Pulisic brilliant, again
In the Milan Derby on Sunday, Christian Pulisic made a statement with an exclamation point as he scored an inspirational goal to help boost AC Milan to an upset win over reigning champ Inter Milan.
Pulisic opened the scoring in the 10th minute when he stripped Henrikh Mkhitaryan following a throw-in and then dribbled through the Inter Milan midfield and defense before firing a shot past Yann Sommer for a 1-0 lead. It was a goal that reflected both willpower and quality.
Pulisic continues to be in great form over the past two weeks, starting with his goal for the USA against New Zealand then continuing with a goal in his Serie A return against Venezia, a goal against Liverpool in the Champions League, and now a goal against Inter Milan in an emotional derby. Right now, we’re watching the best American player in the game at his best. He’s shining at a remarkable level.
For AC Milan, the game ended on a big note when Matteo Gabbia scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. The 2-1 victory saw Milan continue to climb after a poor start. It moved into seventh place with eight points from five games. After much concern over new coach Paulo Fonseca, the derby win cools the hot seat, at least for a little bit.
Busio impresses for Venezia
Gianluca Busio, 23, had a big day on Saturday when he played into stoppage time for Venezia in a 2-0 win over Genoa in Venice. The recent U.S. Olympic team forward returned from injury last week for his season debut in a 4-0 loss to AC Milan. Despite the loss, Busio played well and had an assist called back by the VAR.
Against Genoa, Busio contributed to a win. He drew a penalty in the 58th-minute that his teammate, the normally reliable Joel Pohjanpalo, failed t send past the goalkeeper. But minutes later, Busio scored the opening goal.
Yes, it was a lucky goal that was more of a cross. But Busio has been playing well enough to deserve luck to go his way.
In total, Busio was good in possession, effective with creating chances, and scrappy in defense, where he won 4/5 of his ground duels to help keep a shutout.
This was Venezia’s first win of the season in Serie A and the newly promoted club now has four points from five games.
On another Busio note, it was his 100th appearance for the club which he joined in 2021 on a transfer from Sporting Kansas City.
Busio certainly is helping his case to be in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans to start his tenure as the national team coach. Busio stands to benefit a lot from a clean slate.
Tillman leading PSV’s run
Malik Tillman had a huge performance for PSV in a 3-1 away win over Fortuna Sittard. PSV continued its perfect start in the Eredivisie and continues to take advantage of a very easy schedule to start the season.
Tillman, 22, was terrific as he continued to feast on the league’s lower-half teams. In the 16th minute, he opened the scoring after a scramble following a corner kick fell to his feet on the edge of the six-yard box. He was then able to slam it home from close range.
Then in the 68th minute, he hit a wonderful free kick into the top corner from 25 yards out.
He is in terrific form right now. He will be very interesting to follow in the Champions League, which PSV started with a 3-1 loss to Juventus, and once PSV faces tougher Eredivisie foes.
Tillman has yet to see his club form translate over to the USMNT. There’s an opening with Gio Reyna out injured. Will Pochettino be able to get it to work with Tillman?
PSV remains a perfect 18 points from six games in the Eredivisie but is only two points ahead of a very good AZ Alkmaar team.
Balogun opens scoring account
Folarin Balogun scored his first goal of the season for Monaco in a 3-1 win over Le Havre. The U.S. forward earned the start and played the entire game in what was an encouraging sign.
In the 70th minute, Balogun scored his team’s final goal on a play that began with a poor Le Havre turnover in its own third. Monaco pounced and it quickly fell to George Ilenikhena outside the box. The French midfielder then found Balogun in the box for the goal.
Balogun had stats that reflected how active he was. He had five shots, seven touches inside the Le Havre box, and played three passes into the attacking third.
This is consistent with how he has been playing all season. He’s always been very aggressive, very direct, and eager to shoot. The goals just haven’t come, until now. Balogun is probably a streaky forward who scores goals in bunches because he is always close to scoring.
This goal wasn’t much on its own. But will it spark a hot streak for Balogun? We will find out. He could really use a positive run to help his confidence.
Positives to report in South America
Typically, there isn’t always much positive news to report on U.S. players in the South American leagues, but right now we have Americans contributing to the team sitting second in Argentina’s Primera and the team leading Uruguay’s Primera.
In Argentina’s Primera, Huracan moved into second place with a convincing 3-0 win over Lanus on Sunday. 2023 USMNT Gold Cup veteran Alan Sonora got the start for Huracan (just his first league start since March) and delivered a very nice goal to open the scoring in the sixth minute. On the play, the New Jersey-born Sonora, 26, finished off a very impressive passing sequence.
Sonora played just the first half, but had a positive shift where he created a few chances and had two shots, one of which was the goal. Huracan now trails Velez Sarsfield, which has a game in hand, by three points.
