Milan’s USMNT duo endured contrasting fortunes in their game against Fiorentina this weekend while, elsewhere, Antonee Robinson’s star continues to rise as Fulham’s rampaging left-back.
After those demoralising defeats in the international break, plenty of American players have returned to domestic action with their clubs with a point to prove. Josh Sargent was among the goals again in England’s Championship, where Haji Wright is also excelling, and Malik Tillman’s return from injury continues to go well.
Welcome to this week’s USMNT Player Tracker.
Issue of the weekend
In the glare of the limelight in Milan, 23 minutes is an embarrassingly early time for a player to be hauled off the pitch.
So Yunus Musah’s premature withdrawal from the fray in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Fiorentina has become a talking point — even if it cannot compare with the humiliation of Lincoln City’s captain Grant Brown in 1998 who was hauled off two minutes into a game with Swansea City.
That won’t offer much consolation for Musah, who might still be smarting after being hooked by Sergio Conceicao. First, an errant pass from Musah gifted Fiorentina their opener and he compounded that error with some unconvincing defending in the move that yielded the visitors’ second.
On came Luka Jovic. Musah understandably did not look happy and there appeared to be some warm words and encouragement from the Milan manager to his player. With Jovic eventually grabbing the equaliser, Conceicao can claim his decision was justified.
Musah (left), with team-mate Rafael Leao, has endured some awkward moments this season (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
It will provide food for thought for the USMNT midfielder, though. The 22-year-old has made 36 appearances across all competitions for his club this term, but his third Milan manager since last summer may be the most exacting yet.
It is not the first time he has been switched out early since the Portuguese took over from Paulo Fonseca in December. Last month Musah was taken off after 37 minutes of a 2-1 home defeat by Lazio.
Musah has youth on his side and enough potential to remain part of Conceicao’s plans, but he will have to tighten up his overall game to avoid further painful lessons in the spotlight.
At least Pulisic delivered a more upbeat performance. It was his finely threaded pass to Tammy Abraham which saw the Englishman halve Milan’s deficit, moving the USMNT star into double figures for club assists (10 in all competitions so far).
A point from the game, though, did little for the Rossoneri’s chances of overhauling Fiorentina, Roma, Lazio, Juventus and Bologna to sneak into the top four. That appears a daunting task — Milan are eight points behind fourth-placed Bologna with seven Serie A games remaining (and Bologna have a game in hand).
Pulisic musters a shot against Fiorentina (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Player of the weekend
One USMNT player who has renewed hopes of playing in European competition next season is Robinson. And if Fulham are to make it, it will partly be thanks to the consistently high performance levels of their flying left-back.
His club rose to eighth in the table after Sunday’s 3-2 win over champions-elect Liverpool and, along the way, Robinson managed the unlikely task of keeping Mohamed Salah quiet. Remarkably, it wasn’t the first time he had achieved that this season, either.
Fulham are the only team, home and away, against whom Salah has failed to register at least one shot on target in the top flight this term.
The only league matches this season Mo Salah HASN’T registered a shot on target…
Fulham (H)
Fulham (A)#FULLIV pic.twitter.com/CElRfMVM2W— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) April 6, 2025
After the game on Sunday, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk credited Robinson’s defensive shift for limiting Salah.
“Robinson was very tight on him,” he said. “No one can do the same every time — sometimes you have to mix it up and try it the other way as well. That’s part of the game, (to) find the right options and put players in their best positions.
“Unfortunately the full-back did well against Mo, unfortunately for us, and that’s part of the game and you have to deal with it.”
Robinson has excelled in both of Fulham’s meetings with Liverpool this season (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
There will still be whispers that Liverpool, who need a new left-back, might turn to the former Wigan Athletic defender. But Robinson turns 28 in the summer, and that may move him out of the Anfield club’s preferred age bracket.
That will be music to Fulham fans’ ears, but it will also mean at least one less headache for Mauricio Pochettino to resolve as, on the left of defence at least, he knows he has a trusted elite performer in his prime.
Jeff Rueter’s graphic of the weekend
Quote of the weekend
It appears increasingly unlikely Norwich City will be in the Championship promotion play-off picture.
Saturday’s defeat by bottom club Plymouth Argyle has left them 11th, lagging eight points and five places behind sixth-placed Bristol City in the last play-off spot.
It is not good for anyone at Carrow Road, but especially for USMNT striker Josh Sargent, who ideally wants to be playing top-flight football in a World Cup year.
