Lewis Morgan scored his second goal in as many matches, Emil Forsberg opened his MLS account from the penalty spot and the New York Red Bulls held on for a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas in their home opener.
Forsberg also assisted Morgan’s strike on the break early in the second half, which eventually stood as the matchwinner in a second consecutive victory for the Red Bulls (2-0-1, 7 points).
Morgan also earned the penalty Forsberg converted as New York completed its best three-game start to the regular season since the 2020 campaign that was interrupted by the pandemic.
Jesus Ferreira pulled a goal back on an excellent free-kick strike for FC Dallas (1-2-0, 3 points), which lost its second straight after opening the season with a home victory.
The loss snapped Dallas’ four-match regular season away unbeaten run.
Morgan was making his first start since March of last year after missing most of 2023 dealing with a hip injury.
But for a second straight game, he looked like the player who led the Red Bulls with 14 goals in 2022 after he played 46 minutes off the bench and also scored in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Houston.
First, Morgan earned the penalty just before the half-hour mark when he ran onto a throughball in the left side of the penalty area, shielded defender Ema Twumasi with his body and tumbled as Twumasi pulled at his shoulder.
Referee Amin Hadzic pointed immediately to the spot. And Forsberg stepped up to take the penalty, driving it low and hard into the bottom left corner beyond goalkeeper Maarten Paes’ dive.
Then Morgan finished off an excellent break in the 54th minute that began when Elias Manoel took a pass near the midfield circle and immediately sprayed the ball wide to Forsberg on the right flank.
Forsberg eventually provided the cross for Morgan to dispatch in stride past Paes.
Ferreira was also making his first start of the season and opened his 2024 account when he bent his free kick from beyond the left corner of the penalty area beyond Carlos Coronel and into the bottom left corner.
But Dallas rarely had a clear opportunity to equalize. The best came in the 89th minute when Coronel pushed away Petar Musa’s well-placed header.
–Field Level Media