Kacper Przybylko delivers streaking Chicago miracle win

Updated: Jul 16, 2023, 04:06 am

Kacper Przybylko's 90th-minute header gave the Chicago Fire a dramatic 1-0 win over visiting Toronto FC on Saturday.

Przybylko entered the game just a minute earlier as a substitute, as the Fire looked to add some striking depth in search of the go-ahead goal. With Chicago (8-7-8, 32 points) pressing, a nice passing play concluded with Miguel Navarro sending a perfect cross into the box that found Przybylko's head.

It was the fourth goal of the season for Przybylko, who has seen his playing time diminish since Frank Klopas took over as Chicago's interim head coach.

The Fire are now 6-4-3 under Klopas, including a 5-1-0 record in their last six matches and a run of three consecutive shutout victories.

Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady had to make only one save for his sixth clean sheet of the season.

Toronto FC (3-11-10, 19 points) has lost six consecutive matches as part of an 0-6-3 winless drought. Toronto also hasn't scored in its last four matches.

Toronto FC's attacking struggles continued Saturday, as the team had only one shot on target (of 11 total shots) and had trouble keeping plays alive in the final third of the field. The Fire's defenders delivered another strong performance, continually having an extra man back to limit space almost every time Toronto had the ball in Chicago's end.

The Fire also had issues finishing, even though they had the majority of scoring chances. Toronto FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson made four saves to keep Chicago off the scoreboard until the final minute of play.

Fabian Herbers had Chicago's best chance of the first half on a re-directed shot in the 23rd minute, but Johnson knocked aside the dangerous close-range attempt. Johnson also denied Xherdan Shaqiri and Kei Kamara on shots near the net in the second half as Toronto FC tried to at least preserve the draw.

Johnson and Jonathan Osorio (international duty) rejoined Toronto's lineup. Sigurd Rosted and Matt Hedges also returned after multi-game injury absences, and Latif Blessing and Franco Ibarra made their Toronto debuts after being acquired in separate transfer-window transactions earlier this week.

--Field Level Media