Rafael Navarro Becomes Third Rapid With Five Multi-Goal Games as Colorado Rout 10-Man Galaxy 4-1

For an hour, this was a game. Then Gabriel Pec made a decision his own coach called out afterward, and the Colorado Rapids turned a tense 1-1 into a party.

Colorado beat the LA Galaxy 4-1 on Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, scoring three times in the final 15 minutes after Pec was sent off for a second yellow card in the 59th. Rafael Navarro scored twice in four minutes late on, and according to the Rapids, it was his fifth multi-goal game for the club, making him just the third player in club history to reach that mark, alongside Paul Bravo and Conor Casey.

Yapi Strikes, Hansen Holds

The Rapids drew first blood in the 23rd minute on a fast break. The club said Hamzat Ojediran started it with a pass to Paxten Aaronson, who slipped Darren Yapi into space. Yapi went at Maya Yoshida, shifted the ball onto his left foot and finished from the middle of the box. The Rapids said it was his first goal of the season and the 11th of his MLS career.

The Galaxy had already looked dangerous by then. João Klauss fired one just wide from outside the box in the 11th minute and Pec forced Nico Hansen into a save three minutes later. Pec kept coming, with a blocked shot in the 22nd and another effort saved in the 32nd, both created by Marco Reus. Yapi nearly doubled the lead with a header in the 40th that went just over. Pec picked up a yellow card in first-half stoppage time. File that away.

LA's Push, Then Pec's Mistake

The second half started badly for the Galaxy when Joseph Paintsil went down injured and had to be replaced by Mauricio Cuevas in the 50th minute. From the 52nd to the 56th minute, LA put the Rapids under siege: Hansen saved from Pec, Klauss and Miki Yamane, and five more shots were blocked. The pressure finally paid off when Pec's delivery after a corner found Klauss on the left side of the six-yard box, and he headed it into the top left corner. 1-1.

The Galaxy said Klauss has now scored in each of his first three MLS regular-season matches for the club, with four goals already. LA had the momentum. Colorado responded with a triple substitution in the 58th minute, sending on Connor Ronan, Ted Ku-DiPietro and Wayne Frederick.

A minute later, everything changed. Pec, already on a yellow, went into a tackle and was shown a second yellow. The Galaxy said it was his first red card as a member of the club and the first of his professional career.

Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney did not hide from it afterward. "Gabe got into a situation where he was chasing and he has to know he's on a yellow card and he can't take that kind of risk and that kind of tackle," Vanney said, per the Galaxy. "He's got to make a better decision because the decision becomes a second yellow and that becomes we lose all momentum."

Navarro Takes Over

With an extra player, Colorado began to find room. Navarro had a shot saved by Novak Micovic in the 62nd minute after an Aaronson through ball, and Keegan Rosenberry, on for the injured Reggie Cannon, headed just over in the 74th.

The breakthrough came a minute later. Yapi crossed from the right and Alexis Manyoma, who had come on in the 68th minute for Connor Ronan after Ronan left injured, scored with a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner. The Rapids said it was the Colombian's first goal for the club.

Then Navarro finished it. In the 85th minute Rosenberry's shot from distance was saved by Micovic, and the Galaxy said Navarro reacted first to the rebound and tapped it in from the middle of the box. Four minutes later, Wayne Frederick won the ball deep in LA's half, Navarro took a touch onto his left foot from the right side of the box and curled it into the top left corner. 4-1. The fourth official signaled 10 minutes of stoppage time, but nothing else was needed.

Who Stood Out

Rafael Navarro: Two goals, four shots, three on target. The Designated Player had a quiet first hour and then became the most dangerous player on the field once the Galaxy went down a man. His fifth multi-goal game for Colorado puts him behind only Bravo (seven) and Casey (six), per the club.

Darren Yapi: A goal and an assist, the two plays that bookended Colorado's best moments. The Homegrown forward had three shots.

Paxten Aaronson: He assisted Yapi's opener and set up chances for Navarro and Rosenberry too.

Nico Hansen: Five saves, most of them during the Galaxy's second-half push. Without him, LA might have been ahead before the red card.

For the Galaxy, Pec was both the best attacker and the reason the night fell apart: six shots, three on target, an assist and two yellow cards.

The Turning Point

The 59th minute. The Galaxy had scored three minutes earlier and were the better team. Pec's second yellow handed the momentum back to Colorado.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: LA Galaxy 16, Colorado 11. On target: Galaxy 7, Rapids 6.
• Saves: Hansen 5, Micovic 2.
• Possession: Colorado 52.6 percent, Galaxy 47.4 percent.
• Passing: Colorado completed 479 of 531 passes; LA completed 415 of 481.
• Corners: Galaxy 5, Rapids 2.

What It Means

Colorado is 2-0-1 with 6 points, having won back-to-back home games against Portland and now LA after losing at Seattle to open the season. The Rapids' recap had them fifth in the Western Conference after the match, with the Galaxy eighth. Colorado's next match is at New York City FC on Saturday, March 14.

The Galaxy fall to 1-1-1 with 4 points after a 1-1 draw with NYCFC and a 3-0 win over Charlotte, both at home. This was the team's first loss of the season, according to the club. Defender Jakob Glesnes summed it up: "It's never fun to see 4 goals in a game like this. We have to get better at finishing the games with 11 guys." The Galaxy host Mount Pleasant FA in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday, March 11, then return to league play at home against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, March 14.

Closing Take

Every season has a game like this, the one where a single bad decision rewrites a perfectly good script. LA was the better team for an hour. Then it gave Colorado a half hour plus stoppage time against 10 men, and Navarro took it from there. The Rapids will gladly take a win built on someone else's mistake.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and notes as reported by the LA Galaxy (lagalaxy.com); club notes from the Colorado Rapids (coloradorapids.com).