Gedion Zelalem has returned to the news in shocking fashion this weekend, while Bobby Wood’s latest strike will surprise no one.
Zelalem played a role in Rangers FC’s Scottish Cup win over Celtic on Sunday. The young American attacker came off the bench and scored in the penalty shootout as Rangers earned a statement victory just a week after earning promotion to the Scottish top flight for next season.
Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, DeAndre Yedlin and Sunderland earned a much needed win over Norwich City as they continue to fight for survival in the English Premier League. Yedlin’s team is now just one point behind Norwich with a game in hand as the season enters its final stretch.
Christian Pulisic made the biggest headlines this weekend, scoring his first professional goal in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-0 win against Hamburg on Sunday.
Bobby Wood continued his fine club form with FC Union Berlin, scoring his 17th goal of the season against Heidenheimer SB on Sunday. Wood headed home the game-winner in the 27th minute to keep his stock rising as the transfer window approaches.
Meanwhile, John Brooks’ Hertha Berlin and Fabian Johnson’s Borussia Monchengladbach both took hits this weekend as they battle to finish in the German Bundesliga’s top four, losing to clubs near the bottom of the table in Germany.
Here’s how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
PREMIER LEAGUE
DeAndre Yedlin started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 3-0 win over Norwich City.
Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes, and made three saves in Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Manchester United.
Tim Howard dressed but did not play in Everton’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Matt Miazga dressed but did not play in Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City.
Geoff Cameron and Stoke City play Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 0-0 draw with Rotherham United.
Emerson Hyndman and Tim Ream both started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 5-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Cody Cropper started, made four saves, and drew a RED CARD in the 81st minute in MK Dons’ 1-1 draw with Preston North End.
Danny Williams served the first match of a three-match suspension as Reading lost 3-2 to Leeds United.
Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in Birmingham City’s 2-1 loss to Burnley.
Duane Holmes did not dress in Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.
GERMANY
BUNDESLIGA
Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 2-0 loss to Hannover.
Christian Pulisic started, played 90 minutes, and scored a GOAL in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win over Hamburg.
Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and drew a YELLOW CARD in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim.
Russell Canouse did not dress for Hoffenheim.
Alfredo Morales dressed but did not play in FC Ingolstadt’s 2-0 loss to SV Darmstadt.
2. BUNDESLIGA
Bobby Wood started, played 90 minutes, and scored a GOAL in FC Union Berlin’s 1-0 win over Heidenheimer SB.
https://dailymotion.com/video/x453d1l
Andrew Wooten dressed but did not play in SV Sandhausen’s 1-0 win over Red Bull Leipzig.
Shawn Barry dressed but did not play in FSV Frankfurt’s 2-0 loss to SC Paderborn 07.
NETHERLANDS
Rubio Rubin dressed but did not play in FC Utrecht’s 2-2 draw with Ajax.
Desevio Payne did not dress for FC Groningen’s 1-1 draw with Feyenoord.
NORWAY
Ethan Horvath started, played 90 minutes, and made four saves in Molde’s 2-1 win over Bodo/Glimt.
AJ Soares started and played 90 minutes in Viking’s 2-1 win over Aalesund.
Cole Grossman did not dress for Staebek’s 1-1 draw with Sarpsborg.
SCOTLAND
Gedion Zelalem came off the bench in the 87th minute and scored a PENALTY in Rangers’ 5-4 shootout victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup (2-2).
https://youtu.be/Sv8y3299I1s?t=6m40s
FRANCE
Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minutes in Nantes’ 2-0 loss to Montpellier.
MEXICO
Omar Gonzalez started, played 65 minutes, and came off with an injury in Pachuca’s 1-0 loss to Morelia.
Jorge Villafana started and played 90 minutes in Santos Laguna’s 1-0 win over Cruz Azul.
Paul Arriola started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-1 loss against Monterrey.
Michael Orozco, Greg Garza, and Alejandro Guido didn’t dress for Club Tijuana.
Edgar Castillo did not dress for Monterrey.
Ventura Alvarado dressed but did not play in Club America’s 1-0 loss to Queretaro.
Jonathan Bornstein started and played 90 minutes for Queretaro.
Luis Gil did not dress for Queretaro.
Sonny Guadarrama did not dress Dorados de Sinaloa’s 5-2 loss to Tigres.
Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Dorados.
Jose Torres did not dress for Tigres.
Sebastian Saucedo did not dress for Veracruz’s 4-2 loss to Toluca.
William Yarbrough started, played 90 minutes, and made six saves in Club Leon’s 4-1 win over Puebla.
Miguel Ibarra did not dress for Club Leon.
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What do you think of this weekend’s action? Which player stood out the most to you?
Share your thoughts below.
Cameron played RB for Stoke yesterday.
Fire the Stoke coach right guys?! Right?!…. Guys?!…..
The English media must be going nuts over this on Twitter right now.
A win in the final and Rangers will qualify for the Europa League qualifying rounds I believe. Of course Zelalem most likely won’t be there.
