Malik Tillman’s impactful start to the Eredivisie season continued Sunday as PSV remained unbeaten.
Tillman scored twice in a 3-1 road victory over Fortuna Sittard, giving PSV its sixth-consecutive league win to begin the 2024-25 season. The U.S. men’s national team midfielder earned SBI Americans Abroad Player of the Week honors for his strong performance.
Tillman opened the scoring in the 16th minute after delivering a top-shelf finish for a 1-0 advantage.
Although Fortuna Sittard tied the match before halftime, Tillman called his own number again for the go-ahead goal. His right-footed free kick found the top-left corner for a 2-1 PSV lead.
Luuk De Jong capped the final score at 3-1, giving PSV 18 points to begin the new league campaign.
Tillman led all players in duels won (8), tackles completed (3), dribbles completed (3), and chances created (3). The 22-year-old now has four goals and one assist in six league outings so far this summer.
Here is a look at some of the other top Americans Abroad performers from this past week:
Folarin Balogun
Folarin Balogun answered the call for AS Monaco on Sunday.
Balogun iced a 3-1 Ligue 1 victory over Le Havre by scoring his first goal of the season. The USMNT striker hadn’t scored at club level since last March, but delivered a confident strike to wrap up three points and a fourth league win for Monaco this summer.
Brenden Aaronson
Brenden Aaronson continued to make things happen for Leeds United on Saturday.
Aaronson set up Joel Piroe’s insurance finish as Leeds United defeated Cardiff City 2-0. The USMNT midfielder picked up possession before playing Piroe upfield for a confident finish.
Aaronson has certainly made a positive impression since his return to Yorkshire this summer.
Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic’s hot run with AC Milan continued Sunday in a huge derby win.
Pulisic scored his third Serie A goal of the season as the Rossoneri defeated rivals Inter 2-1 at the San Siro. The 26-year-old has been one of AC Milan’s most important players so far, scoring four goals in total.
Now tied with Inter on eight points apiece, Paulo Fonseca will hope Pulisic can continue his strong run of form.
Antonee Robinson
Antonee Robinson delivered his latest solid shift for Fulham this past weekend.
Robinson logged 90 minutes at left back as the Cottagers defeated Newcastle United 3-1 at home. The USMNT defender completed 81% of his passes, won three of four duels, and made three clearances as Marco Silva’s squad claimed an important three points.
What did you think of these individual performances this past weekend? Was there anyone left off the list that you would’ve added?
Share your thoughts below.
I had no idea Tillman was that good at dead balls. The dude’s got skills.
You watch his career arc and he’s about what I thought he was when I called him a Top-5 talent in our pool, but while it’s definitely translating professionally we really have yet to see it with the USMNT.
Be interesting to see what Poch can get out of him. There’s a lot more than Berhalter ever got, for certain. We see the evidence of that pretty much every week with Tillman these days.
Outside Feynoord, AZ, Ajax, and Twente the league is a bunch of average to bad MLS teams. He plays with so much confidence for them because he’s comfortable PSV is almost always in control. When he comes to the USA he hasn’t found that mindset yet. PSV had 72% possession and that’s pretty normal. Malik usually has a lot of time and space for his club, he’ll get used to it at the NT level I think. Like several players he always seemed to be thinking to hard during Berhalter’s tenure. We’ll see I guess.
Not alone. He and the entire team appeared plodding, robotic, to be thinking too much. As did the manager.