USMNT World Cup roster watch: Winners and losers from a chaotic European weekend

For the U.S. national team players vying for a place on the World Cup squad, the weekend of European club matches brought an array of outcomes — many of which were unwelcomed.

Two players scored and two assisted, including one on a throw-in. But there was also an own goal, a red card, a yellow card suspension for a Bundesliga showdown, an unexpected injury absence for a player in urgent need of minutes and some usual starters coming off the bench.

Because things otherwise have been looking up for the national team’s foreign legion, we’ll start in England, where Derby County forward Patrick Agyemang continued to produce in his first season abroad and defender Chris Richards scored a consolation goal on another dark day for Crystal Palace.

Agyemang — the 25-year-old Connecticut native who began his career with Charlotte FC — scored in the 44th minute by taking advantage of the goalkeeper spilling the ball. It was his second goal in three matches and eighth overall, to go with three assists, in 24 appearances in the second-division Championship.

Derby conceded a late equalizer and settled for a 1-1 draw with West Brom. Nonetheless, it was a productive week for Agyemang and Derby with seven points from three matches to stay in the thick of the race for a place in the promotion playoffs.

With Dutch-based Ricardo Pepi out several more weeks with a broken forearm, Agyemang will aim to climb the depth chart and position himself for selection by U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino for the March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta — the final camp before the World Cup squad is selected in late May.

A mainstay on Crystal Palace’s backline, Richards scored on a close-range header following a corner kick scramble in the 88th minute for his first Premier League goal of the season and second in all competitions. By then, though, his 10-man side trailed Chelsea by three goals and absorbed a 3-1 defeat, extending its losing streak to three and its winless rut across all competitions to 0-7-4 since mid-December.

Elsewhere in England, midfielder Tyler Adams continues to recuperate from a knee injury, but that didn’t stop him from celebrating on the field after Bournemouth’s 3-2 home shocker over Liverpool.

Left back Antonee Robinson logged 59 minutes in a 2-1 win over Brighton, lifting Fulham into seventh place and in the mix to qualify for European competition next season. Since returning to the Premier League in 2022, the Cottagers have finished 10th, 13th and 11th.

Defensive midfielder Aidan Morris went 61 minutes as Middlesbrough routed Preston North End 4-0 for its fourth straight league victory. The club pulled within three points of Coventry City for first place in the Championship. The top two will earn automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Coventry, featuring U.S. forward Haji Wright, visits 20th-place Norwich City on Monday.

In Premier League action Monday, midfielder Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United will play at Everton.

France

Both U.S. assists overseas came in Ligue 1, from winger Tim Weah and center back Mark McKenzie.

Weah crossed to Amine Gouiri for a three-goal lead in Olympique Marseille’s 3-1 victory over second-place Lens, ending Lens’ 10-game winning streak in all competitions. In the past nine league matches, Weah has contributed two goals and two assists from his flank position.

With three wins in four games, Marseille is in third place, seven points behind front-running Paris Saint-Germain. The Mediterranean club will complete the Champions League’s first stage Wednesday in Belgium against Club Brugge.

McKenzie recorded his second assist of the league campaign on a throw-in to Pape Demba Diop, who scored from 25 yards to launch Toulouse’s 2-0 victory at Brest.

Midfielder Tanner Tessmann started for the fifth time in six league matches in Olympique Lyonnais’ 5-2 win at Metz — a fourth straight league victory keeping the club on Marseille’s heels for a Champions League berth next season. In continental competition this season, Lyon leads the Europa League pack and is assured of a round-of-16 slot, regardless of Thursday’s outcome against Greece’s PAOK.

Folarin Balogun, who sits atop the U.S. depth chart at striker, went scoreless for the sixth time in seven matches as Monaco settled for a 0-0 draw at Le Havre. With two goals in five winless Ligue 1 outings, Monaco urgently needs a Champions League result Wednesday against Juventus.

Italy

AC Milan continued managing Christian Pulisic’s minutes, holding him out until the 68th minute of a 1-1 draw at Roma. This month, he has logged 90 minutes twice and gone five straight appearances without a goal.

Since losing the Serie A opener against Cremonese on Aug. 23, Milan has gone unbeaten in 21 straight. At 13-1-8, the club has the fewest losses in the league, but because of all the draws, AC Milan is five points behind front-running Inter Milan.

DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Midfielder Weston McKennie remained in good form, going all the way in Juventus’ 3-0 romp over Napoli — a result that pulled fifth-place Juve within a point of Roma and Napoli. McKennie has started 21 consecutive matches across all competitions heading into the Champions League affair at Monaco.

Midfielder Yunus Musah’s U.S. outlook remained gloomy after not playing in Atalanta’s 4-0 win over Parma — his second straight match stuck on the bench. He’ll look for minutes Wednesday at Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.

In the second division, goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann and Cesena lost for the third time in four matches, 2-1 to Bari, leaving them 10 points out of automatic promotion to Serie A.

Germany

Things could not have gone much worse for Mönchengladbach’s two Americans as midfielder Gio Reyna didn’t play because of “muscular problems” and right wing back Joe Scally had an own goal and an overall poor outing during a 3-0 loss to Stuttgart.

Reyna, who improved his U.S. standing in November, has played a total of 26 minutes in the past four Bundesliga matches.

German tabloid Bild called Scally’s performance “abysmal! He first set up the [opening goal] with his chest. Then he deflected the [second] into his own goal. A total failure.”

Midfielder Malik Tillman came off the bench in a Bundesliga match for the first time since Nov. 8, entering in the 57th minute of a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen. He will aim to rejoin the lineup Wednesday against Villarreal in the Champions League.

Center back Noahkai Banks’ streak of 13 consecutive Bundesliga starts ended by serving a yellow card suspension for Augsburg’s 2-1 shocker at Bayern Munich, the leaders’ first Bundesliga setback of the season.

Defensive midfielder James Sands played 90 minutes for the fifth consecutive match in lowly St. Pauli’s 0-0 draw with city rival Hamburg. In his third start since joining Hamburg on loan from Southampton, forward Damion Downs made no impression.

In the second tier, left wing John Tolkin received good reviews for his 90-minute effort in a 2-2 draw at Arminia Bielfeld, extending 10th-place Holstein Kiel’s unbeaten streak to six.

Scotland

Center back Auston Trusty experienced an extreme swing of emotions over four days, getting controversially red-carded in the 77th minute of Celtic’s 2-2 draw at first-place Hearts. Earlier in the week, he had scored against Bologna in the Europa League.

Initially shown a yellow card, Trusty was sent off after the video assistant referee judged the American had denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The referee concurred.

“No more a red card than a blue card,” Celtic coach Martin O’Neill said.

Netherlands

After sitting out two matches with a minor ailment, right back Sergiño Dest played the first half of PSV Eindhoven’s 2-2 draw with NAC Breda. The result ended first-place PSV’s winning streak in the Dutch Eredivisie at 13. Next up is Bayern Munich on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Spain

Seeking to stand out in a crowded corps of U.S. central midfielders, Johnny Cardoso made his second straight La Liga start and logged 73 minutes in Atletico Madrid’s 3-0 triumph over Mallorca. Unbeaten in four straight overall and third behind Barcelona and Real Madrid on the Spanish circuit, Atletico will close the Champions League’s first stage against Norway’s Bodø/Glimt on Wednesday.

Mexico

Club America was off this weekend, so U.S. winger Alex Zendejas can’t return from injury until Feb. 1, at the earliest. He missed the first two Liga MX Clausura matches this month and hasn’t played competitively since Nov. 30.