Dwayne de Rosario scored two goals, one in added time, as Toronto FC defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-1 to keep the hopes for a playoff spot in the MLS on Saturday.

Toronto FC (8-10-7) collected three valuable points from a must-win match to end the week in the third place of the Eastern Conference with 31 points.

Interim coach Nick Dasovic seemed more than happy after de Rosario scored his second goal of the evening since this was his first MLS game as the substitute coach of the Canadian team.

With the win, Toronto ends a six-game-streak without a victory, being the last one against Chivas USA (2-1) in Aug. 7.

The game

The Reds worked very poor in the first half and struggled with the tactical order that Houston imposed during the first minutes of the game.

Striker Brian Ching greeted the visitors with a header goal in the 18^th minute, a ball that came from a free kick. This was the seventh goal of the season for Ching.

Having gone down early in the game, Toronto could not recover the ball, playing the rest of the first half in their area.

It was difficult for the Canadian team to deal with the game changer although Maicon Santos tried with a weak shot from outside the area that was not enough to cause any danger at 44’.

The second half was not played at the same tempo as the first half. There was no energy in both sides but the Reds knew that they had to get the ball on their feet.

In the 58th minute, de Rosario sent the ball to the air from a free kick where forward Chad Barrett tried with a header that hit the crossbar.

They missed this time but it was the prelude for the first goal.

De Rosario came again in the 58^th minute with a powerful free kick from outside the area putting the ball on the left side of veteran Pat Onstand.

With two minutes in the added time, the Scarborough native scored his 11^th goal of the season that represented the winning goal for his team.

“I’m fortunate,” de Rosario said in an interview with Sportsnet after the game. “It was not the way to start but we showed the commitment, this is one game that we definitely needed to win and we did and we are so happy that we did it.”

The number 14 showed his ability to lead the team once again, giving the Reds an important win that will bring more confidence to face Cruz Azul from Mexico in their next CONCACAF match Tues., Sept 21 at 10 p.m. EST.