Weston McKennie's Goal Caps Big Weekend for USMNT Stars in Europe

Weston McKennie scored two minutes after coming on for Juventus in a 3-1 win over Genoa on Sunday.

A big Saturday for U.S. men's national team players seemed to roll over into Sunday following Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie's goal in a 3–1 win over Genoa.

With Juventus up 2–1 at home, McKennie entered the match as a substitute in the 68th minute in his first appearance since being benched, along with teammates Paulo Dybala and Arthur, for throwing a house party during the international break in a breach of COVID-19 protocol. 

But the 22-year-old made an instant impact just two minutes after coming on, beating Genoa's offside trap and coolly chipping keeper Mattia Perin for his fifth Serie A goal. 

McKennie joins USMNT standouts Daryl Dike and Chelsea's Christian Pulisic as American goalscorers in Europe this weekend. Pulisic's brace on Saturday gave the former Dortmund star three goals in his last two league matches while Dike has scored eight goals in 14 appearances for Barnsley since joining on loan from Orlando City. 

Juventus used early goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Álvaro Morata to give the Italian giants a comfortable lead before McKennie's insurance goal. However, Juventus could only keep pace with league-leading Inter Milan as Antonio Conte's side won its 11th straight Serie A match to reestablish an 11-point lead atop the table with eight games left to play. 

Meanwhile in Serie A, 19-year-old American international Bryan Reynolds made his first start for Roma since arriving from FC Dallas in February, starting at right-wing-back against Bologna. 


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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.