start the second half. De Guzman, sporting a newly shorn mohawk, said he was feeling the effects of his long break after undergoing off-season knee surgery.

"There were a couple of early runs in the game where I felt the physical side of things needed to be worked on but that will come naturally," De Guzman said. "But I was very pleased to have 45 minutes with no pain, and the knee feels great."

Tchani, in the midfield, and Borman, at left back, started for Toronto despite arriving in the city at 11 p.m. the previous night.

"After training (Friday) I heard rumours, people were texting me saying `You got traded,' but the club didn't tell me anything, so I thought maybe it was April Fools," Tchani said. "But when more than 10 people sent me the text, I thought this might be true.

"It happens," he added. "I have to take it and just move on, keep working hard."

For the third straight game it was Toronto's back line that looked suspect, with numerous turnovers that made Frei earn his pay once again with several diving saves.

Fans at the game seemed to accept the club's decision to dump De Rosario, who'd been dubbed "MeRo" by some TFC supporters. There were no De Rosario signs evident in the crowd, no angry protests. Fans said they were grateful for his contribution to the club, but optimistic about the team's efforts to rebuild.

"I think it's great for us. We're under new management, new coach, it frees up salary space for us to bring in somebody," said Toronto fan Ross Fair. "We can get a young guy to come in, another defender, I think it's going to fit in to the overall pattern of what we're developing here.

"It's an unfortunate end to a career here. He was our captain and main guy. Really unfortunate end when it becomes about the money and can't seem to get past that, get to the football."

The 32-year-old De Rosario had been dogged by controversy for several months, beginning with the now famous cheque-writing gesture he made after scoring a goal last fall -- it was aimed at club management over his dissatisfaction with his contract.

De Rosario then threatened a boycott if he wasn't given a new deal. The player and club also seemed at odds over De Rosario's trip to Scotland to train with Glasgow Celtic.

NOTES: Toronto was missing Mikael Yourassowsky, who was serving a one-game suspension. . . Toronto is in San Jose to face the Earthquakes next Saturday.