USMNT weekend roundup: Losing in the final

Here’s a bullet-point rundown of the USMNT players whose clubs were in action this weekend (Friday through Sunday). Players are divided by position groups (that helps my depth-chart-oriented brain to process this information most usefully). Within position groups, players are listed chronologically, in order of when their games took place. Stats are from FotMob.

Strikers

Injured: Folarin Balogun (ankle, a few weeks), Ricardo Pepi (knee, out for season), Jordan Morris (hamstring, early June)

• Jordan Pefok played the first half and created 1 chance as Reims lost 0-3 to PSG on Saturday.
• Patrick Agyemang played 88 minutes, scored a brace, created 3 chances, missed 1 big chance in Charlotte FC’s 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

• Duncan McGuire played 67 minutes, scored the game’s only goal, and created 1 chance as Orlando City won 1-0 over the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

• Brandon Vázquez played 71 minutes in Austin FC’s 1-1 draw with Minnesota United on Saturday.
• Brian White played the full 90, scored a brace (one from the penalty spot), and missed 2 big chances as the Vancouver Whitecaps won 3-2 over Real Salt Lake on Saturday. White was rated Man of the Match by FotMob.

White’s open-play goal:

• Charlie Kelman played the full 90 and created 1 chance in Leyton Orient’s 0-1 loss to Charlton Athletic in the League One playoff final on Sunday. Charlton are promoted to the Championship; Orient will be back in League One next season. Kelman is on loan from Championship club QPR, so he may be in the Championship next season regardless.

Wingers and attacking mids

Injured: Kevin Paredes (muscle, late May), Taylor Booth (unknown, back on the bench), Cole Campbell (ankle, late May)

• Griffin Yow played the full 90 and created 2 chances in Westerlo’s 0-0 draw with Standard Liège on Saturday.
• Christian Pulisic played 86 minutes, created 3 chances, and completed the most dribbles (3) in AC Milan’s 2-0 win over Monza on Saturday. Pulisic drew criticism for playing in this Serie A match with nothing on the line, after he chose not to play for the USMNT in the Gold Cup this summer.
• Jesús Ferreira played 67 minutes and missed 2 big chances in the Seattle Sounders’ 1-0 win over FC Dallas on Saturday.
• Lucho Acosta missed the Dallas-Sounders game due to being suspended for yellow card accumulation.
• Matko Miljevic played the full 90, created 3 chances, and successfully converted his penalty in Huracán’s 0-0 (6-5) penalty shootout win over Independiente in Argentina’s playoff semifinal.
• Djordje Mihailovic played 76 minutes in the Colorado Rapids’ 1-0 win over St. Louis City on Saturday.
• Diego Luna played the full 90, scored, provided an assist, and created 2 more chances in Real Salt Lake’s 2-3 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.

Here’s Luna’s assist:

Luna’s goal:

• Taylor Booth was an unused sub in Twente’s 2-3 loss to AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie Conference League playoff final on Sunday.
• Tim Weah played 9 minutes off the bench as Juventus won 3-2 over Venezia in a back-and-forth game on Sunday.
• Brian Gutiérrez played 31 minutes before being sent off with a straight red card with his Chicago Fire leading NYCFC 1-0. The Fire would go on to lose 1-3.

• Alex Zendejas played the full 90, created 1 chance, won 4/8 duels, and drew the most fouls (4) in Club América’s 0-2 loss to Toluca in the second leg of the Liga MX Clausura final. The first leg was a 0-0 draw, so Zendejas and América lost 0-2 on aggregate, finishing second place in Liga MX.

Center mids

Injured: Weston McKennie (bruise, back in training), Gianluca Busio (unknown), James Sands (broken leg, mid-July), Niko Tsakiris (muscle, early June), Timothy Tillman (leg, mid-June), Cole Bassett (ankle, late June), Noel Buck (muscle, early June)

• Johnny Cardoso was not in the squad as Real Betis drew 1-1 with Valencia on Friday.
• Pedro Soma played 58 minutes in Barça Atlètic’s 1-1 draw with Unionistas on Saturday.
• Mael Corboz played the full 90 wearing the captain’s armband and created 1 chance in Arminia Bielefeld’s 2-4 loss to VfB Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal final. Bielefeld (playing in the third division) went on an amazing run in the Pokal this season, knocking out Bundesliga teams like Leverkusen on their way to the final.

Here are the scenes after Bielefeld lost to Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal final:

• Yunus Musah played the first half of AC Milan’s 2-0 win over Monza on Saturday.
• Luca de la Torre played the full 90, scored the equalizer, and created 1 chance in San Diego FC’s 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday.

• Quinn Sullivan played 87 minutes, scored the opener, and won 3/10 duels in the Philadelphia Union’s 3-3 draw with Inter Miami on Saturday.

• Benja Cremaschi was an unused sub in the Miami-Philly game.
• Owen Wolff played 19 minutes off the bench in Austin FC’s 1-1 draw with Minnesota United on Saturday.
• Josh Atencio played the full 90, completed 71/87 passes, created 1 chance, completed 3/3 dribbles, 2/4 long balls, won 1/2 tackles, and won 8/12 duels in the Colorado Rapids’ 1-0 win over St. Louis City on Saturday. Atencio was rated Man of the Match by FotMob.
• Sebastian Berhalter played the full 90, provided an assist (video here), created 3 more chances, missed a big chance, and won 1/6 duels as the Vancouver Whitecaps won 3-2 over Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
• Jack McGlynn played the full 90 and created 2 chances in the Houston Dynamo’s 3-3 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
• Tyler Adams played the full 90, created 1 chance, won 1/2 tackles, and won 6/8 duels in Bournemouth’s 2-0 win over Leicester on Sunday.
• Rokas Pukštas played the second half, scored the game’s only goal, created 1 chance, won 1/1 tackles, and won 8/14 duels in Hajduk Split’s 1-0 win over Sibenik on Sunday.

