Josh Sargent celebrates his late winner against Colorado Rapids | Credit: IMAGO/NurPhoto
Late goal lifts Toronto FC over Colorado Rapids in physical match
Josh Sargent's header off an Alonso Coello corner kick in the 85th minute capped a wild 3-2 comeback win for Toronto FC over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
Richie Laryea scored a goal for Toronto (3-2-1, 10 points). Paxten Aaronson and Keegan Rosenberry tallied second-half goals for the Rapids (3-3-0, 9 points) in a foul-filled match.
The physical play started in the first half when Colorado's Jackson Travis was issued a red card in the 34th minute.
Toronto's Raheem Edwards was sent off in the 49th minute. The match wasn't 10-on-10 for long, as the Rapids' Miguel Navarro was booked for his second yellow card in the 74th minute.
In the 65th minute, Laryea's shot into the top right corner came from a tight angle and cut Colorado's lead to 2-1.
After Navarro's second yellow card, a backwards pass from Rosenberry led to an own goal to tie the match at 2 as Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen couldn't settle on the long pass in the 77th minute.
After Edwards was sent off with a red card, Aaronson's shot on the restart from just outside the box traveled along the ground. Everyone in Toronto's wall jumped and the ball rolled in for a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.
Moments later, Rafael Navarro won a long ball down the sideline, his cross was headed away but stayed loose in the box and Rosenberry fired a low-line drive inside the far post for a 2-0 Colorado lead in the 54th minute.
Late in the first half, the play turned chippy. After video review, Travis was issued a red card for a hard challenge that brought down Edwards in the 35th minute.
Moments later, Edwards sent Wayne Frederick into the boards on the sideline as they chased possession.
The play didn't draw a whistle, but Colorado coach Matt Wells earned a yellow card in protest. As the half drew to a close, Toronto defender Walker Zimmerman was issued a yellow card for a challenge from behind. Colorado earned four yellow cards and Toronto earned three.
The match was scoreless at halftime.
--Field Level Media