There were goals, debuts and recoveries galore in a busy weekend on the Americans Abroad front.
In the goal-scoring department, we saw Haji Wright net a hat-trick in Turkey, Alan Sonora scored a pair of beautiful goals in Argentina, Gio Reyna scored in a record-setting appearance for Borussia Dortmund, Jordan Pefok notched his latest finish for Young Boys, and Christian Ramirez continued to enjoy a successful stint in Scotland with his latest tally.
As far as debuts go, both Gianluca Busio and Matt Miazga made their debuts in top-four leagues, starting in Serie A and La Liga matches respectively.
On the recovery front, Christian Cappis returned to action after his recent bout with COVID-19, while Yunus Musah returned from an ankle injury to help Valencia see out their win against Miazga and Alaves.
In France, Konrad De La Fuente continued his hot start to the Ligue 1 season with another assist
This weekend also saw John Brooks help keep Wolfsburg perfect to start the Bundesliga season with a win against Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig, while Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream both played well to help keep Fulham at the top of the table in the English League Championship.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad action:
England
PREMIER LEAGUE
Christian Pulisic was OUT (COVID-19) for Chelsea’s 1-1 draw vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
Zack Steffen dressed but did not play in Manchester City’s 5-0 win vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
Josh Sargent came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Norwich City’s 2-1 loss to Leicester City on Saturday.
Cameron Carter-Vickers was OUT (injured ankle) for Tottenham’s 1-0 win vs. Watford on Sunday.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Antonee Robinson started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-0 win vs. Stoke City.
Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes for Fulham.
Duane Holmes came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Huddersfield’s 4-0 win vs. Reading on Saturday.
Ethan Horvath dressed, but did not play in Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw with Derby County on Saturday.
Matthew Olosunde was OUT (Achilles injury) for Preston North End’s 3-1 win vs. Swansea City on Sunday.
LEAGUE ONE
Lynden Gooch started, played 90 minutes, and recorded an ASSIST in Sunderland 3-1 win vs. Wycombe on Saturday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Wolfsburg’s 1-0 win vs. RB Leipzig on Sunday.
Tyler Adams started and played 85 minutes for RB Leipzig.
Gio Reyna started, played 62 minutes, and scored a GOAL in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 win vs. Hoffenheim on Friday.
Timmy Chandler dressed, but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 1-1 draw vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
Chris Richards dressed, but did not play in Bayern Munich’s 5-0 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Joe Scally started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-1 loss to Union Berlin on Sunday.
Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart suffered a 3-2 loss to Freiburg on Saturday.
Julian Green started and played 59 minutes in Greuther Furth’s 3-0 loss to Mainz on Saturday.
Timothy Tillman dressed, but did not play for Greuther Furth.
2. BUNDESLIGA
Matthew Hoppe came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Schalke’s 3-1 win vs. Dusseldorf on Saturday.
3. LIGA
Bryang Kayo came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Viktoria Berlin’s 1-0 win vs. Mannheim on Saturday.
Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Hallescher’s 4-4 draw with Verl on Friday.
Mael Corboz came off the bench and played 10 minutes for Verl.
Spain
LA LIGA
Sergino Dest came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Barcelona’s 2-1 win vs. Getafe on Sunday.
Matt Miazga started and played 90 minutes in Alaves’ 3-0 loss to Valencia on Friday.
Yunus Musah came off the bench and played five minutes for Valencia.
SEGUNDA DIVISION
Shaq Moore dressed, but did not play in Tenerife’s 0-0 draw with Real Oviedo on Saturday.
Italy
Serie A
Weston McKennie started and played 45 minutes in Juventus 1-0 loss to Empoli on Saturday.
Gianluca Busio started and played 90 minutes in Venezia’s 3-0 loss to Udinese on Friday.
Tanner Tessmann dressed, but did not play for Venezia
Bryan Reynolds dressed but did not play in AS Roma’s 4-0 win vs. Salernitana on Sunday.
Serie B
Andrija Novakovich was OUT (injury) for Frosinone’s 2-0 win vs. LR Vicenza on Saturday.
France
LIGUE 1
Tim Weah was OUT (thigh injury) for Lille’s 2-1 win vs. Montpellier on Sunday.
Konrad De La Fuente started, played 55 minutes and recorded an ASSIST in Marseille’s 3-1 win vs. St. Etienne on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
Nicholas Gioacchini started and played 75 minutes in Caen’s 0-0 draw with Nimes on Saturday.
Portugal
PRIMEIRA LIGA
Alex Mendez dressed, but did not play in Vizela’s 1-1 draw with Boavista on Saturday.
Reggie Cannon did not dress for Boavista.
LIGA PORTUGAL 2
Sebastian Soto started and played 62 minutes in FC Porto B’s 2-1 win vs. Covilha on Sunday.
C.J. Dos Santos did not dress in Benfica B’s 4-2 loss to Casa Pia on Saturday.