• Weston McKennie played 14 minutes off the bench as Juventus won 3-2 over Venezia on Sunday.

Fullbacks

No injuries

• It’s unclear whether Joe Scally was involved in Mönchengladbach’s 5-0 friendly win over Borussia Neunkirchen on Friday.
• George Bello was not in LASK’s squad for their 0-0 draw with Altach on Friday.
• Marlon Fossey played the full 90, created 1 chance, and made a goal-line clearance in Standard Liège’s 0-0 draw with Westerlo on Saturday.

Fossey’s goal-line clearance:

• Bryan Reynolds played the full 90 and won the most duels (8) in the Westerlo-Standard game.
• Shaq Moore played 29 minutes off the bench, created 1 chance, and missed 1 big chance as FC Dallas lost 0-1 to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
• Max Arfsten played 75 minutes in the Columbus Crew’s 2-3 loss to Charlotte FC on Saturday.
• Alex Freeman played the full 90, created 3 chances, won 0/3 tackles, and won 5/11 duels in Orlando City’s 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
• Peyton Miller played the full 90 and won 2/4 duels as the New England Revolution drew 3-3 with Sporting KC on Saturday.
• DeJuan Jones played 87 minutes, provided an assist, and won 6/17 duels in the San Jose Earthquakes’ 3-3 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Here’s the assist:

• Antonee Robinson played the full 90, completed 1/2 dribbles, 3/6 long balls, won 5/11 duels, made 2 blocks, 4 clearances, 2 interceptions, and was dribbled past twice in Fulham’s 0-2 loss to Manchester City on Sunday. USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino did not include Robinson on last week’s national team roster, saying “We were waiting until the end to decide. Last week he visited specialists. I am not a doctor to explain the issue he has. He has not trained too much in the last few months, only competing [in games].”

Center-backs

Injured: Tim Ream (thigh, late June), Walker Zimmerman (head, back on the field), Noahkai Banks (hip, back on the bench), John Brooks (ankle, late May), Anrie Chase (adductor, late May)

• Cameron Carter-Vickers played all 120 minutes and assisted Celtic’s only goal as they eventually lost 1-1 (3-4 on penalties) to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final. Celtic will be disappointed to lose (especially to a club other than Rangers), having won 6 of the last 8 Scottish Cups.

Here’s the own goal that CCV helped create:

• Auston Trusty was an unused sub in Celtic’s loss to Aberdeen.
• Neal played the full 90, won 1/2 tackles, and won 4/12 duels in CF Montréal’s 2-2 draw with LAFC on Saturday.
• Walker Zimmerman is back from his head injury, playing 17 minutes off the bench in Nashville SC’s 2-1 win over Toronto FC on Saturday.
• Chris Richards played the full 90, won 1/1 tackles, won 4/5 duels, and made 11 clearances in Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool FC on Sunday.
• Miles Robinson played the full 90, scored, created 2 chances, won 1/1 tackles, and won 5/11 duels in Atlanta United’s 4-2 win over FC Cincinnati on Sunday.

• Matt Miazga played 83 minutes and won 3/5 duels in the Cincy-Atlanta game.

Goalkeepers

Injured: Zack Steffen (abdomen, mid-June), Patrick Schulte (oblique, 2-6 weeks), Diego Kochen (concussion, back on the bench), Gaga Slonina (finger, unknown)

• Diego Kochen was an unused sub in Barça Atlètic’s 2-1 win over Unionistas on Saturday. Kochen was not in FC Barcelona’s squad for their 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

• Patrick Schulte was named in the starting lineup but sustained an injury during warmups and didn’t play in the Columbus Crew’s 2-3 loss to Charlotte FC on Saturday. Crew manager Wilfried Nancy later confirmed that Schulte suffered an oblique injury, and could be out 2 to 6 weeks.
• Andrew Rick played the full 90 and made 1 save in the Philadelphia Union’s 3-3 draw with Inter Miami on Saturday. Rick faced 1.92 xGOT and conceded 3 goals, ending with -1.08 goals prevented.

Rick got his hand to this Messi free kick, but couldn’t keep it out:

• Matt Turner was an unused sub in Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
• Matt Freese played the full 90 and made 2 saves in NYCFC’s 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire on Sunday. Freese faced 0.60 xGOT, and conceded 1 goal, ending with -0.40 goals prevented.

• Chris Brady played the full 90 and made 5 saves in the Chicago-NYC game. Brday faced 4.34 xGOT and conceded 3 goals, ending with 1.34 goals prevented.

• Roman Celentano played the full 90 and made 3 saves in FC Cincinnati’s 2-4 loss to Atlanta United on Sunday. Celentano faced 3.61 xGOT and conceded 4 goals, ending with -0.39 goals prevented.

Team of the Weekend

Here’s a new feature: based on this weekend’s performances, here’s a semi-realistic, completely arbitrary lineup of players who performed best over this weekend.

What were your takeaways? Hit the comments to discuss.