CHICAGO (July 13, 2022) – Chicago Fire FC (5-10-5, 20 points) defeated Toronto FC (5-11-4, 19 points) 2-0 at Soldier Field on Wednesday night, courtesy of a brace from 18-year-old forward Jhon Durán. With the 2-0 result, the Fire recorded its eighth shutout of the 2022 MLS campaign, which ranks as the second-most in the League this season.
The first half saw the speed and finesse of Durán on display as the young striker opened the scoring for the Fire in the fourth minute of the match. The play began with Durán applying pressure in the center of the pitch, forcing a Toronto turnover. The ball fell to the feet of Chris Mueller who sent a slotted pass in from behind the midfield line onto the run of Durán. The Colombian striker opened his hips and slotted the ball in from the top of the 18-yard box, netting the fastest goal for Chicago in MLS play this year.
In the 16th minute, Durán doubled the team’s lead off an assist by Brian Gutiérrez, who sent a back-heeled flick to set Durán up for a foot race. Running from midfield, the Colombian striker outpaced defender Chris Mavinga and slotted in his second goal of the match, marking his third for the Club this season.
With his first career brace, Durán became the second-youngest player in Club history to score multiple goals in a game (18 years, 212 days) behind former Fire defender DeMarcus Beasley (18 years, 98 days).
Toronto’s most dangerous chance came with just four minutes left in the half, as forward Mark-Anthony Kaye sent a driven shot on target, which was denied by Slonina, who extended to tip the ball wide to keep Toronto off the scoresheet going into halftime. Overall, Slonina recorded two saves in tonight’s match, pushing another shot over the crossbar with a finger-tip save in the second half to help preserve the clean sheet and all three points for the Fire.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will conclude its three-game homestand with a match against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, July 16 at Soldier Field. Beginning at 7:00 p.m, the match will be televised on WGN-TV andCF97 Live, and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM. Tickets available here.
Notes:
- Chicago Fire have kept a clean sheet in eight of their 20 games, only New York City (9) have done this more often in the MLS this season
- Brian Gutierrez notched his fifth assist of the season and is now second on the team in assists, behind Xherdan Shaqiri (seven).
- Chris Mueller notched an assist for a second consecutive game. Mueller has tallied two goals and two assists in 11 appearances for the Club.
- Durán’s first goal of the match marked the fastest Chicago goal so far this season (3:11).
- Chicago Fire have stopped the opposition from scoring a first-half goal in 14 of their 20 games, only Philadelphia Union (16) and Minnesota United (15) have done this more often in MLS play this season.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 2:0 Toronto FC
Goals:
CHI - Durán (2) (Mueller 2) 4’
CHI - Durán (3) (Gutiérrez 5) 16’
Discipline:
TFC - O’Neill (Yellow Card) 34’
TFC - MacNaughton (Yellow Card) 37’
CHI - Mueller (Yellow Card) 45+1’
CHI - Gutierrez (Yellow Card) 64’
TFC - Criscito (Yellow Card) 65’
TFC - Nelson (Yellow Card) 90+4’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Slonina, D Sekulić, D Terán, D Czichos ©, D Bornstein, D Pineda, M Mueller (M Ivanov, 76’), M Shaqiri (M Torres, 76’), M F. Navarro, M Gutiérrez (M Herbers, 68’), F Durán (F Przybyłko, 68’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, F Offor, D Espinoza, D Burks, D Reynolds II
Toronto FC: GK Westberg, D Mavinga (MacNaughton, 32’), D O’Neill, D Petrasso (D Criscito, 63’), D Thompson (F Marshall-Rutty, 72’), M Bradley ©, M Kaye (M Shaffelburg, 63’), M Osorio, M Kerr, F Jimenez (F Akinola, 46’), F Nelson
Subs not used: GK Bono, D Chung, F Perruzza, M Achara
Stats Summary: CHI / TFC
Shots: 12 / 5
Shots on Goal: 6 / 2
Saves: 2 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 82.2% / 84.7%
Corners: 2 / 5
Fouls: 18 / 10
Offsides: 8 / 2
Possession: 42.2% / 57.8%
Attendance: 10,450
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referees: Jason White, Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Daniel Radford
