Clint Irwin made four saves for Toronto FC and Columbus Crew SC's Steve Clark had two in a scoreless match on Saturday at BMO Field in Toronto.
Toronto (4-4-4) ended its homestand with a win, a loss and consecutive ties. Columbus (2-4-5) played its third straight draw and is 0-3-3 on the road with two goals scored.
The match lost some offensive luster in the past 10 days with the Crew trading Kei Kamara, the team's leading scorer last season, to New England and Toronto's U.S forward Jozy Altidore missing a second straight game with a hamstring injury.
Each team had chances. The Crew's Justin Meram had a chip hit the left post in the 51st minute and a rebound try by Federico Higuain was blocked by former Crew defender Josh Williams.
Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco, the 2015 MLS MVP, missed an opportunity in the 68th minute when his unmarked strike from 15 yards went wide. Clark also stopped him in the 80th minute.