Netherlands
Luca De La Torre started, played 90 minutes and drew a YELLOW CARD in Heracles’ 1-0 loss to Nijmegen on Sunday.
Turkey
DeAndre Yedlin did not dress in Galatasaray’s 2-2 draw with Kasimpas on Sunday.
Haji Wright started, played 90 minutes and scored a HAT-TRICK in Antalyaspor’s 3-2 win vs. Rizespor on Saturday.
Tyler Boyd started and played 77 minutes for Rizespor.
Austria
ADMIRAL Bundesliga
Brenden Aaronson came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Red Bull Salzburg’s 1-0 win vs. Hartberg on Saturday.
2. Liga
Ulysses Llanez dressed, but did not play in SKN St. Polten’s 2-0 win vs. Austria Vienna II on Friday.
Belgium
Mark McKenzie came off the bench and played one minute in Genk’s 1-0 win vs. Anderlecht on Sunday.
Sam Vines started and played 90 minutes in Royal Antwerp’s 2-2 draw with Leuven on Sunday.
Owen Otasowie dressed, but did not play in Club Brugge’s 6-1 loss to Gent on Sunday.
Chris Durkin started and played 90 minutes in Sint-Truiden’s 1-0 win vs. Cercle Brugge on Saturday.
Switzerland
SWISS SUPER LEAGUE
Jordan Pefok started, played 45 minutes and scored a GOAL in Young Boys 1-1 draw with Basel on Sunday.
Denmark
Superliagen
Christian Cappis came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Brondby’s 2-0 win vs. Midtjylland on Sunday.
Emmanuel Sabbi started and played 77 minutes in Odense’s 2-2 draw with Aarhus on Sunday.
Jonathan Amon was OUT (knee injury) for Nordsjaelland’s 2-1 loss to Aalborg on Sunday.
Scotland
LEAGUE CUP PlAYOFF
Christian Ramirez started, played 90 minutes and scored a goal in Aberdeen’s 1-1 draw with Ross County on Sunday.
Ian Harkes came off the bench and played 37 minutes in Dundee United’s 2-0 loss to Hearts on Saturday.
Sweden
Allsvenskan
Romain Gall did not dress for Malmo’s 2-1 loss to Hammarby on Sunday.
Nebiyou Perry was OUT (groin injury) for Ostersunds’ 3-0 loss o Norrkoping on Sunday.
Mexico
Liga MX
Sebastian Saucedo started and played 53 minutes in Pumas’ 2-1 loss to Toluca on Sunday.
Fernando Arce dressed, but did not play in Necaxa’s 2-1 loss to Chivas Guadalajara on Saturday.
Argentina
Liga Profesional
Joel Sonora dressed, but did not play in Banfield’s 4-2 loss to Platense on Saturday.
Alan Sonora started, played 86 minutes and scored TWO GOALS in Independiente’s 3-0 win vs. Colon Santa Fe on Saturday.
Brazil
Serie A
Johnny Cardoso started and played 59 minutes in Internacional’s 0-0 draw with Atletico GO on Sunday.
Pefok is on a tear coming in to camp, that’s what we need out of our ST position for WCQ
… Except for that penalty kick attempt during the champions league: very cringy
I love to see Alan Sonora called any friendly, the kid could play wings, CAM or withdrawn forward.
Caden Clark seems ready to make the jump to Europe as well.
In Barcelona’s game, Dest was moved up to the winger position for about the last 15 minutes, and he played very well there taking opponents on and sending crosses in….I’m wondering if maybe he should see some time there if Pulisic isn’t ready to go, as Reyna can play either side as well.
That may be an option at some point especially if our outside backs really get going (Cannon, Yedlin, Scully, Robinson, etc…).
That said the wingers in our pool have been on a decent run lately (Aaronson, Reyna, Konrad, & Weah), so does it make since to move Dest from the backline to a pure attacking position right now…probably not.
For a long time last season while watching Barcelona’s games, I couldn’t help but suspected that part of the reasons why Dest rarely sent crosses into the box from the right side was Ronald Koeman instructed Dest not to do too much, but just looked for Messi and passed the ball to him right away. That was probably Dest’s primary assignment last season. Don’t take me wrong. I’m a big Messi’s fans. Having said that, the way Messi dominated and dictated how Barcelona played, some times it was not fun to watch. Messi’s Barcelona teammates were so depending on the superstar’s abilities to create that quite often they (the rest of the Barcelona team) lacked creativities and were too shy to take their chances to courageously attack the opponents, but resorted to passing the ball to Messi and let the living legend score for them.
Wow, there are around 46 US players in First Division teams in Europe plus many others in second and third. Anybody have any idea if this is a record? Add in the MLS youngsters (Pepi,Clark etc) and imagine the great future for our MNT.
oops, Europe/Mexico/So. America.