Yanks Abroad: A Boxing Day and Belgian weekend

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoyed some family time and a break from work. We’re back with a quick Yanks Abroad update this week as many leagues around the world were not in action.

Christian Pulisic and Chelsea dropped points at home on Monday with a 1-1 draw vs Aston Villa. The draw keeps them level on points with Villa, but they stay behind in 6th place with a lower goal differential. This comes after a disappointing loss to 15th place Arsenal on Boxing Day. Pulisic lost possession four times & lost 13 duels on the day, both the most of any player in the match.

Over in Belgium, Anderlecht defeated Beerschot by a final score of 2-0. Matt Miazga played the full 90 minutes at centerback, securing the shutout. He also helped create the opening goal when his header in the box was blocked by the arm of a defender. But in the 70th minute he had a free header that failed to hit the target and was credited with a “big chance missed.”

DeAndre Yedlin was in the Newcastle United starting lineup for the third straight match as they fell at Manchester City 2-0. It’s great to see him stringing appearances together after struggling to get on the field for several months this year. Unfortunately, it was against City, so he had to chase after Raheem Sterling all night.

Anthony Robinson helped secure a shutout in a scoreless draw for Fulham, but fellow Yank Tim Ream watched from the bench. Geoff Cameron also put in 90 minutes in a Queens Park Rangers loss. I have nothing to add to that, I just wanted to include him here to make you mad.