Walking out, pointing skyward, Paulo Dybala’s return to the Allianz was clearly emotional. A cathedral that was home to many of his best moments in the black and white of Juventus was the host of his third match for rivals Roma. After a lap showing love for his old fans, and extra time greeting his former teammates, Dybala and Roma left Turin with a 1-1 draw.
If someone had asked me close to this time last year which USMNT strikers would go to Qatar I would have had Ricadro Pepi top of mind. Fast forward to present day and the job for the starting striker at the World Cup with the USMNT is there for the taking with several bidders.
Josh Sargent is in the best form of his career, Jordan Pefok has been a menace in front of goal for Union Berlin and Haji Wright is racking up the goals in Turkey. All three USMNT strikers had goal contributions this weekend.
Leeds United are flying high after a fine start to the Premier League season but manager Jesse Marsch has told his squad to keep their feet on the ground and maintain their momentum if they are to stay in the top four.
Leeds convincingly beat Chelsea 3-0 last weekend to move up to third — two points behind leaders Arsenal — a position they will have to get used to after narrowly escaping relegation last season following Marsch's arrival in March.
They also beat Yorkshire neighbors Barnsley 3-1 on Wednesday to move into the third round of the League Cup.
This here is Week 3 of our keeping track of Americans abroad in these power rankings that aren't really power rankings, and I declare this edition a collector's issue. That's right, fire up the printer, make sure you've got the necessary ink levels and print this whole webpage out for posterity.
This was the week the USMNT made a strong claim to be retroactively awarded the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road.
Leeds did what nobody thought it could when Chelsea came to visit Elland Road on Sunday: utter humiliation was handed to the Blues. A dominate Leeds ran out 3-0 winners in an American masterclass thanks in big part to Brendon Aaronson’s first goal for Leeds.
The Major Leeds Soccer (MLS) experiment stunned the football community Sunday by recording its first win over Chelsea in almost 20 years, a 3-0 clinic at Elland Road, with USMNT attacker Brenden Aaronson scoring his first goal for the club and compatriot Tyler Adams putting Mason Mount in his back pocket for 77 minutes.
A blood and thunder start to the match was followed by a period of Chelsea superiority where it looked like the Blues would ultimately punish Leeds' wild ways, but Jesse Marsch's team seems to gather its strength from periods of distress.
Luka Modrić played a massive role in Real Madrid’s 4-1 victory vs. Celta Vigo in LaLiga scoring a rocket of a goal from distance and picking up an assist. The Croatian maestro was at his very best on Saturday even without his usual midfield companions Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
With Toni Kroos missing the game due to illness and Casemiro on his way to join Manchester United the Real Madrid midfield consisted of Modrić, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
Jordan Pefok is loving life with his new Bundesliga club Union Berlin. Pefok scored a goal and picked up an assist in Union’s 2-1 victory vs. RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Ice cold finish by Jordan Pefok ❄️ pic.twitter.com/owm61qwF5x
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 20, 2022
In a match where Dortmund looked set to steal a result, on a day it was not at its best, Werder Bremen pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks you will ever see to win 3-2.
Highlights @WerderBremen_en are fast becoming the comeback kings
Josh Sargent is on a hot streak right now for Norwich City in the EFL Championship. After scoring a sensational header on Tuesday he followed that performance up on Friday with a brace for the Canaries to defeat Millwall 2-0. The Sargent goals vs Millwall were the only goals of the game.