'Most valuable': In-form Scotland hitman plays key role as ex-Celtic duo shock defending champions

Morgan, who is a hot favourite to win the prestigious MLS Comeback of the Year award, played 89 minutes of the Red Bulls’ vital 1-0 first-leg win over reigning champions Columbus Crew as Felipe Carballo’s 25th minute free-kick handed the away side a vital win in Ohio.

The New Jersey-based visitors, who also included former Celtic youngster Cameron Harper in their starting XI, were big outsiders coming into the first-leg clash. Winning just two of their last 16 domestic games, their hosts were on the back of a three-game winning streak, which included a 3-2 regular season away win against Red Bulls themselves on October 19.

However, a tactical masterclass from head coach Sandro Schwarz resulted in his side producing a major upset that could see the one of the league’s big hitters exiting the competition at the first hurdle, with Morgan and his team-mates now just 90 minutes away from progressing to the semi-finals.

Widely praised by the America media for his performances this season, Morgan tops the New York Red Bulls scoring charts with 13 goals. After missing the majority of the 2023 MLS campaign with a hip injury, Morgan was named as his side’s ‘most valuable’ player by The Athletic’s Pablo Maurer after his impressive season.

Nominated for the prestigious Comeback of the Year award last week, the award honours the player who has ‘shown impressive improvement after overcoming a serious injury, medical condition or after a slump in their career’, and Maurer believes the Scottish forward is fully deserving of the acclaim.

“The Red Bulls simply are not a play-off team this year without Morgan’s influence,” wrote Maurer. “He suffered a really difficult injury in 2023 and came back and showed his quality again this year. A hip injury is not easy to come back from and still have the burst and pace that wingers need to beat defenders and perform at a high level” echoed his Athletic colleague Paul Tenorio.

New York welcome Columbus back to the Red Bull Arena on Sunday afternoon, with the game set to kick-off at 9.30pm UK time. Part of a best-of-three series, should Morgan’s side emerge victorious at the weekend, they will progress to the Western Conference semi-finals and dump out the current MLS Cup champions at the first hurdle in the process.