Yunus Musah has found playing time hard to come by at La Liga side Valencia, but the American playmaker got his chance on Sunday and may have boosted his stock for the rest of the season.
Musah came off the bench and played 81 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Real Betis on Sunday, due to an injury to Thierry Correia. The U.S. Men’s National Team player showed promising moments for the club, delivering one shot on goal while also completing four of his five dribble attempts.
Despite Valencia not picking up a victory on the road, the visitors did fight back twice to earn a point for the second-consecutive match. With seven matches left to play this season, and the club eight points from the relegation zone, Musah could see ample playing time in hopes to end the campaign strong.
Elsewhere, Sergino Dest became the first USMNT player to win the Spanish Copa Del Rey competition as Barcelona thumped Athletic Bilbao. Tyler Adams and Chris Richards square off in a scoreless Bundesliga draw while Gio Reyna scored his first goal for Borussia Dortmund in 2021. Christian Pulisic helped Chelsea return to the FA Cup Final after eliminating Zack Steffen and Manchester City. Both Weston McKennie and Bryan Reynolds started in Sunday’s Serie A action, but suffered defeats with their clubs.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad action:
England
premier league
Antonee Robinson started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
Tim Ream dressed but did not play for Fulham.
Owen Otasowie dressed but did not play in Wolves 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday.
FA CUP
Zack Steffen started and played 90 minutes in Manchester City’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
Christian Pulisic came off the bench and played 20 minutes for Chelsea.
Championship
Daryl Dike started and played 90 minutes in Barnsley’s 2-0 loss to Coventry City on Sunday.
Cameron Carter-Vickers started and played 90 minutes in Bournemouth’s 3-1 win over Norwich City on Saturday.
Duane Holmes started and played 84 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Charlie Kelman dressed but did not play in QPR’s 2-1 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Matt Olosunde dressed but did not play in Rotherham United’s 1-0 loss to Birmingham City on Sunday.
Geoff Cameron did not dress for QPR.
league one
Lynden Gooch came off the bench and played one minute in Sunderland’s 1-0 loss to Blackpool on Saturday.
League Two
Indiana Vassilev came off the bench and played nine minutes in Cheltenham Town’s 1-0 loss to Crawley Town on Friday.
fa cup
Abby Dahlkemper started and played 90 minutes in Manchester City’s 8-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
Christen Press came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Manchester United’s 6-0 win over Burnley on Sunday.
Rose Lavelle came off the bench, scored ONE GOAL, and played 29 minutes for Man City.
Sam Mewis came off the bench, scored ONE GOAL, and played 29 minutes for Man City.
champions league
Catarina Macario started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Lyon’s 2-1 second leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday. PSG advanced on away goals.
Alana Cook started and played 90 minutes for Paris Saint-Germain.
PL 2
Marlon Fossey did not dress in Fulham U-23’s 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough on Friday.
Chituru Odunze and Leicester City U-23’s face Southampton on Monday.
Sebastian Soto did not dress in Norwich City U-23’s 3-2 loss to Sunderland on Friday.
Folarin Balogun and Arsenal U-23’s are off this weekend.
Germany
bundesliga
Gio Reyna started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-1 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday.
Tyler Adams started and played 90 minutes in RB Leipzig’s 0-0 draw with Hoffenheim on Friday.
Chris Richards started and played 90 minutes for Hoffenheim.
John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Wolfsburg’s 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Josh Sargent came off the bench and played 31 minutes for Werder Bremen.
Timmy Chandler came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 4-0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.
Matthew Hoppe came off the bench and played four minutes in Schalke’s 4-0 loss to Freiburg on Saturday.
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Stuttgart lost 2-1 to Union Berlin on Saturday.
2. Bundesliga
Julian Green started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 82 minutes in Greuther Furth’s 2-2 draw with Darmstadt on Friday.
Timothy Tillman came off the bench and played 45 minutes for Greuther Furth.
McKinze Gaines did not dress in Hannover’s 4-3 loss to Bochum on Sunday.
3. Liga
Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Hallescher FC’s 2-0 loss to Viktoria Koln on Saturday.
