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Week in Review

Week in American soccer: Pulisic,Tillman, Weah, Berhalter stand out, others struggle

It is Thanksgiving Week here and things are alittle slower, but ASN gives you a full walk-through of the past week on the field in American Soccer. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
November 25, 2025
10:00 AM

THE WEEKEND IN AMERICAN soccer was rather interesting. On the surface, there were a lot of positive headlines in both MLS and in Europe. We saw one of the best MLS playoff games of all time on Saturday night with Sebastian Berhalter standing out. In Europe, there were big outings from Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Malik Tillman, and Chris Richards – none of whom were on the most recent U.S. roster. But when you dig below the surface, there were a lot of poor performances.

In other words, there was a lot to feel good about for American fans. But a closer examination also shows tough weekends for a very long list of players such as Brenden Aaronson, John Tolkin, Mark McKenzie, Tanner Tessmann, James Sands, Santiago Castaneda, Miles Robinson, Tristan Blackmon, Rokas Pukstas, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright, Lenard Maloney, Kristoffer Lund, Damion Downs, Caleb Wiley, and Benja Cremaschi. Meanwhile, a lot more was hoped in the summer moves for Johnny Cardoso and Yunus Musah, who might not make the U.S. World Cup team unless things turn around quickly.

Anyway, let’s dig into it all – while combining both the domestic and abroad contingent into a single piece.

 

MLS Playoffs

 

Vancouver Whitecaps win classic

 

In one of the most entertaining MLS playoff games in history, the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated LAFC in a shootout after a 2-2 draw. The game had it all. Vancouver dominated the first half and had a 2-0 lead at the break with goals from Emmanuel Sabbi and Mathias Laborda.

The second half was a completely different story with Heung-Min Son scoring twice, including an equalizing free kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time that was one of the league’s best goals of the season.

That free kick would have been a lasting image for the season, except in extra time, Vancouver was reduced from 10 players (Tristan Blackmon was set off in the 90th minute) to nine players following an injury to Belal Halbouni.

Then for most of extra time, Vancouver had to defend with two men down. In the end, they prevailed due to an amazing amount of luck and hard work. In one sequence, LAFC hit the post three times in eight seconds.

 

The penalties broke in favor of Vancouver, with Son hitting the post and Marky Delgado missing his shot over the bar.

The takeaway is that this game was a classic that had it all. Great atmosphere in a sell-out game, big players making big plays, tremendous changes in momentum, insane defending, unpredictability, and quality until the end.

From a U.S. national team perspective, Sebastian Berhalter had yet another big performance and continues to be one of the league’s best players this season. His effort down the stretch was extremely impressive and it came on the heels of a big performance for the U.S. national team against Uruguay.

Right now, he’s in a great position to make the World Cup team next summer.

 

NYCFC gets past Philadelphia

 

In one of the most surprising results in the MLS playoffs, New York City was missing several key players but went into Philadelphia and came up with a 1-0 win over the Supporters Shield winners.

NYCFC was missing starting forward Alonso Martinez along with midfielders Andres Parea and Aiden O’Neil. Yet, NYCFC ended up winning 1-0 on a very well-taken goal in the 27th minute from Maxi Morales who, at age 38, made a move into the box to get on the end of a pass from Nicholas Fernandez.

It was a tremendous accomplishment for NYCFC head coach Pascal Jensen who has seen his teams win twice in Charlotte and now once in Philadelphia in these playoffs.

It was a stunning failure for Philadelphia which outshot NYCFC 18-5 and saw many good chances go to waste. But poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping from NYCFC and USMNT No. 1 Matt Freese saw them held scoreless.

 

The legacy of Philadelphia is that it cannot win the big game. Even with a new coach, that legacy continues.

But this season, there is evidence that Philadelphia was a “paper tiger” this whole time.



 

Miami pounds Cincinnati

 

The most highly anticipated playoff matchup of this round turned out to be a tremendous dud as Inter Miami ripped Cincinnati apart 4-0 in Ohio.

Lionel Messi had a goal and three assists to lead the way almost all by himself. Argentine teenager Mateo Silvetti also added a goal and an assist.

 

The takeaway from this game is easy. When Messi is motivated, he wins. He wants his time in Inter Miami to be successful and to do that, he needs to win. This game simply was never competitive because Messi had another gear that no one on Cincinnati could match – not Evander or Kevin Denkey.

 

San Diego downs Minnesota

 

San Diego is now into the Conference Final in its inaugural season thanks to a 1-0 win over Minnesota United in front of a raucous crowd of over 32,000 in California. The game’s only goal came from Anders Dreyer who collected a backheel pass from Cory Baird who was trying to stop the ball from going over the endline for a goal kick.

 

San Diego had 72% of possession and completed 614 passes compared to just 185 for Minnesota.

Dreyer has taken his tremendous season and carried it into the postseason where he now has four goals and two assists (making him second to Messi for goal contributions in the playoffs).

One of the big takeaways is that Chucky Lozano’s role continues to diminish at San Diego and he played just the final 12 minutes.

But Mikey Varas continues to push all the right buttons as San Diego’s first coach.

 

Yanks Abroad:

 

Pulisic’s Derby winner

 

If Christian Pulisic can stay healthy, AC Milan will contend for the Scudetto. That’s how good he can be and that is how important he is to AC Milan. When healthy, he’s been among the best players in Serie A this season. That was on display on Sunday when he scored the winning goal in the Milan Derby in the 54th minute.

