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Kljestan delivers assist, sent off in Champions League draw with PSG

Belgium Soccer Champions League

By FRANCO PANIZO

What was initially looking to be the latest in a string of impressive performances for Sacha Kljestan turned into a game he would probably like to have back.

Kljestan endured a mix day at the office on Tuesday, as he first set up RSC Anderlecht’s opener in a 1-1 UEFA Champions League draw vs. Paris Saint-Germain before being sent off with a second yellow card in the 82nd minute.

The veteran midfielder continued his recent fine run of form by impressively setting up RSC Anderlecht’s opener against PSG’s star-studded squad in the 68th minute, but the excitement from his assist was quelled by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s equalizer two minutes later. Making matters worse was Kljestan’s ejection in the final minutes of the match, leaving Anderlecht to close out the match in Paris with 10 men.

Kljestan, who entered the match on a three-game scoring streak, and Anderlecht are now 0-3-1 in their Group C Champions League matches.

Here are the match highlights (Kljestan’s assist at the 1:23 mark):

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Impressed with Kljestan’s assist? Hoping to see him start for the U.S. Men’s National Team later this month vs. Scotland and Austria? Disappointed by his sending off?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. That assist was AWESOME. The whole play. Quick first touch pass – knew what he was doing before he got the ball. Darted into space (something Americans do far too rarely). Got the return and kept going since he had a step on his defender. Then cut it back perfectly. Man, that was just a terrific job by Sacha. What you learn from playing high level European competition just can’t be overlooked.

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  2. I would really like to see him start a match paired with Bradley in the middle in one of the next two friendlies. They seem to have a good understanding and I rate him higher than Mix at this point in time. I think they only draw back of that pairing is that it would lack the defensive bite needed against higher level teams.

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    • If you’re going to go with a double pivot style midfield, Bradley and Sacha should definitely be given some time together. I can see this being much more consistently fluid than Bradley and Jones. You do lose something defensively, but you may make up for it with a more potent attack.

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    • With 7 goal in 13 league matches and an assist in Champions league, I think you could argue makes him the hottest American at the moment.

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      • That’s actually a pretty low bar. 7 in 13 would be impressive except that he plays in Belgium.
        One assist and one red card in CL negate each other.

      • Is there an American doing more right now? Perhaps Johansson but he hasn’t scored in the last couple and a good number of his goals are PKs. Though AZ is at the top of the table of a stronger league so thats worth something. Howard is having a strong run right now, but other then that I don’t know.

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