Sargent, 25, scored Norwich’s only goal in their 2-1 loss and now has 14 to his name this season, despite lengthy periods out with injury.
Should Sargent leave Norwich? (Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
After a disappointing performance against Panama in the Concacaf Nations League semi-final defeat, he has scored in successive games back with his club. Inevitably it has prompted fresh discussion over where he will be playing his club football next term, with Norwich icon and TV pundit Chris Sutton now having his say.
“Increasingly, it feels less like Sargent goes — but when, where, and for how much?,” he told The Pink ‘Un. “He has three years left on his contract, and Norwich will be in a strong position to receive a sizeable fee for his services.
“He’s in his mid-20s, coming to the peak of his career and has really improved as a player. He has improved the team. You can’t begrudge a player wanting to play at the highest possible level.
“He has now outgrown the club as a player, and everybody can see that. It’s time for everyone involved — club, fans, and player — to shake hands and for him to leave amicably.
“Sargent has all the attributes to show that he can be a really accomplished Premier League striker or in any top league across Europe. Now is the time for him to strike.”
While he must still do more to convince he is the long-term answer for Pochettino, it may transpire that being pushed at a higher level will spur Sargent on.
How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Haji Wright
Club: Coventry City
Position: Forward
Appearances (all competitions): 23
Goals: 11
Wright couldn’t prevent his team losing 2-1 at home against top-of-the-table Burnley on Saturday, but he did get his fourth goal in as many matches for Frank Lampard’s men.
Like Sargent, his goal return is impressive considering the injury-hit campaign he has endured. Wright could consider himself unfortunate to miss out on the last USMNT roster, and is responding in the perfect way as he regathers full fitness.
No other player has a better goals-per-90 minutes ratio than the 27-year-old in the Championship this season.
Wright (left) celebrates his goal against Burnley (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Name: Malik Tillman
Club: PSV
Position: Midfield
Appearances: 28
Goals: 12
Tillman is yet another USMNT player who has suffered and recovered from a serious injury this season. But just like Sargent and Wright, he is making up for lost time.
On his first Eredivisie start since recovering from the ankle injury that caused him to miss the best part of three months, he reminded everyone of his quality.
“If you see Malik on the field, you know what you’ve been missing,” said PSV manager Peter Bosz after a 3-1 win against Groningen, in which Tillman scored an impressive opener from outside the box. “I thought he played amazingly.”
Name: Aidan Morris
Club: Middlesbrough
Position: Midfield
Appearances: 31
Friday’s 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers has boosted Middlesbrough’s play-off hopes — and Morris’ dream of being in the Premier League next season.
Michael Carrick’s side are fifth, and Morris played a significant part of a positive evening for his team in Lancashire on Friday.
Boro are now unbeaten in their last four and, against Blackburn, Morris put in an admirable midfield shift. He not only won the most duels in the match (14), but, according to FotMob, was also subject to plenty of attention by the home side becoming the game’s most fouled player (five).
Morris tracks Blackburn’s Todd Cantwell (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Name: Weston McKennie
Club: Juventus
Position: Midfielder
Appearances: 37
McKennie retains the faith of new Juventus manager Igor Tudor as he played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s draw at Roma.
The point keeps the Turin club in fifth place but level on 56 points with Bologna, who are fourth.
Roma’s left wing-back Angelino certainly found it difficult to flourish down McKennie’s flank (the American played as right wing-back). According to FotMob, Angelino had the fewest number of touches (49) of any outfield player to play 90 minutes.
What’s coming up?
(All Eastern Time)
See how Morris fares against compatriot Brenden Aaronson as Middlesbrough face Leeds United in a critical promotion clash on Tuesday (3pm Tuesday, Paramount+).
Then, on Wednesday, Gio Reyna, who was an unused sub for Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s 4-1 win at Freiburg, will hope to feature in the Champions League as his team take on Barcelona in the first leg of their quarter-final (3pm, Paramount +/TUDN).
Another USMNT man hoping to feature in a big game this week is Lyon’s Tanner Tessmann as the French outfit entertain Manchester United this Thursday in their Europa League quarter-final first leg (3pm, Paramount+/TUDN).
At the same time, see if Johnny Cardoso can help Real Betis to victory as they host Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok in their Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg. Cardoso played 79 minutes of Betis’ 1-1 draw at La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday.
Friday is the time to see how Musah responds to his weekend disappointment, and whether Pulisic can keep his creativity flowing, as Milan travel to Udinese in Serie A trying to keep their European qualification hopes alive (2:45pm, Paramount+).
(Top photos: Getty Images)