Toronto FC produced one of their grittiest turnarounds of the young Major League Soccer season on Saturday, coming from 2-0 down to defeat the Colorado Rapids 3-2 at BMO Field in a chaotic fixture that swung wildly after the interval.
After a tense, scoreless first half, the match exploded into life in the second period. Colorado struck first through Paxten Aaronson, who bent home a free-kick in the 51st minute, and the visitors doubled their advantage just three minutes later when Keegan Rosenberry found the net in the 54th.
That should have put the Rapids in command, especially given how compact they had looked for long stretches. But this was never a straightforward afternoon. Colorado had already been reduced to 10 men in the 35th minute when Jackson Travis was shown a red card, and Toronto sensed that the contest was still there to be seized.
Things then tilted back toward the home side in dramatic fashion. Toronto pulled one back in the 65th minute when Richie Laryea finished to ignite BMO Field and change the mood entirely. The hosts kept driving forward, asking questions with their width and sustained pressure, and they were rewarded again in the 77th minute when Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen turned the ball into his own net for a hugely unfortunate equaliser.
Even then, the match still had another twist. Toronto themselves went down to 10 men in the 74th minute after Miguel Navarro was sent off, leaving both sides to contest the closing stages a man light. Rather than settling for a draw, the hosts pushed for all three points and found the decisive breakthrough in the 85th minute, when Josh Sargent headed home to complete the comeback and cap a breathless second half.
Colorado did plenty with limited attacking volume, scoring twice from just five total shots and putting four efforts on target. Toronto, though, carried the greater share of the play, finishing with 54 percent possession, 17 shots, five on target and seven corners. That persistence eventually wore the Rapids down.
The first half had offered hints of the disorder to come. Toronto controlled more of the ball without breaking through, while the Rapids tried to stay organized and strike in transition. Discipline soon became a major subplot. Jackson Travis’ red card in the 35th minute left Colorado shorthanded, while yellow cards for Walker Zimmerman and later Zane Monlouis reflected the visitors’ increasingly stretched defending. Toronto also paid a price physically and emotionally, with bookings for Joshua Atencio, Noah Cobb and Hamzat Ojediran before Navarro’s dismissal briefly threatened to undo the comeback.
Instead, Toronto found another gear. Laryea’s 65th-minute goal gave them belief, the own goal from Steffen in the 77th minute dragged them level, and Sargent’s 85th-minute header supplied the finish. In a fixture with two red cards, an own goal and five second-half goals, Toronto emerged with a deserved victory built on resilience and relentless attacking intent.
Goals: Paxten Aaronson 51′, Keegan Rosenberry 54′ (Colorado Rapids); Richie Laryea 65′, Zack Steffen own goal 77′, Josh Sargent 85′ (Toronto FC).
