Lewis Morgan’s shoes are big ones to fill for the Red Bulls, but with the star forward sidelined for the home opener, the man tasked with taking his place came through in a big way.
Mohammed Sofo started in his first Major League Soccer game on Saturday night in place of the injured Red Bulls star and managed to score in the seventh minute for his first career MLS goal.
It was one of two goals scored by the host Red Bulls in a 2-0 win over Nashville SC.
Sofo’s strike came in the seventh minute when the Ghanaian winger buried a rebound.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting blasted a shot off the right post and Sofo put the ball into a virtually empty net with Nashville keeper Joseph Willis down and out of position.
The Red Bulls’ second strike of the night came when Emil Forsberg fired a blistering shot from just outside the box that curled past a diving Willis in the 30th minute.
The goal was the first of the season for the Swedish left wing, who is in his second season with the Red Bulls since making the move from the Bundesliga.
Nashville looked as though they had pulled within one in the 64th minute when Nashville sub Ahmed Qasem sent a centering pass that was touched by Samuel Surridge and went into the net. The goal was quickly called erased by offside.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel made two saves in the club’s first win of the season — including a diving stop on Surridge in the 86th minute from dangerous range — and the squad registered five shots on goal over the course of the 90-minute affair.
The Red Bulls announced the injury to Morgan a little less than an hour before Saturday’s home opener. Morgan suffered the injury during Friday’s training session, but the club did not say what exactly the ailment was.
The loss of Morgan for any amount of time is a tough turn of events after he had a breakout season in 2024, leading the team in goals with 15 during the regular season.
Morgan also missed nearly all of the 2023 MLS season after he suffered a tear to the psoas muscle.
The Red Bulls also lost young defenseman Cam Harper to a knee injury in the first half during stoppage time.
Harper went up to battle for a ball in his own end with Surridge when it seemed that the Nashville striker fell on top of him when the two came down.
Harper was on the ground for several moments before he was helped off the field by members of the Red Bulls’ medical staff.
He did not return in the second half and Dylan Nealis came into the match for him.
The 23-year-old Harper, who had just played in his 100th career match across all competitions for the Red Bulls last weekend, had played a dynamic game up until the injury, with good defensive positioning and a shot attempt that was blocked in the 14th minute.
Prior to the game Saturday, Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz lauded Harper’s ability to play in different positions on the field.
“It’s good to have this flexibility in our roster to have these profiles of players that they are able to play more than one position,” Schwarz said. “That’s good to have him and this profile. We have to answer first our structure and to look at which player is in the best position in this structure.”