Weston McKennie had a good night off the bench, but not so the American trio at PSV in Champions League action.
Juventus 2 – 0 Manchester City
Both Weston McKennie and Tim Weah started on the bench when Juventus hosted the English champions, however both Yanks got onto the field in the 69th minute and teamed up to create and score the second goal of the game.
Manchester City, who have failed to win their last three Champions League games, were held to just one shot on goal by the Italians. The “Old Lady” fared better, with two shots on target and both finding the back of the net.
Less than 10 minutes after the intermission Manuel Locatelli sent the ball to the back post and Federico Gatti got to it and showed his acrobatic skills with his strike but Citeh keeper Ederson kept it out. The Brazilian couldn’t hold onto it however and Dušan Vlahović used his head to put his team ahead.
Leading 1-0, McKennie started a combination play by sending Weah out wide to the right. As he tried to return the favor to his USMNT colleague, his attempt was blocked but getting the ball back, he sent his second effort into the box. Having to adjust his body to get the ball, McKennie slamed a superb side volley past Ederson to put the game to bed in the 75th minute.
The team will return to league action over the weekend and welcome Gianluca Busio and his last place Venezia side to Torino.
Brest 1 – 0 PSV
It was a night where nothing went right for PSV Eindhoven as they traveled down to Brest, located in the Brittany part of France, and ended up going back home with nothing. In fact, they dominated in every area except for goals scored.
Malik Tillman started for the Farmers and played 84 minutes, while Richard Ledezma came into the game to start the second half. Ricardo Pepi came on for the last 17 minutes but could not influence the outcome. Overall, the visitors could have and should have taken the lead and then equalized but Luuk De Jong was wasteful on a few occasions.
It was Julien Le Cardinal’s very late first half goal that won the game for the Pirates. The pass to the Frenchman came from a defensive deflection and the birdman fired it into the back of the net from close range.
PSV will return to league action this weekend, where they are more comfortable and more dominant, as they head north to Heerenveen.
Dinamo Zagreb 0 – 0 Celtic
It was a bit of a yawn-fest in Croatia on Tuesday night when Cameron Carter-Vickers and his Hoops managed to get a point out of their trip down south. The American went the distance in this game that only saw three shots on goal in the 90 minutes. Celtic managed just one of those shots, which was struck by McCowan but saved without too much trouble by Zagorac. Auston Trusty also went the distance.
The point keeps the Scottish team in the running for a place in the knockout stage as they do impress a bit with this being their fourth game undefeated in Europe. They last achieved that 38 years ago.
The Glaswegians will return to league action on Sunday afternoon as they contest the Old Firm derby against bitter rivals Rangers.
AC Milan 2 – 1 Red Star Belgrade
Christian Pulisic is out injured but Yunus Musah was in the starting line-up when the Serbian side traveled to the north of Italy. The New Yorker put in an 83 minute shift for the Milanese side.
Rafael Leao hit the back of the net minutes before the intermission but the Serbs fought back and got their goal back in the 67th minute thanks to Nemanja Radonjic.
With just a few minutes left of the clock, Englishman Tammi Abraham found himself in front of goal with the ball and buried it to secure all the points.
AC Milan will host Genoa over the weekend in Serie A action.
Notes
Folarin Balogun is out due to injury so missed Monaco’s trip to the Emirates to face his old team, Arsenal. The French side lost this one, 3-0. They’ll be back in action Saturday night up in the Champagne Region where they’ll take on Reims.