In England, Tyler Adams followed up his memorable goal against Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League final with a Man of the Match performance for Bournemouth, and - fresh off of his brace against Jamaica – Haji Wright was back on the scoresheet for Coventry City. Despite missing CNL camp due to injury, Josh Sargent demonstrated he did not lose his scoring touch, tallying for the eighth consecutive home game for Norwich City.
Elsewhere around the world, a pair of U.S. Men's National Team forwards, Djordje Mihailovic and Folarin Balogun, connected for braces in wins.
They were among the top highlights this past weekend as clubs returned to action after the FIFA international break.
Tyler Adams, who was facing a minutes restriction in both of last week’s Concacaf Nations League games, earned his first start of the English Premier League season and went the full 90 minutes in AFC Bournemouth's 2-1 victory over Everton on Saturday, March 30. Bournemouth were the benefactors of a late Everton own goal that earned them the win, with Adams earning Man of the Match honors coming out of the performance.
Adams, who is still fresh off of scoring that golazo in the Americans' 2-0 win over Mexico in the CNL final the previous week, helped 13th-place Bournemouth (11-10-8, 38) remain unbeaten in four games (3-0-1).
Folarin Balogun came off the bench to bag a second-half brace in Monaco's 5-2 win at Metz on Saturday, March 30. After replacing Eliesse Ben Seghir in the 65th minute, Balogun added to the French Ligue 1 side's spoils. The 22-year-old became the first USMNT player to score two goals as a substitute in a game in one of the top five European leagues since Charlie Davies accomplished the feat for Sochaux in August 2009.
He scored in the 76th minute, as he rushed in to block goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja's clearance, which bounced into the net for a 4-0 lead. Balogun tallied the final goal of the contest in the 87th minute, slotting home Thilo Kehrer's corner kick from five yards. He has eight goals (seven league) and five assists in 25 appearances across all competitions for third-place Monaco (14-6-7, 49 points). The team sits 13 points behind leader PSG (18-1-8, 62) and one point behind second-place Brest (14-5-8, 50).
For the opening 453 minutes of the MLS season, Djordje Mihailovic hadn’t found the net. But during a six-minute span in the waning minutes of this past weekend’s match, the Colorado Rapids forward found his range, connecting for his first two goals to lift his team to a 3-2 comeback win over the visiting Los Angeles FC on Saturday, March 30.
With the Rapids trailing 2-1 in the 83rd minute, Mihailovic powered a free kick just outside the penalty area into the far-right corner past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for the equalizer. In the 89th minute, the 25-year-old forward redirected Kimani Stewart-Baynes’ header from seven yards for the game-winner. Mihailovic scored for the first time since AZ's 1-0 win over host FC Santa Coloma in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Aug. 10.
USMNT midfielder Timmy Tillman assisted on Eduard Atuesta's goal, which lifted LAFC into a 1-0 advantage in the eighth minute.
After he was forced to miss the U.S. men's national team's Concacaf Nations League matches last week due to an ankle injury, Josh Sargent continued his assault on English Championship goalkeepers, scoring in the eighth consecutive home game on Friday, March 29. He tallied the equalizing goal in Norwich City's 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle. Sargent struck for the equalizer in the 67th minute as the forward put home Christian Fassnacht's feed past goalkeeper Michael Cooper. The goal was Sargent's career-high 14th score, eclipsing the 13 he recorded last season. Sargent has played an important role in lifting the Canaries (19-13-7, 64) into sixth place and the promotion playoff zone. Norwich has seven matches remaining in the regular season.
There's something about Haji Wright scoring late in matches these days. The USMNT's extra time scoring hero in the 3-1 Concacaf Nations League semifinal win over Jamaica continued his knack for converting late goals with an insurance tally in Coventry City's 3-1 win at Huddersfield Town in English Championship action on Friday, March 29. Taking a pass from Milan van Ewijk four minutes into stoppage time, the 26-year forward beat his man and drove a left-footed shot from nine yards past goalkeeper Lee Nicholls. Wright has 16 goals across all competitions this season, tying his career high. His 14 tallies are one shy of his career-best of 14, which he accomplished for Antalyaspor during the 2022-23 Turkish campaign.
A day before he was called into the USA squad, Wright scored one of the most important goals of his career. That was a stoppage-time game-winner for Coventry, which registered a 3-2 comeback triumph over Wolverhampton Wolves in the F.A. Cup quarterfinals on March 16.
Only a minute after he came on in the 60th minute, Gio Reyna found himself in the middle of the build-up of Nottingham Forest's lone goal in its 1-1 home draw against Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Saturday, March 30. After taking a pass from a teammate, Reyna sent the ball to Morgan Gibbs-White. Gibbs-White then found Chris Wood, who, with his back to the goal, nodded the ball past keeper Dean Henderson for the equalizer. Reyna, who earned the Concacaf Nations League Best Player Award, set up two goals in the 3-1 extra time win over Jamaica in the semifinals and added a goal in the 2-0 victory over Mexico in the final.
PSV Eindhoven, along with Sergiño Dest, Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi, suffered its first loss of the Dutch Eredivisie campaign on Saturday, March 30, dropping a 3-1 decision at NEC. Dest went the entire way, while Tillman came on at halftime and Pepi entered the contest in the 59th minute. PSV's (23-1-3, 72) lead dropped to seven points over Feyenoord (20-2-5, 65) with seven games remaining in the season.