In Uruguay’s Primera, Danubio FC is off to a surprising start to the season and Sunday’s 1-0 win over Liverpool FC saw Danubio continue its perfect run with 12 points from four games. The reason behind its surge is the team’s defense, which has yet to concede a goal.
American defender Matias Fracchia celebrated his 29th birthday on Saturday and then on Sunday he went a full 90 in the win over Liverpool. He has been a regular starter with the club, floating between central defense and left back. Against Liverpool, he played left back and helped the team with its fourth straight shutout.
Next week Danubio will be looking to increase the size of its lead atop the Primera when its visits Fracchia’s former club, the Montevideo Wanderers.
Other good news in Europe
Brenden Aaronson got the start and went the distance for Leeds United in a 2-0 away win over last-place Cardiff City on Saturday. The game was mostly a foregone conclusion when Cardiff was reduced to 10 men in the 23rd minute after a straight red card to Joel Bagan.
Aaronson then helped put the game away in the 87th minute when he assisted on Joel Piroe’s goal to make it 2-0. Aaronson could have had a goal of his own in the 48th minute but he missed a close shot wide with his left foot.
But Aaronson was useful in this game as he brought energy for Leeds United and was pressing hard whenever an out-manned Cardiff had the ball. That was largely how he helped create the second goal when he picked up the assist.
Santiago Castaneda went 90 minutes for Paderborn in an important 2-1 win over Hannover. Castaneda didn’t stand out much, but he was quietly competent in central midfield both in possession and on defense. This was a great win for Paderborn, which is undefeated in the 2.Bundesliga, snapping a three-game stretch of only ties. The 19-year-old Castaneda has started every game for a club with a shot at promotion. He proved up for the task in the game between two top 2.Bundesliga teams.
Jordan Pefok only played the first half for Union Berlin on Saturday, but it was a good shift from the big center forward in a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim. Pefok, 28, was credited with an assist on the opening goal from Tom Rothe, although it looked more like a shanked shot.
But Pefok’s hold-up play created multiple chances. He also drew four fouls to give Union good opportunities of set pieces. His 23rd-minute yellow card may have played a role in why he was subbed out, as well as opting for a defensive approach with a 2-0 lead.
Union moved into fourth place with eight points from four games and Pefok continues to play regularly for the club in its strong start to the season.
Causes for Concern
On the opposite side of the spectrum, there were plenty of negatives to report.
Haji Wright has not been in good form for Coventry City and this continued in a 2-1 loss to Swansea. Goalkeepers Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath aren’t playing and aren’t even close to pushing for starting positions. Ricardo Pepi continued to only see mop-up duty for PSV. Yunus Musah is not in a great spot for Paulo Fonseca at AC Milan and he was unused in the big Derby win. Luca de la Torre is still not playing for Celta Vigo.
In the Eredivisie, Paxten Aaronson only made a late-game cameo for Utrecht in the 3-2 win over Willem II. While that situation is worth following in the weeks ahead, it’s even more disconcerting for Taylor Booth, who again went as an unused substitute and has not made much inroads with the team. It’s true that he has dealt with injuries and illnesses, but it seems like he has an uphill climb to get back into the picture.
Off the beaten path
At the age of 37, Kang Soo-il is wrapping up his career in the second tier of South Korea with Ansan Greeners. He has played his entire career in Asia, between leagues in his native South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.
As a center forward, Soo-il has had some impressive highs and tough lows in his career. At one point he was one of the best Korean forwards in the K League 1. In 2015 while with Jeju United, he was called up for the first time by South Korea’s national team. However, hours before the kickoff he failed a doping test and was forced off the roster. He never returned to the national team. He would blame the positive test on a chemical in his hair cream, but ultimately accepted a long suspension from the K League 1.
After that point, Soo-il’s career never really recovered. He bounced between Thailand, Japan’s second tier, and now Korea’s second tier.
But Soo-il still finds ways to be useful. This past weekend, he featured in the second half for Ansan Greeners in a 2-1 loss to Anyang. The previous weekend on Sept. 14, he scored his first goal of the season with a 79th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 away draw with Chungnam Asan.
He is relevant for another interesting storyline: Until recent years he never knew his father, only that he was an American soldier stationed in South Korea, where the United States military has maintained a presence following the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, which ended combat in the Korean War but never formally ended the war and instead made it an ongoing frozen conflict.
A few years ago, Kang-Soo-il attempted to find his father through the use of DNA testing. Eventually his father was located. His name is Galen Jones, and he works as a professor of Christian Ministry at Samford University in Alabama.
When he was located by Soo-il, he had no idea he had a son in South Korea. Soo-il and his father now have a very tight bond and are close. The two have been the subject of many media stories in South Korea.
“That I have a son in Korea, I was totally, totally shocked,” Jones said. “Soo-il is a real living, breathing person. I just can’t imagine life now without him.”
This might indeed turn out to be the last season of Soo-il’s career and at least he will now be able to share his final games with his father and further embrace his American half after his playing days are over.
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Publish date : 2024-09-23 12:51:00
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