Mohammed Sofo scored on his first MLS start as New York Red Bulls eased to a comfortable home win over Nashville SC to claim their first points of the new season at the Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night.
Sofo, drafted in to take the place of the injured Lewis Morgan, tapped into an empty net seven minutes into his home debut after an Erik Maxim Choupo-Moting effort had come back off the post. Emil Forsberg, influential throughout, added a superb second with 30 minutes on the clock to extend the Red Bulls advantage against a toothless Nashville outfit.
The hosts never looked like surrendering their two-goal lead, comfortably seeing out an uneventful second half to get off the mark in the MLS after a 1-0 defeat at Cincinnati on opening day last weekend.
Sandro Schwarz’s side looked solid at the back and at times free-flowing in attack as they marked their first home game as Eastern Conference champions with victory.
There was to be more injury woes for the Red Bulls in what was otherwise an unremarkable victory for the hosts when Cameron Harper limped off on the stroke of half time after shipping what looked like a heavy blow to the knee during an accidental tangle with Nashville striker Sam Surridge.
Schwarz praised Sofo for stepping up to the plate following Morgan’s injury during training Friday, adding that it is “very, very important” that players are able to slot into the first team at a moment’s notice to allow the Red Bulls cope with injuries throughout the season.
“It’s good not only to have these guys, but to have the spirt… that guys directly come in from the second team, from our first-team training session, and be ready,” Schwarz said. That’s very, very important for us, because we have some injuries… it’s a very good reaction and I’m very proud of the whole team.”
He added that Morgan will be out on a week-to-week basis and added that he expects Harper to be out for longer.
Sofo could hardly have asked for a better start to his full MLS debut. The 20-year-old Ghanian, who graduated from the New York Red Bulls II last season, had the simple task of converting from close range after Choupo-Moting’s left-footed effort struck the base of the post.
Nashville had failed to score in any of their last four games against the Red Bulls and rarely looked like ending that streak on Saturday, struggling to break the home press and failing to create any opportunities of note.
Choupo-Moting went close to opening his Red Bulls account on his home debut when he fizzed over from outside the area on 27 minutes, but the hosts did not have to wait long to double their advantage when Omar Javier Valencia retrieved a wayward Forsberg effort and set up the Swede on the edge of the area after half an hour. Forsberg had time to pick his spot and whip an unstoppable curling effort into the top right corner beyond Joseph Willis.
Forsberg described the strike as the best goal of his Red Bulls career to date and added that he believes more goals will come this season. The Swede, who shone with and without the ball on Saturday night, often leading the Red Bulls press and winning back possession in several promising positions, noted a marked improvement in performance compared to their season opener in Cincinnati last weekend.
“I think we showed how good we can be when we let the ball roll, when we keep playing fast and we defend as a team, and we attack as a team. I think we’re hard to beat, and I think that show today.”
Forsberg’s goal effectively settled the game as a contest, but Harper’s injury in first-half stoppage time put a dampener on a near flawless opening period.
Nashville seldom threatened Carlos Coronel in the Red Bulls goal throughout but thought they had found a route back into the contest midway through the second half when Surridge poked home from close range, only for substitute Ahmed Qasem to be correctly ruled offside in the build-up.
The Red Bulls, meanwhile, almost added a third on 80 minutes when a sweeping move found Dylan Nealis down the right, who squared to Choupo-Moting in space inside the penalty area. Willis produced a smothering save to deny the former Bayern Munich striker a first goal in the MLS and was up quickly to produce another brilliant smothering save and deny 16-year-old substitute Julian Hall from close range.
There was still time for Coronel to produce a smart save at his near post to deny Surridge and any thoughts of a late Nashville fightback as the Red Bulls eased to a deserved victory.
Red Bulls travel to Atlanta for week three of the MLS season next weekend, with Atlanta also winning one and losing one in their opening two games.
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