Toronto FC striker Josh Sargent might not have the same pedigree as Chicago Fire counterpart Robert Lewandowski, but it was TFC’s number nine who put on a better show in a 4-4 thriller at BMO Field on Saturday night.

Sargent had by far his best match in a Toronto FC kit yet, scoring an impressive hat trick before the Fire clawed back to take the lead, with the legendary Polish striker Lewandowski netting their fourth. That goal looked to be enough to win the game for the Fire, but Derrick Etienne Jr. tied it in stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts with a special strike of his own.

Sargent’s first goal came after a chipped pass into the box from Djordje Mihailovic. Sargent brought it down well before smashing the ball past goalkeeper Chris Brady, who had no chance to get across quickly enough to stop the equalizer.

The goal sparked life into Toronto FC, who then created a second goal for Sargent at almost the exact same position in the box.

After Mihailovic’s shot following a set piece was blocked, the ball fell to his fellow designated player, and Sargent made no mistake — volleying it into the bottom left of the net this time. It was his first brace in TFC red, improved upon nine minutes after halftime when he blasted a shot into the bottom right corner from outside the box.

Sargent’s third made it 3-2 for TFC five minutes after Lewandowski forced Walker Zimmerman into an own goal, responding quickly to give his team their second lead of the match. Sargent is the first Toronto FC player to score a hat trick in MLS play since Federico Bernardeschi did it against CF Montreal in 2024.

Both sides have extended their unbeaten streaks to six games as a result of the dramatic tie — and the dramatic comeback earned raucous applause from the TFC supporters’ section after the final whistle.

Toronto FC felt as though they could have got more — not an uncommon theme this season, but one that is particularly important in this final third of the campaign.

“I don’t know if I’d say wasted, perhaps squandered,” said head coach Robin Fraser to reporters including Waking The Red after the match. “It was an opportunity. They’re a very good team, they’re a very confident and composed team, obviously, and I thought throughout the game we had really good moments and created chances to score goals.

“In and amongst those very good moments were some poor defensive moments and my message to the group is that you have to be able to stop good teams because we don’t want to be in 4-4 games every week and we don’t want to be coming from behind every week. It’s disappointing that how we finish the game is incredibly commendable.”

Courtesy: Sean Pollock/Canadian Soccer Daily

The next evolution for Toronto FC is scoring these goals without conceding them first and needing to dig themselves out of a hole.

“This team is just too good to put itself in that position every week and that’s got to be a focus for us. We’ve got to be able to stop teams because I feel like we can score goals, we can create chances, we can be dangerous, but like I said, nobody wants to be in 4-4 games every week.”

A couple of defensive breakdowns from Toronto FC led to the opening goal for Chicago. After the ball was given away in midfield, Walker Zimmerman bailed his teammates out when he cleared the ball off the line after it had ended up on the wrong side of Luka Gavran. The Fire scored from the ensuing corner kick, with Maren Haile-Selassie collecting the ball at the edge of the penalty area and rifling a shot into the bottom-left corner of the net

Sargent could’ve completed his hat trick in the first half. He forced a save with a header from close range when Theo Corbeanu floated a cross to the back post in an attempt to respond quickly to the opening Fire goal. Chicago countered immediately, but Puso Dithejane couldn’t quite steer his shot on target, watching it dribble wide of the post.

Haile-Selassie also scored Chicago’s third to tie the game at 3-3 before Lewandowski made it 4-3 minutes later, punishing TFC for leaving him alone in front of goal.

Haile-Selassie and Sargent went nose-to-nose at one point in the second half as tensions boiled over a bit following a poor challenge on a TFC teammate, while Sam Rogers was lucky not to be sent off for a tackle above the ankle at the end of the first half before getting subbed out at the break — already on a yellow before that.

Lewandowski is up to five goals in MLS now, after his midseason transfer that resulted in the Fire parting ways with Golden Boot leader Hugo Cuypers. He was tied on four with Sargent before Saturday’s match, despite the American being with TFC all season.

Sargent is now one ahead of Daniel Salloi for the team lead with seven on the season. Sargent has been one of TFC’s key contributors offensively and defensively this year, despite it not necessarily showing up on the Golden Boot leaderboard. Ultimately — as he said himself — strikers are judged on goals, and now he has three more for his tally.

Related Reading: Hat trick vs. Chicago ‘bittersweet’ for Toronto FC’s Josh Sargent without full 3 points

Chicago was one of the teams he had scored against previously, powering a shot past Brady in TFC’s final match before the summer World Cup break. The Fire again couldn’t keep Sargent off the board in the same way Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami couldn’t a couple of weeks ago.

Etienne Jr scored in both the Miami win and this draw with Chicago as well.

Both teams are in action again on Wednesday night, when Toronto FC host Supporters Shield leaders Nashville SC at BMO Field, and Chicago returns home to play Inter Miami.