Mohammed Sofo had only found out that he would be making his first Major League Soccer start for the Red Bulls on Saturday ahead of the team’s home opener later that night.
Sofo was tasked with filling the shoes of Red Bulls star Lewis Morgan and the Ghanaian winger stepped up in a big way, scoring in the seventh minute of the match for his first career MLS goal.
It was part of a two-goal night for the Red Bulls, who picked up their first win of the season in a 2-0 victory over Nashville SC.
4 Mohammed Sofo (right) celebrates with his teammates after he scoring a goal in the Red Bulls’ 2-0 win over Nashville SC on March 1, 2025 in Harrison, N.J. Bill Kostroun
“I came in today and had a conversation with the coach, and he told me that I was starting tonight,” Sofo said. “You have to always be ready. You never know. So personally, I was ready to play. So when, when he told me I was playing, it wasn’t a shock because mentally I was ready to play always.”
Sofo’s strike came in the seventh minute when the Red Bulls winger buried a rebound.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting blasted a shot off the right post and Sofo put the ball into a virtually empty net with Nashville keeper Joseph Willis down and out of position.
The 20-year-old seemed more than ready for the moment since, as he explained, there was one thing the coaches had always hammered home to him.
“When you’re in front of the goal, it doesn’t matter who is shooting you have to be ready,” he said. “You never know what will happen. I think it’s something we used to do on the training ground, so I was always ready and that was it.”
The Red Bulls’ second strike of the night came when Emil Forsberg fired a blistering shot from just outside the box that curled past a diving Willis in the 30th minute.
4 Mohammed Sofo connected for a goal in the Red Bulls’ win on Saturday. Bill Kostroun
The goal was the first of the season for the Swedish left wing and he described it after the match as a “pretty one.”
Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel made two saves in the club’s first win of the season — including a diving stop on Sam Surridge in the 86th minute from dangerous range — and the squad registered five shots on goal over the course of the 90-minute affair.
“It’s great when [Sofo] plays in his first game in the starting lineup and leads directly to scoring in these moments,” Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “Very, very important for us. And what I said directly in the locker room, it’s good not only to have these guys, but to have the spirit that guys can directly come in from the second team, from our first-team training sessions and then directly to be ready.”
4 Emil Forsberg, who scored a goal, kicks the ball during the Red Bulls’ win over Nashville SC. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Red Bulls announced the injury to Morgan a little less than an hour before Saturday’s home opener.
Morgan suffered the injury during Friday’s training session, but the club did not say what exactly the ailment was. Schwarz said he hoped to see Morgan return in the next 2-3 weeks.
The Red Bulls also lost young defenseman Cam Harper to a knee injury in the first half during stoppage time.
4 Cameron Harper moves the ball downfield as Alex Muylof gives chase during the first half of the Red Bulls’ win over Nashville FC. Bill Kostroun
Harper went up to battle for a ball in his own end with Surridge when it seemed that the Nashville striker fell on top of him when the two came down.
Harper was down on the ground for several moments before he was helped off the field by members of the Red Bulls’ medical staff.
He did not return in the second half and Dylan Nealis came into the match for him.
Schwarz said Harper would be evaluated Sunday and that the injury “could be a little longer” without putting any time frame on a return.
The 23-year-old Harper, who had just played in his 100th career match across all competitions for the Red Bulls last weekend, played a dynamic game up until the injury with good defensive positioning and a shot attempt that was blocked in the 14th minute.