The New York Red Bulls struggled to pile up wins and points while Lewis Morgan was spending time trying to help his native Scotland in the Euros.
After New York won once in four matches without its leading scorer, Morgan will return to the Red Bulls on Saturday night when they host D.C. United in Harrison, N.J.
New York (9-4-7, 34 points) begins this week third in the Eastern Conference with a two-point lead on Charlotte and five points behind FC Cincinnati. Morgan scored nine goals before heading to the Euros, where Scotland bowed out in group play on Sunday.
Without Morgan, the Red Bulls went 1-1-2 and scored three of their five goals in that span during last week’s 3-0 victory over Toronto FC. Cameron Harper, Elias Manoel and Dennis Gjengaar scored last week after the Red Bulls rallied for a 2-2 draw with Montreal three nights earlier.
“It’s great character from the whole team, it’s great mentality,” Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said. “We have seen since the first game and every training session that they are working very seriously and we need all the players, especially in this long season.”
While Morgan is returning, the Red Bulls will be playing without Frankie Amaya, who is transferring to Mexican club Toluca.
D.C. (4-9-7, 19 points) is 0-6-2 in its past eight matches since beating Atlanta 3-2 on May 11. The skid started with a 4-1 loss to the Red Bulls on May 15, when D.C. United conceded three goals in the second half.
During the winless stretch, D.C. United are getting outscored 18-7 and three defeats came by more than one goal, including last week’s 4-1 setback to the Houston Dynamo when it gave up a hat trick to Carlos Ferreira.
“The standard is just not nearly good enough all around,” D.C. goalkeeper Tyler Miller said. “Everybody needs to really raise their own level and dig deep.”
Christian Benteke scored his 14th goal, putting him two behind Real Salt Lake forward Cristian Arango for the league lead. Benteke has three of his goals during the current skid.
–Field Level Media
