John Tolkin and Alex Zendejas displayed a flair for the dramatic with late goals for their respective sides as U.S. Men's National Team players returned to action with their club teams after the October FIFA international break.
Four players - Weston McKennie and Tim Weah of Juventus, and Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah of AC Milan - clashed on Sunday, Oct. 22 in the first Serie A encounter involving four USMNT regulars.
On the domestic front, 13 more players and their teams qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs and extended their seasons.
Talk about pressure. With an MLS Cup Playoff berth on the line, New York Red Bulls left back John Tolkin converted a penalty kick four minutes into stoppage time to lift the team to a dramatic 1-0 victory at Nashville SC on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Abibal Godoy fouled Red Bulls midfielder Luquinhas in the box. The 21-year-old from Chatham, N.J., stepped up and buried a left-footed effort into the lower right corner as goalkeeper Joe Willis dove in the opposition direction. Tolkin's third goal of the season boosted the Red Bulls to an MLS-record 14th consecutive campaign in the postseason.
The Red Bulls, who finished eighth in the Eastern Conference, will host Charlotte FC in a wildcard play-in match at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. The winner will meet top-seeded FC Cincinnati in Round One and in the best-of-3 first-round series.
Alex Zendejas also produced a well-taken, game-winning goal for Club America, coming off the bench to lift his side to a 4-3 home triumph over Santos Laguna on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Zendejas, who replaced Leonardo Suarez in the 61st minute, finished an impressive build-up by America in which several players touched the ball. He snapped a 3-3 deadlock in the 76th minute, converting a Richard Sanchez feed from the top of the penalty area past goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo for his third goal of the Liga MX season through 11 appearances and 537 minutes of action.
Weston McKennie and Tim Weah won bragging rights over Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah as Juventus snapped a five-game winless streak at San Siro in Milan. Juventus defeated a Milan side down to 10 men with a 1-0 victory.
All four Americans started the Italian Serie A match. Pulisic, however, was pulled for defender Pierre Kalulu in the 43rd minute after teammate and defender Malick Thiaw was red carded for fouling Moise Kean and denying him a scoring opportunity. Milan head coach Stefano Pioli needed another defender on the field and Pulisic, who has scored four goals in nine matches, was pulled. Former Milan player Manuel Locatelli scored the only goal in the 63rd minute.
Milan came close to finding the net in the 14th minute when Rafael Leão sprinted down the left flank and passed to Olivier Giroud, who fired a shot on target but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny dove and produced a fabulous save to push the ball away from Pulisic, who was crashing on the right side. Milan (7-0-2, 21 points) trails leader Inter Milan (7-1-1, 22) by a point, and leads third-place Juve (6-1-2, 20) by a point.
Juventus and Milan won't meet again in Serie A until April 27, 2023, at the former’s venue.
Jesús Ferreira assisted on FC Dallas' insurance goal in its 4-1 win at the LA Galaxy on Saturday, Oct. 21. The striker's right-wing cross fed Bernard Kamugo, who headed home his second goal of the match in the 30th minute for a 3-1 advantage. Ferreira, who recorded six assists this season, led Dallas with 12 regular season goals.
Defender Mark McKenzie set up Genk's second goal by Bryan Heynen in the 41st minute of a 4-0 home win over Mechelen in the Belgian Pro League on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Thirteen players from the USMNT pool will compete in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The list includes Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles FC), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), DeJuan James (New England Revolution), Julian Gressel and Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Shaq Moore and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Miles Robinson and Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United), Brandon Vasquez (FC Cincinnati), Tolkin and Ferreira.
