Scotland hitman puts in timely outstanding display to end under-fire team's winless run

A glittering display from Scotland international Lewis Morgan helped his New York Red Bulls side end an eight-game winless run by thrashing Toronto FC 4-1 at the BMI Field.

The 27-year-old was named in the Scotland squad for the Nations League double-header against Croatia and Portugal later this month despite his side’s barren run of the form that saw them without a win since July 20. Morgan himself had been goalless in six games.

“It was longer than I would have wanted (without scoring),” said Morgan. “But that is the life of being a striker. You go through good spells, and spells where you don’t really score. I always know if I get the chance, I’ve got the quality to score. Hopefully it kick starts a little run of form and I can come into good form for the playoffs around the corner.”

A 5-1 defeat to New York City last weekend in the Hudson River derby resulted in fans holding up banners which read ‘not good enough’. The MLS outfit responded in perfect fashion by thumping their Canadian counterparts 4-1, with Morgan involved in all of the goals.

Lewis Morgan was involved in all four goals for New York Red Bulls against Toronto FC. | Getty Images

New York Red Bulls had already secured a record 15th consecutive MLS playoff spot ahead of the game when Toronto’s 1-1 draw with Chicago Fire sealed their spot last weekend, and Morgan helped pile further misery onto their opponents when his clever run saw him fouled in the area and Emil Forsberg stepped up to convert on 27 minutes.

The ex-St Mirren star would then set up his side’s second goal, when a delightful piece of interplay between him and Forsberg allowed John Tolkin to blast home from just inside the area. When former Celtic academy player Cameron Harper was bundled over in the box 20 minutes from time, Morgan would step up to expertly place home from 12-yards. Red Bulls weren’t done there though, and Morgan was once again involved, when his neat through ball allowed substitute Elias Manoel to place home the fourth goal on the stroke of full-time.

“It was a massive performance from us tonight as a team,” reflected Morgan. “I’m not going to say it was perfect. After we had a tough loss, it was important to put a strong performance on for 90 minutes. There’s thing we can definitely improve, but it was a big step forward. The best thing about football is that it always gives you second chances. We were lucky that we had such a quick turnaround, because you can’t really dwell too much on the past game. We had a tough result and on Sunday we came in as a group and had conversations with each other, we really wanted to turn a new leaf. Tonight was a good response.”

New York Red Bulls are back in action in the early hours of Sunday morning as Morgan and his team-mates travel to Atlanta United for the final regular season game in the MLS.