GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including Pulisic's scoring streak
It was a striker-heavy weekend for Americans playing in Europe, with many of the U.S. men's national team's top goalscorers absolutely exploding in club play.
Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent and Folarin Balogun all contributed to big goals, continuing their fight to be the USMNT's starting No. 9. Competition makes any team stronger, and each player's club will be happy to see that trio trading goal contributions in their push to stay ahead of the others on the U.S. squad.
They weren't the only scorers, however. It's no surprise that Christian Pulisic was the leader of that club, scoring yet again for Milan. It certainly isn't becoming tiresome for American soccer fans, who are witnessing perhaps the best-ever run by an American in a top European league.
GOAL looks at the major takeaways from this weekend's Americans Abroad.
GettyPulisic simply can't be stopped
Where else to start but with Christian Pulisic, who scored Milan's third goal in a 3-0 win over Lecce? While the goal wasn't particularly consequential when it came to result, it does have big-picture ramifications.
With that score, Pulisic now has five goals and two assists in his last six matches. There may not be a more in-form player in the world. Not Erling Haaland, not Kylian Mbappe, not Jude Bellingham – nobody. That's a wild space for an American to occupy. Pulisic is doing all of this for one of the game's great clubs while scoring in both Serie A and the Champions League. That all means something. We've never seen anything like it.
The goal against Lecce marked the fifth straight game in which Pulisic has scored for club and country – the first time that has happened in his career. It was his fourth in as many games for Milan, and he also scored in the USMNT’s friendly with New Zealand earlier this month. It also took his combined total of goals and assists since joining the Rossoneri last year to 32, higher than anyone else in the Serie A.
It's all coming at a vital time, too. During the September international break, Pulisic talked about the USMNT's lack of intensity and commitment. In the weeks since, he's gone on to lead by example. Pulisic is more dialed in than ever, which will set the standard for the U.S. as this group begins this new era.
AdvertisementGettyPepi claims his chance
Peter Bosz explained the situation perfectly.
"He's a good player," the PSV coach said of Ricardo Pepi, "but he's unlucky to have a phenomenon in front of him. Luuk [de Jong] scores, assists and is our captain. And he's also in top shape. That tough luck Ricardo has too."
All a player can do to combat that "tough luck" is take his chances and, wow, did Pepi take his.
Given the start on the road against Willem II, Pepi scored both of PSV's goals in a 2-0 win. That brace continues a trend when it comes to Pepi: when he plays, he scores. The issue has been that he doesn't play enough.
Despite that lack of playing time, Pepi finds himself in ridiculous company. According to Opta, of players born in 2003 or later, only Elye Wahi, Xavi Simons, Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala have more goals than Pepi across Europe's top leagues over the last two years.
Those are really good players, and Pepi is right there with them. Bosz and PSV know it. Unfortunately, that good player doesn't often get the chance to shine, even if he does exactly that whenever the chance is thrown his way.
At some point, this situation will cease to work. Pepi will need to play and score consistently, whether at PSV or elsewhere. Every time he's on the field, though, he shows that he's a real asset, one that might even earn a step up the ladder.
GettyBalogun a ketchup bottle
What's that old saying about goals being like ketchup? You smash and smash and smash on the bottom of the bottle, and then they all flow out at once.
That's what Folarin Balogun is experiencing. He finally got things going last weekend. He then built on it with another. After seeing his side go behind early, Balogun leveled the score at one apiece against Montpellier in an eventual 2-1 Monaco win.
It hasn't been easy for him at Monaco. After running through Ligue 1 on loan with Reims, Balogun's first campaign with Monaco was a little muted. The start of this season was, too. Two goals in two weeks, though? That'll get you going.
Monaco clearly believe in Balogun, and rightfully so. He has legitimate potential and every skill needed to reach it. For strikers though, it's not about potential; it's about goals. Balogun has two now. Let's see if the momentum can continue.
GettyDon't forget about Sargent
He didn't score like the other two strikers from the USMNT's September roster, but Josh Sargent may have actually had the best performance of the weekend.
The Norwich star had two assists on Borja Sainz's three goals, which earned Norwich a 3-2 win. One of those two assists was, admittedly, controversial, but they all count, right? The powerful performance comes after Sargent was the subject of high praise from his coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.
"He has a very big role," he said. "I know when you focus on strikers, you don't talk that much about their defensive discipline and he's fantastic at that. He's the center of the first press, he connects the wide players and he's very analytic in his approach.
"That's what you see at the highest level, it's a huge part of the game. In attack, he's our main guy. He gets into good positions and he can run in behind. He's a central character for us, in the game and his personality."
Sargent's impact on Norwich hasn't been questioned, but his role with the USMNT has. The injury bug has routinely sidelined Sargent at the worst possible times, much like it did in earlier this month. For his club, Sargent will keep chugging along.
But this October – when new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino will assemble the squad ahead of a pair of friendlies against Panama and Mexico – would be a good time to prove himself with the if a chance finally comes his way.