After a breakout two-goal effort to power his team's 2-0 midweek victory over Toronto FC at Solider Field, Chicago Fire FC forward Jhon Durán has taken home Continental Player of the Week honors for Week 20 of the 2022 season.
The 18-year-old Colombian gave a full glimpse of his lofty potential in the match, which saw him strike for both goals inside the first 20 minutes. The first came just four minutes after kickoff when Durán netted a breakaway finish that beat Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westberg.
He found the brace in the 16th minute, first collecting a feed from homegrown teammate Brian Gutierrez, then leaving his defender in the dust before converting again for what turned out to be the final goal of the match.
The brace continued a strong start to life in MLS for Durán, who now has three goals and three assists in 481 minutes in his debut season as he's gradually worked his way into head coach Ezra Hendrickson's rotation. The exciting attacker is considered one of the highest-upside young talents in the league, having signed with the Fire in January 2021 from Colombian side Envigado FC. Durán became the youngest international signing in MLS history at 17 years old, and had to wait until this season to join Chicago after he turned 18.
Durán's theatrics provided a much-needed three points for Chicago, who moved up to 20 points through 20 matches with the result (5W-10L-5D), leaving them in 12th place on the Eastern Conference table heading into Week 21. They'll look to parlay the victory into some momentum ahead of their next match, which will see Chicago host Seattle Sounders FC at Solider Field on Saturday (8 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
The MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
