clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

USMNT film room: Looking back at midweek action

A new feature: breaking down USMNT players’ game tape from this past midweek action.

Chelsea FC v Borussia Dortmund: Round of 16 Second Leg - UEFA Champions League Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images

Let’s go on a quick journey. Some soccer was played this midweek, and video clips have been gathered. Let’s run through them to see what developments there have been in the USMNT player pool this midweek:

Monday

Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson’s Fulham lost 3-2 to Brentford in Premier League action. We don’t have any Jedi clips, but here’s a moment of skill from Ream:

You love to see it from the 35-year-old central defender. However, Ream was also involved in a Brentford goal, as the shot deflected off him and into the net. Not much he could do about this one.

Taylor Booth is currently injured and not playing matches with Utrecht in the Eredivisie, but on Monday, Sanjiv of USMNTvideos released a 6-minute season highlight reel of Booth’s time at Utrecht. This technically isn’t midweek action, but it’s relevant USMNT video, so it seems right to include it.

Tuesday

Daryl Dike scored the only goal in West Brom’s 1-0 victory over Antonee Robinson’s old club, Wigan Athletic. The ball bounced on top of the bar and hung in the air for Dike to pounce on.

Gio Reyna began Dortmund’s match with Chelsea on the bench, but an injury to Julian Brandt meant Gio stepped into Champions League action much sooner than expected. He acquitted himself well, creating 4 chances, but BVB will be crushed at their 0-2 loss, which knocks them out of Champions League. Here’s a comp of Reyna’s performance.

Tuesday’s action wasn’t over, as past USMNT defender Nick Lima and Austin FC were soundly defeated by Haitian side Violette. Lima was involved in one of the early goals, where he allowed the cross to come in:

Lima would feature in another Violette goal later on, as he was defending 1v1 in the box, and deflected a shot, which led to an own goal on a mistake from an Austin FC teammate.

Wednesday

Julian Gressel is the most recent player to record an assist with the USMNT, as he served up a cross for Brandon Vazquez to head home in the January friendly vs Serbia. On Wednesday, night Gressel was in Concacaf Champions League action with the Vancouver Whitecaps, facing Honduran club Real España, and he provided an assist to fellow USMNT defender Tristan Blackmon.

Down in Monterrey, US U-20 right back Michael Halliday faced a stern CCL test as Orlando City traveled to meet striker Andre-Pierre Gignac and Tigres UANL. It’s just a quick snapshot, but you can see Halliday defending on this play, as Tigres get the header on frame and keeper Pedro Gallese makes a good save.

Back in Vancouver, the Whitecaps were flying, as American striker Brian White netted their fifth goal over Real España.

Thursday

Matt Turner went the full 90’ for Arsenal as they tied Sporting CP 2-2 in Lisbon, in the first leg of Europa League action.

Sporting’s first goal came on a header, where the Gunners left a man wide open right in front of goal. Turner could have been more aggressive to come and claim the ball, but no keeper is saving that shot once it’s taken.

Turner actually made a very good save right before Sporting got their second, but he wasn’t able to hold it, and it fell kindly for a tap-in.

That’s it from this midweek action! I hope you enjoyed hopping into the film room with me. Let me know what you think about these kinds of articles, we can certainly tweak them going forward.

Mexican-American left back Mauricio Isais went 90’ for Pachuca in the Tuzos’ 0-0 draw with Honduran club Motagua. The clip below shows a moment of 1v1 defending, Isais then allows a cross into the box for a dangerous shot.

Later in the game, Isais tried to defend a cross into the box. The attacker’s header was put on frame, and drew a save from Pachuca’s keeper.

The nightcap featured American right back Ryan Hollingshead providing all sorts of service for LAFC in their 3-0 win over Alajuelense in Costa Rica. Hollingshead served this ball on a platter for Denis Bouanga in the first half, but Bouanga couldn’t finish.

Into the second half, Hollingshead serves another ball across the box, and this time Bouanga finishes it to open the scoring. 1-0 LAFC.

Kellyn Acosta played 90’ in LAFC’s midfield in the same game. Here, his quickly-released pass led to a Carlos Vela shot that stung the palms of the Alajuelense ‘keeper.

And to round off the night, Ryan Hollingshead cleverly dribbled around his defender, and set up Denis Bouanga for the second time, pushing LAFC out to a 2-0 lead.

Who impressed this week? Who needs to improve? Hit the comments to let us know your favorite moments from this midweek.