By FRANCO PANIZO
It wasn’t pretty by any stretch, but it counted all the same.
Sacha Kljestan found the back of the net on Wednesday to cap the scoring in Anderlecht’s 3-0 win over Zulte-Waregem in the first leg of their Coupe de Belgique quarterfinals series. Kljestan struck two minutes after entering the game, bundling a cross over the goal line with his knee in the 86th minute before celebrating it modestly.
The goal was the 29-year-old midfielder’s first since scoring in a Pro League tilt back on Oct. 29, and his second across all competitions in a season that has seen him struggle for consistent playing time. It came on the same day that fellow American John Brooks scored in a German Bundesliga affair.
Kljestan and Anderlecht will attempt to close out the series and move onto the tournament semifinals when they host Zulte-Waregem in the decisive leg on Jan. 21.
You can see the goal here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68oNF_AP7iM&w=600&h=350]
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What do you think of Kljestan’s goal? Like Anderlecht’s pink jersey more than the finish? Think he will move away from the club during the upcoming transfer window?
Share your thoughts below.
I’d say Sacha isn’t always bad for the states, but there are usually better options than him available. He’s not super dangerous offensively, but he’s very capable of starting moves with smart, savvy passes into the final third and then getting in a good position to receive the ball again.
We scored a quality goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina when he came off the bench for Jermaine Jones, who had once again struggled to get good chemistry going with Bradley. Sacha, on the other hand, had been well acquainted with Bradley since their early days together on the Olympics and previous caps as a central midfield pairing. Kljestan allowed Bradley to motor forward more than Jones did, and the best example was on Jozy’s third goal when he played a nice round the corner pass into Johannson, then got it back before he slid an inch perfect through ball ahead of a streaking Michael Bradley.
Not saying he deserves a call-up, but he deserved better than he got last cycle, especially when he was seeing consistent Champions League time. The U.S. played a full friendly in Belgium and he didnt even see a minute, while Maurice Edu started with Kyle Beckerman against France (to be fair, they put together a fine defensive display). He was in good form for a while.
Sacha is a very good player but he has never really fit in with either JK’s or BB’s team setups.
why isn’t he in Ligue 1 or Serie A?
he is barely getting PT at the best team in Belgium. 3 league titles in a row. Gotta be a Yank record (even if he is only playing in Belgium). Not to mention loads of CL games and a goal and a few assists.
and yet he’s poor when playig for the NT
Short answer: He’s just too damn inconsistent.
Sasha seems to be doing well recently. if he is still looking for a move he should be in a good situation.
meanwhile, since Bocanegra & LD’s retirement he is the top candidate for captain of the “Klinnsy don’t call me” best xi.
————–Magee—–Zardes———
——Obrien——Kljestan—-Torres—-
——————-Okugo——————
-Castillo—Hedges—John—-Lichaj—-
———————Clark————————
subs: Adu, Spector, Edu, Neagle, Kitchen, Schuler, Klute, McInerney, others?
Eric Lichaj will always be the captain of this squad. To be fair though, most of those guys don’t deserve a call.
A lot of injured players on your list.
Love the pink strip. I also love that Sasha somehow got a haircut at some point in the match in between the first photo and the second. Either haircut is gonna look great as the LA Galaxy’s next DP.
+1000
Quality