After his best performance in MLS to date, New York Red Bulls midfielder Lewis Morgan has earned Week 2 Player of the Week honors.
The 25-year-old Scottsman notched a hat trick in last weekend’s 4-1 win at Toronto FC, a resounding return on investment after his offseason trade acquisition from Inter Miami CF for $1.2 million in General Allocation Money.
Morgan’s three goals were scored across a 23-minute span and all before the 40th minute, leaving RBNY as the 12th club in MLS history to begin a season at 2-0-0 after starting the previous season 0-2-0.
Morgan's first two goals, in the 17th and 24th minutes, were near-identical finishes that involved curling shots around Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono. The third arrived on a breakaway with TFC pressed upfield on a corner kick, and all strikes were assisted by Polish forward Patryk Klimala.
In the process, Morgan became the first Red Bulls player to tally a hat trick since Bradley Wright-Phillips in September 2018 at D.C. United.
After two straight road wins, New York make their 2022 home debut against Minnesota United FC on Sunday (7 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, DAZN in Canada).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