Regionalliga
Joe Scally started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Monchengladbach II’s 1-0 win over RW Ahlen on Saturday.
Spain
copa del rey final
Sergino Dest started and played 74 minutes in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
La Liga
Yunus Musah came off the bench and played 81 minutes in Valencia’s 2-2 draw with Real Betis on Sunday.
Segunda Liga
Shaq Moore started and played 90 minutes in Tenerife’s 0-0 draw with Cartagena on Sunday.
La liga 2
Konrad De La Fuente started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Barcelona B’s 3-2 win over Villarreal B on Sunday.
Italy
Serie A
Weston McKennie started and played 77 minutes in Juventus 1-0 loss to Atalanta on Sunday.
Bryan Reynolds started and played 75 minutes in AS Roma’s 3-1 loss to Torino on Sunday.
Serie B
Andrija Novakovich came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Frosinone’s 2-0 loss to Pordenone on Saturday.
France
Ligue 1
Tim Weah started and played 68 minutes in Lille’s 1-1 draw with Montpellier on Friday.
Ligue 2
Nicholas Gioacchini came off the bench and played 34 minutes in Caen’s 1-0 loss to Troyes on Saturday.
Portugal
primeira liga
Reggie Cannon started and played 90 minutes in Boavista’s 1-0 win over Pacos De Ferreira on Friday.
Belgium
first division a
Matt Miazga started and played 90 minutes in Anderlecht’s 1-0 win over Sint-Truiden on Sunday.
Chris Durkin started and played 90 minutes for Sint-Truiden.
Joe Efford came off the bench and played seven minutes in Waasland-Beveren’s 2-1 win over OH Leuven on Sunday.
Ethan Horvath dressed but did not play in Club Brugge’s 4-2 win over Royal Excel Mouscron on Sunday.
Mark McKenzie did not dress in Genk’s 3-2 loss to Royal Antwerp on Saturday.
Netherlands
Eredivisie
Luca De La Torre and Heracles are off this weekend.
Uly Llanez and Heerenveen are off this weekend.
Desevio Payne and FC Emmen are off this weekend.
Richie Ledezma is OUT (Injury) for PSV.
Eerste Divisie
Alex Mendez started and played 78 minutes in Jong Ajax’s 3-0 loss to FC Eindhoven on Friday.
Austria
bundesliga
Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in Admira Moedling’s 1-0 loss to Hartberg on Saturday.
Brandon Servania started and played 82 minutes in SKN St. Poelten’s 2-1 loss to Austria Vienna on Saturday.
Brenden Aaronson started and played 74 minutes in Red Bull Salzburg’s 2-0 win over LASK on Sunday.
Taylor Booth started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 72 minutes for SKN St. Poelten.
Erik Palmer-Brown did not dress for Austria Vienna.
Turkey
Super Lig
Mix Diskerud started and played 70 minutes in Denizlispor’s 3-2 loss to Erzurum BB on Saturday.
Tyler Boyd did not dress in Sivasspor’s 3-2 win over Genclerbirligi on Friday.
DeAndre Yedlin is OUT (Injured) for Galatasaray.
Swedish
Nebiyou Perry started, registered ONE ASSIST, and played 56 minutes in Ostersunds 5-0 win over Orebro on Sunday.
Romain Gall started and played 45 minutes for Orebro.
Denmark
Superliagen
Haji Wright started and played 90 minutes in Sonderjyske’s 1-1 draw with Odense on Sunday.
Emmanuel Sabbi started and played 84 minutes for Odense.
Jonathan Amon is OUT (Injury) for Nordsjaelland.
First Division
Christian Cappis started and played 90 minutes in Hobro’s 0-0 draw with Framed Amager on Saturday.
Greece
Super League
Gboly Ariyibi started and played 63 minutes in Panetolikos 1-0 win over Apollon Smirnis on Saturday.
Scotland
scottish cup
Ian Harkes came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Dundee United’s 1-0 win over Forfar Athletic on Friday. Dundee United advanced to the quarterfinals and will next face Aberdeen.
