‘Surreal’—Three Red Cards, USMNT Goalkeeping Blunder Highlight Wildest 2026 MLS Game

The 2026 MLS regular season didn’t need any time to get back to full force after the international break, with Toronto FC prevailing 3–2 over the Colorado Rapids in one of the season’s most dramatic games to kick off Matchday 6.

Josh Sargent, recently acquired by the Canadian side for $22 million—with the deal potentially rising to $24 million and becoming an MLS transfer record, scored an 85th-minute winner for his first goal with the club. The last-second dramatics from Sargent—the U.S. men’s national team 2022 World Cup forward and borderline hopeful for the 2026 roster—wasn’t even the main story on the day, though. Instead, that came from the three red cards and a wild goalkeeping blunder from USMNT depth backstop, Colorado’s Zack Steffen.

By the end of the match, which saw all five goals scored in the second half, the two sides had combined for three red cards, seven yellow cards and 29 fouls. They didn’t even hear the final whistle until the end of the 12th minute of second-half stoppage time, as so much time was added to account for all of the drama.

“I wouldn’t describe the game. I don’t want to think about it. It was a really choppy, weird game. It just felt very strange,” Toronto’s manager, and former Rapids boss, Robin Fraser said. “It was actually quite surreal ... It turned into this crazy game, but obviously, really proud of the response and how they came back from what is a really tough situation.”

The Card-Filled Second Half

Colorado’s Jackson Travis, 22, picked up the first red card of the day in the 38th after he took out Edwards near the benches—sparking outrage, a VAR review and an eventual upgrade to a sending off after an initial yellow card call.

Toronto wasn’t able to make good of the brief advantage, though, before Raheem Edwards committed his red-card offense for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity on the edge of the penalty area. The Toronto winger took down Rapid’s midfielder Wayne Frederick, leading to Paxten Aaronson’s free-kick goal to open the scoring in the 51st minute.

With both teams down to 10, Colorado extended the lead three minutes later with a strike from Keegan Rosenberry, before allowing the game to slip out of their grasp. Canada international Richie Laryea pinged a shot into the top corner in the 65th minute to bring Toronto within a goal.

Laryea’s finish kick-started Toronto’s comeback, pushed on by a third red card, this time a 75th-minute sending off of Colorado Designated Player Rafael Navarro, who picked up a second yellow. It didn’t take long for the momentum to shift from there, as Toronto surged to a wild finish.

MLS After Dark in the...afternoon?! 😳

Three red cards, five goals & one big comeback win for @TorontoFC. pic.twitter.com/WUV0aNa9Cf
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026

Sargent’s First, Steffen’s Blunder

With Toronto playing with 10 against Colorado’s nine, they continued to build momentum heading into the final 15 minutes after Navarro’s red. Moments after the sending off, Rosenberry shot the ball into his own half, looking to regroup through Steffen, before the goalkeeper fumbled the first touch and watched the ball trickle over his goal-line to equalize the match.

“I can’t speak for anybody else, but I know I was a bit like, ‘Okay, what just happened? We'll take it,’” Sargent said of Steffen’s error. “I think we definitely got a boost of energy from that.”

no complaints here 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/t1CahIhbaA
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) April 4, 2026

It all set the stage for a chaotic finish, where Sargent headed in a corner kick to give Toronto a second straight win and extend the Reds’ undefeated streak to four games, including wins over FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew and now Colorado.

READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC

Add us as a preferred source on Google