Landon’s tweet congratulating Pulisic.
At 17 years old, @cpulisic_10 already has more all-time @Bundesliga_EN goals (1) than me and @TaylorTwellman combined ???
I haven’t always agreed with LD, but I gotta give it to him here. Way to have a sense of humor.
Wow that is hilarious LD!
Just saw Gatt is back training on the pitch and his manager thought he may see playing time by May. Had to translate the article Gatt retweeted since I don’t read Norwegian, but it sounds like he may play in some cup games and with Molde II, before hopefully rejoining the full side in July. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said they are going to proceed very cautiously.
Apparently, Terrance Boyd might not be far behind as well, but of course the German season is wrapping up, whereas Norway is just getting started.
Time to add Fafa Picault to the list now that he scored two goals in 2. Bundesliga. There are a few other players that should probably make the list, but it seems like he should be there for consistency.
I think your choosing to dress for Haiti a couple years back probably why your not listed here on Americans Abroad Rewind, Fabrice “Fafa” Picault.
I don’t believe he’s captied though. Wasn’t that just a friendly with Haiti?
He’s not since I don’t think he even played, but until he and/or the US express an interest in him playing for the US I don’t think he needs to be on this list.
But they were a couple of nice goals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JdHxwZARUk
I would like to point out how many of Klinsman Mexican go-to’s aren’t dressing (orozco, castillo, garza, ibarra, not to mention gil). I am sure some of those are injured, but it jumped out at me.
Orozco has been out of favor since January. Hopefully the game against Guatemala is the final nail in his national team coffin. It’s past time we moved on from him.
Garza still hasn’t returned from his hip surgery. Even if he does recover he may never be the same player he once was. I wouldn’t count on him ever making it back to the National Team.
Ibarra & Gil started out the season well, but appear to have fallen out of favor with their clubs. Neither have been a part of the Sr. USMNT for quite some time. With the emergence of Pulisic, Nagbe, Nguyen, and others I don’t expect to see them anytime in the near future.
Castillo is the interesting one. He was going 90 week in, week out….but since the Guatemala matches he’s been in and out of his clubs matches. May just be a matter of managing his minutes….or maybe a sign that he’s falling out of favor. Only time will tell.
Question will be if Villafana will get a shot with the USMNT this summer….and how many more chances Gonzalez will get with the team after the Guatemala game.
Bring Bornstein Back.
Oooohhhhh “F” NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Orozco benched when Herrera showed up, so whatever that might mean. Of course, Arriola moved into the line up so hard to play the anti-American angle too much.
Castillo started the first game back after international break but was subbed at halftime and has not dressed since. He apparently has a big toe injury to his left foot. He was supposed to resume training last week, had been listed as doubtful for the match with Tijuana.
DON’T even talk about Pulisic! Can we avoid the jinx just once?
It appears that Pulisic was named to the Bundesliga team of the week.
http://outside90.com/bundesliga-team-of-the-week-matchday-30-video433/
There is hope and hype, and then there is 17 year old Pulisic getting the start and scoring the opening goal for second-place Dortmund in league play. I think we may have something here.
For those of you who are new to US soccer, we are now at the part where Pulisic suffers a horrific knee injury.
I am laughing and cringing at the same time
As is tradition…
But … the player that came in way late and with his studs up to cause the injury will get another real firm talking to by the ref.
And 7 years later that player will “retire” and play in MLS
I want us to imagine for a second the thought of this trio in a 4-5-1 with JJ and Bradley underneath
Gyau—-Pulisic—–Johnson
I really thought Gyau was going to be a guy that changed the way we played soccer. Look at his in that Czech game and tell me he wasn’t simply amazing.
it’s not over yet for Gyau.
Gyau is also at BVB, next season of they could potentially see club minutes together. Cool thought
A good weekend for many of our young players. Hopefully these young players continue to push for involvement/starts with the USMNT, and when given a chance they make the most of them.
Wood, Pulisic, Brooks, Yedlin, Hyndman, Horvath, Arriola, & Zelalem are looking to make life difficult on many of the vets.
Hopefully JK and his staff will use this summers Copa America Tournament to begin integrating some of these young players into the full national team instead of continuing to use the 30+ yr old’s who failed so dramatically during the 2015 Gold Cup.
“Wood, Pulisic, Brooks, Yedlin, Hyndman, Horvath, Arriola, & Zelalem are looking to make life difficult on many of the vets.”
I sure hope so. Imagine for a moment that we started all 8 of those guys and then filled out the lineup with our 3 best field players: Johnson, Cameron, and Dempsey. Maybe not our best 11, but far from our worst, and it would be great experience for the young guys.
I would agree that playing a lot of our tutu players at Copa America would be a good a time as any to intergrate them into the senior program but you get the sense that JK believes this an opportunity for the team to show well on home soil so he’ll continue to play the vets! We’ll see some young faces on that roster but it won’t be nearly as many as it ought to or we would like it to be!!
That old firm shootout clip, chills.