Dillon Powers did not dress for Dundee United.
Switzerland
Super League
Theoson Siebatcheu started and played 66 minutes in Young Boys 3-0 win over Lugano on Sunday.
Poland
Ekstralaka
Ben Lederman started and played 80 minutes in Rakow’s 3-1 win over Lech Poznan on Saturday.
Aron Johannsson came off the bench and played 45 minutes for Lech Ponzan.
Kenny Saief did not dress in Lechia Gdansk’s 2-2 draw with Piast Gliwice on Saturday.
Hungary
NB 1
Henry Wingo started and played 90 minutes in Ferencvaros 0-0 draw with Kisvarda on Saturday.
Cyprus
First Division
Mukwelle Akale and Pafos FC face Ethnikos Achnas on Monday.
Argentina
Primera Division
Joel Sonora dressed but did not play in Talleres 3-0 win over Union on Friday.
Alan Sonora and Independiente face Defensa y Justicia on Sunday.
Mexico
Liga MX
Sebastian Saucedo started and played 70 minutes in Pumas 0-0 draw with Tigres on Sunday.
Fernando Arce came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Necaxa’s 0-0 draw with Queretaro on Friday.
Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Atletico San Luis 4-1 loss to Pubela on Saturday.
I watched Valencia game, it was good. NORWICH CITY GOT PROMOTION BACK TO EPL, PLEASE LET SOTO GETA TON OF MINUTES! Guys we also have Jonathan Thomkins he is 18/19 and plays for Norwich City U-23 he is from Texas.
Justin Che seems firmly on the Chris Richards path. Went full 90 for Bayern II over the weekend. All reports were that he did well. Should see FCD get 2-4 million for him this Summer that they can spend on bad South American players to eat up minutes Pepi, Pomykal, Tessmann and Ferreira should be getting. Maybe spend some of that Reynolds and Cannon money on your scouting department. I did think the Colombian Obrian looked good for them Saturday.
Overall a good week for the USMNT “A” Team players.
Defense continues to gain experience and more depth is emerging:
Brooks, Richards, Robinson, Dest, CCV, Miazga, Reynolds & Cannon, All start and get significant minutes.
Midfield regulars McKennie, Adams, Musah continue to shine, while their back-ups keep pushing for inclusion with the US 1st team. Aaronson, Green, & Holmes continue to impress…while Booth, Servania & Durkin continue to make positive strides.
While the Attack wasn’t as noteworthy this week, they are still doing well. Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Sargent, Dike & Siebatcheu all rounding into good form.
We’ll hopefully get a look at what a true first choice USMNT 23 will be in the very near future, but I’m not sure there are going to be too many spots to be filled.
I thought it was encouraging that Weah started. It has been quite some time since he last did and his minutes have been slowly increasing over the last few months. He is playing for a very good CL quality team, so this is good.
Tim has started 6 of their last 9 matches averaging around 50 mins over those 9. They’ve had two CFs get injured and another had Covid so some of those minutes are related to others’ misfortunes, all of them have played this week though. Unfortunately he hasn’t scored or assisted since 2/18, 11 matches across all competitions. From the highlights I’ve seen he seems to contribute though by making the hockey assist or making the run that clears the space for the goal scorer. Things that people might miss if they only looked at a box score. Really wish he would have been able to come to the March camp.
Not sure about Holmes, 8g 8a over 3 seasons about 100 matches. Are we sure he didn’t just look good in the Summer of 2019 because he was in a midfield of Trapp, Roldan, Arriola, and Mihailovic? Could he be more dangerous than Lletget at times? Sure, but he might just as likely be worse than Djordje the next. If he’s an 8 he doesn’t beat out Musah, Wes, Lletget, or Luca for me. As an attacker he’s no where close to Weah, Aaronson, Reyna, or Pulisic. I’d rate Green ahead of him at either spot too.
I think Holmes is down the pecking order for all of us. Exactly where he fits in the pecking order is yet to be determined. IMO he’s somewhere between Green and Acosta; and with the number of games we’re going to be playing…and all the COVID rules, we may need him at some point.