485 days since his last goal for West Bromwich Albion, Daryl Dike concluded his EFL Championship campaign on a positive note.
Dike scored his first and only goal of the 2024-25 season as West Brom earned a 5-3 league victory over Luton Town on Saturday. The U.S. men’s national team forward earned SBI Americans Abroad Player of the Week honors after his impactful performance at the Hawthorns.
With both teams tied 1-1 in the early going, Dike arrived in the box after 30 minutes to propel the Baggies back in front. His powerful header nestled into the bottom-left corner, ending a lengthy goal-less drought for the 24-year-old.
Dike would later assist Tom Fellows on his second goal of the match, which truly put West Brom in the drivers seat. The Baggies would race out to a 5-3 victory in their season finale, giving fans a glimmer of hope for next season.
Dike, who missed most of the campaign due to injury rehabilitation, will surely be a key part of the squad next August.
Here is a closer look at the top Americans Abroad performers from the past week:
Folarin Balogun
Another first-time goalscorer this year was Folarin Balogun.
Balogun netted his first goal since October to help Monaco wrap up a 3-1 road victory over Saint-Etienne. The versatile forward was rewarded with his first start by manager Adolf Hutter, and did not disappoint as Monaco stayed in the push for Champions League football for next season.
Griffin Yow
Griffin Yow is the in-form player for Westerlo right now.
Yow scored his fifth goal out of his last seven appearances as Westerlo claimed a 4-2 home win over Dender. The former DC United academy product has continued to ride a blistering run of form over the final stages of the league campaign.
Yow could be on the move this summer, but first has additional opportunities to add to his goal total.
Catarina Macario
Catarina Macario played the hero role for Chelsea in Sunday’s WSL showdown with Tottenham.
Macario’s first-half penalty kick goal was all the Blues needed to earn a 1-0 victory. The U.S. women’s national team attacker now has six league goals this season, continuing what has been a productive campaign in London.
John Tolkin
It was a quick return for John Tolkin to the Holstein Kiel starting lineup.
Tolkin went the distance at left wing back as Holstein Kiel claimed a 3-1 road win over Augsburg. The New York Red Bulls academy product has now made eight Bundesliga appearances for his new club, racking up minutes at a rapid rate.
What did you think of this week’s selections? Were there any players that you thought we left out?
Share your thoughts below.
Bierath left the Monaco match after 15 minutes. No word on the severity of the injury, but Balo could be seeing more minutes in the final two matches of the season.
Bierath 13 goals and 2 assists.
Flo has his work cut out for him.
V: did you read the first line Bierath was taken off after 15 minutes with an injury.
Yes, I read that but regardless Bierath has been ridiculous and however well Flo does going forward, and he looks pretty good right about now, the Bierath has laid down his marker.
Do they try to play with 2 strikers when Bierath gets back? Do they strike while the fire is hot and sell off one or both of them?
Anyone worried about our Euros being entitled and lazy, Flo is not going to be one of them. Not if he wants to keep his job at Monaco.
V: they do play with two strikers, but they also still have Embolo. Not sure of contracts on any of them. Bierath has slowed down since his amazing 11g 4a in his first 12 appearances to just 2g in last 6 appearances.
Would love to see Yow get a call upnthis summer, unless of course he’s moving to a bigger/better league. He really impressed me in the Olympics, and I think its it’s only a matter of time before he’s a consistent call up considering our dearth of quality wingers(backups specifically), obviously if he can sustain playing well for club.
Yow is interesting but:
CP and Weah are the starters.
Luna, Wright, Zendejas, , the Aaronsons, Gio,Weston, and KPar, while not all ” natural” wingers are being pushed out there because, Pepi, Josh, Flo, White, Patrick and maybe even Dike are clogging up the middle.
And Josh and Flo can play out wide if need be.
So if we have two backup winger openings, there are ten players who could be looked at to fill that role before you get to Yow.
I don’t know, he might be better than all of them in that role but unless he turns into Mo Salah from the jump, I don’t see him getting enough time to prove it.