Serge Ngoma scored his first MLS goal in impressive fashion in the 89th minute as the host New York Red Bulls rallied late for a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta United Thursday night in Harrison, N.J.
Ngoma, playing in his fourth MLS game, entered the game in the 69th minute for Omir Fernandez and made a memorable defensive play to snap a 1-1 tie.
Ngoma intercepted a pass by Atlanta’s Alan Franco, sped past defender Alex De John and put a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom right corner of the net.
Before the 16-year-old New Jersey native scored the game-winner, Lewis Morgan scored the tying goal on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute.
Morgan scored for the third time on a penalty kick this season after being taken down by Atlanta defender Caleb Wiley’s sliding tackle. After being taken down, Morgan easily scored his eighth goal by stepping into a left-footed shot that landed in the center of the net.
The late rally helped the Red Bulls (8-5-5, 29 points) get their third straight home win and move into a tie for first in the Eastern Conference with Montreal and Philadelphia.
Josef Martinez scored off a scramble in the 75th minute after entering the game 12 minutes earlier.
After the Red Bulls could not clear the rebound of Atlanta’s Emerson Hyndman’s right-footed shot, Martinez got the rebound and lifted a right-footed shot from very close into the bottom of the right corner.
New York goalie Carlos Coronel made two saves, including a diving stop on Ronaldo Cisneros in the 53rd minute.
Atlanta goalie Rocco Rios Nova stopped one shot in his fourth career start as the United (5-7-4, 19 points) saw their road winless streak reach six games (0-5-1-).
Atlanta’s only shot of the opening half occurred in the 31st minute when Coronel made a leaping save on Luiz Araujo’s left-footed shot from the center of the box.
New York’s lone shot occurred in the 41st minute but Rios Novo stopped a header attempt from Patryk Klimala.
–Field Level Media