Referencing the return value of split()

Hello, I'm trying to use the following in a piece of code, but I keep receiving parse errors:

       $myVar = split(":", $myStrings)[0];

The following code works, however:

       $myTempVar = split(":", $myStrings);
       $myVar = $myTempVar[0];

I'd much rather execute the statement in one line, rather than two, if possible. The PHP Manual states that split() returns an array. Why can I not reference the returned array immediately? It works in Perl... =) Thanks for any help! -David Fuchs