Yanks Abroad: Dike stunner tops 8 goals & 2 assists

My phone was blowing up all weekend! Not because I have friends or anything, but because of my goal & assist alerts. The USMNT players doing work abroad put up eight goals and two assists for one of the most action-packed weekends we’ve seen in a while. There were even three match winners to boot!

First of all, we have to talk about Brendan Aaronson. The 20-year-old put in a Man of the Match performance with a goal and an assist as RB Salzburg defeated St. Poelten by a 4-1 margin in Austria.

But Aaronson wasn’t even the only American to score in that game! 19-year-old Taylor Booth scored the lone goal on the other side of the field. Another positive for Booth, he played 80 minutes and managed to avoid a yellow card. He had been cautioned in each of his first three matches for St. Poelten. Through four matches, he’s got one goal and two assists.

Josh Sargent scored in his second straight match on Sunday. His 66th minute header opened the scoring, but Cologne went on to get the equalizer for a 1-1 final score. The point keeps them eight points clear of relegation danger.

Daryl Dike also scored in his second straight game (and third in his last four appearances) to give Barnsley the 1-0 win vs Birmingham City. While the rest of his stat line was actually quite weak, the goal was an absolute stunner! Dike was even named to the Team of the Week because that one moment was just that good. They jumped into 6th place on the Championship table with the win, which is the last spot for promotion qualification.

22-year-old Luca de la Torre scored a match winner in the 93rd minute to give Heracles the 2-1 win over PEC Zwolle. The win keeps Heracles in tenth place on the Dutch Eredivisie table. It was Luca’s first goal with the club since he transferred from Fulham last August. VIDEO

Tyler Boyd was in the right place at the right time and scored his first goal for Sivasspor in a 2-2 draw at second place Galatasaray. It’s good to see the 26-year-old get two starts last week as he tries lock down consistent playing time since leaving Besiktas. I thought this match was going to be another head-to-head for the Yanks, but DeAndre Yedlin was left on Galatasaray’s bench.

Over in Italy, Andrija Novakovich scored his seventh goal of the Serie B season. His 44th minute goal brought Frosinone level just before the half and they finished off the comeback in the second half for a 2-1 win at Cosenza. The win keeps them in sniffing distance of promotion qualification.

Gboly Ariyibi’s goal in the 75th minute gave Panetolikos the 1-0 win over NFC Volos on Sunday. It was the 26-year-old’s fourth Greek Super League goal this season.

Reggie Cannon picked up his first assist in Portugal as Boavista beat Famalicao 3-0. To be fair, he just dished off an easy pass and then watched his teammate score a really nice individual goal. The win was badly needed as it helped Boavista climb out of the Primeira Liga relegation zone.

Technically there was even a ninth goal for the Americans over the weekend, but Konrad de la Fuente scored his for Barcelona B.