Welcome to Red Bull Arena, Emil Forsberg.
The New York Red Bulls' marquee offseason signing opened his MLS scoring account in Saturday's 2-1 win over FC Dallas, clinically depositing a 30th-minute penalty kick.
The Swedish No. 10 also assisted on Lewis Morgan's second-half winner after driving forward a counter-attack, giving New York three points in their 2024 home opener.
"I think I saved it for home," Forsberg joked post-match. "It's better to score in front of our fans first time. So it felt good, an amazing feeling to score the first goal. A good feeling, a little bit of a stone releasing from my shoulders. I had two crossbars before."
Forsberg joined New York in mid-December from RB Leipzig, their sister side in the German Bundesliga. The Designated Player was handed the captain's armband in preseason, jumpstarting a new era with his quality and leadership.
With Forsberg elevating those around him and pulling the strings, RBNY are undefeated (2W-0L-1D) through Matchday 4 and contending for first place in the Eastern Conference.
"I'm happy we got the win, undefeated so far," Forsberg said. "I think we're taking steps every day. We didn't play our best game in the second half, but we stood through, we fought for each other and these kinds of wins you accept them either way."
While the Red Bulls have an open DP spot, Forsberg and Morgan are proving pivotal under new manager Sandro Schwarz. The Scottish attacker, in particular, has scored in back-to-back games after a golazo sealed last weekend's 2-1 win at Houston Dynamo FC.
"I think Lewis is a quality striker or 10," Forsberg said. "He has fantastic runs. For me to find him, it's always easy. He has a good finish, so he's a key player for us. I’m happy for him that he's back. He was away [injured] for a long time. He took his time, but now he's finally back. He's a very important player for us and is going to be that for this year."
Despite the Red Bulls' triumph in the rain, they're nowhere near satisfied. And they'll need to be at their best next Saturday when visiting reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
"It's a long season," Forsberg said. "There's no time to relax. We have to work hard every day in training and to keep pushing and have this mentality that we can win every game because we are a really good team, we have fantastic players in every position. We have to believe."
