Toronto FC may not have much to brag about this season when it comes to their record in Major League Soccer.

But when it comes to competing in the CONCACAF Champions League, they're a different team altogether.

Toronto's soccer side put on a dominating performance — before a troublingly sparse crowd at BMO Field — in defeating El Salvador's Club Deportivo Aguila 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Reggie Lambe scored twice while Ryan Johnson, Luis Silva and Terry Dunfield added singles as Toronto won the opener in the group phase of the three-team, four-game tournament.

The Reds, of course, are dead last in MLS, with a 5-12-4 record. The slow start cost manager Aron Winter his job in June.

Under new head coach Paul Mariner, the team has sorted out its offence. It might be too late for the MLS season. But it's just in time for CONCACAF, where the Canadian champs have thrived.

With Wednesday night's easy win, the Reds are unbeaten in seven of their last eight Champions League games (four wins, three ties).

The home wins are of huge significance. Toronto needs to finish first in its group with Aguila and Santos Laguna — the Mexican champion that beat them in last year's semifinals of the continental club competition — to advance to the next round.

Toronto hosts Santos on Aug. 28, before playing at Aguila in San Miguel on Sept. 25. TFC then visits Santos in Torreon on Oct. 24.

The Reds entered Wednesday's match trying to put a disappointing 2-0 loss to Houston in MLS action Saturday behind them. They had been on a three-game winning streak, and vowed to forget the loss to Houston.

But Toronto fans, who generally pack BMO Field, stayed away in droves, letting the powers that be in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment know what they think of the Reds' current state of affairs.

The ones who showed up — the announced attendance was 5,324, one of the lowest crowds in TFC history — witnessed a dominating performance by the home squad.

The first half was all Reds and they were rewarded with a 3-1 lead. Toronto could have had more but one goal was called back due to interference with Aguila's goalie. The Reds managed 13 shots on goal to Aguila's six.

Silva headed in a corner from Torsten Frings to open the scoring in the ninth minute.

Lambe took a feed from Silva in the 17th minute to put Toronto up 2-0.

The Salvadoran side seemed to gain some life toward the end of the first half. With a decent crowd of supporters in the eastern grandstand, Yaikel Perez scored on a rebound to bring Aguila to within one. He ran to the Aguila supporters to celebrate his 37th-minute goal.

But as if to say, “This is our house,” TFC again took command of the game. Just three minutes later, Dunfield redirected a pass from Ashtone Morgan to restore the Reds' two-goal lead.

Once the second half started, TFC didn't relent. Lambe scored his second of the game in the 48th minute.

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About 10 minutes later Silva set up Johnson, who slotted the ball into an empty net to open a four-goal lead.

It was Johnson's sixth Champions League goal, tying him with Joao Plata as the Reds' all-time leading scorer in CCL.

The CONCACAF competition covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.