 

Pulisic ended up playing 78 minutes in what was his first start since before the October international window (where he injured himself with the U.S. team).

Pulisic has the potential to make this the best season of his career and the fact Milan is not in Europe really helps him.

 

Weah scores in Marseille rout

 

Continuing on with the trend of impressive performances from Americans in Europe who were not part of the recent U.S. national team roster in November, Tim Weah scored the fourth goal for Marseille in a 5-1 away blowout of Nice. Playing as a right back, Weah’s goal came in the 58th minute, and he would continue on to play the entire game.

 

While it wasn’t a good thing for any player to have missed out on November’s successful window for the U.S. team, Weah remains an important player. The issue, however, is what position Weah will gravitate towards. He has moved around a lot for the U.S. team and Marseille.

 

Tillman scores for Bayer Leverkusen

 

Malik Tillman also appears to be in a good place right now after scoring the third goal in a 3-1 away win over Wolfsburg to move into third place.  Tillman’s goal in the 33rd minute gave Leverkusen a 3-0 lead and put the game out of reach.

 

His season has been interrupted twice with injuries but Tillman looks ready to go and appears to have a starting job. If he keeps that up, he is likely starting next summer at the World Cup.

 

Richards appears okay in Palace win

 

Crystal Palace posted a 2-0 away win over winless Wolves on Saturday. The good news is two-fold as Chris Richards played well in the win. He was subbed out in the 83rd minute with a knock that does not appear serious.

U.S. national team fans need this to be the case as Richards is one of the team’s most indispensable players. Meanwhile, Palace moved to fifth place with the win and is playing beautiful soccer on top of it all. It is a fun team to watch and Richards is thriving there.

 

Banks starts in Augsburg win

 

Augsburg ended a four-game losing streak and a six-game winless run with a 1-0 win over Hamburg. Noahkai Banks played the entire 90 minutes and was competent in the win that moved the club away from the bottom three.

Banks, 18, continues to start and getting this experience in a relegation fight will only help him as he develops and handles pressure. His World Cup hopes for 2026 are very real, even with him yet to be capped. The comments from his September call-up indicate Pochettino sees Banks as a player with a bright, long-term future.

 

Yanks in England

 

In the Premier League, Leeds fell into the bottom three after a 2-1 loss at home to Aston Villa. Brenden Aaronson went 80 minutes in the loss and was in some dangerous positions but was unable to score or set up teammates for big chances. Leeds now has to face Manchester City, Liverpool, and Liverpool in its next three games.

Tyler Adams played 80 minutes for Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw with West Ham. He left with his team down 2-1 and Bournemouth equalized a minute after he left. It was another conservative performances from Adams where he didn’t offer much going forward but put in an energetic shift defensively.

It was a bad weekend overall for Americans in the Championship. Haji Wright is now among the list of U.S. internationals who is injured and he will be out for a few weeks for Championship leading Coventry. He didn’t play in Coventry’s 3-2 win over West Brom while George Campbell had a tough outing in the loss after West Brom was reduced to 10 men in the 49th minute. Daryl Dike did not get off the bench for West Brom and this adds to the pessimism over where his career stands. Coventry moved seven points clear into first place.

Aidan Morris was decent for Middlesbrough but a 1-1 draw with Oxford United is not a good result and Boro is now second, but seven points behind Coventry. After returning from international duty with the U.S. team, Morris left the game in the 62nd minute with the score 1-1. The former Columbus Crew midfielder played well in controlling the game.

Southampton pounded Charlton 5-1 with Damion Downs playing the final 15 minutes in the win, coming on after all the goals were scored. It was uneventful from Downs who must surely be regretting his move from Koln over the summer.  Meanwhile, Charlie Kelman is out injured for Charlton.

Patrick Agyemang was ineffective for 12th place Derby County in a 3-2 loss at home to Watford. The U.S. national team forward was invisible over his 70 minutes. Meanwhile, Caleb Wiley isn’t even making the matchday squad for Watford as his loan from Chelsea is looking like a bad move right now.

Josh Sargent and Norwich are five points deep in the relegation hole after a 4-1 loss to Birmingham City. Sargent hasn’t scored since August and is in a bad place right now. He needs to try to escape in January. He played 88 minutes in this game.

Finally, Ethan Horvath made four saves for Sheffield Wednesday in a 3-0 loss to Sheffield United. It’s a sad situation between this old rivals who both sit in the bottom three, with Wednesday in last place and -4 points after the deduction for being in administration.

 

Yanks in Germany

 

Except for Malik Tillman (mentioned above), it was a tough weekend for Americans in Germany.

Lennard Maloney started for Mainz but was pulled at halftime trailing Hoffenheim 1-0. The game finished 1-1 and Mainz sits second to last. Still, it’s good for Maloney to be playing again. He might show value in a relegation race.

Kristoffer Lund started and had a tough 90 minutes for Koln in a 4-3 loss at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. It’s still too early to see if Lund is valued enough at the club to trigger the option to purchase on his loan from Palermo. As for the national team, he has a tough path to get back into the squad before the World Cup. Pochettino doesn’t seem interested.

James Sands started for St. Pauli but the club lost for the seventh straight times in the Bundesliga in a 1-0 defeat at home to Union Berlin. With the loss, St. Pauli fell into the bottom three and is looking at a relegation battle. Sands is another player who isn’t settled at his club and there is no indication where he loan could lead if St. Pauli goes down.

Joe Scally was the best American performer in the Bundesliga outside of Tillman and he went 90 strong minutes in a 3-0 win over last place Heidenheim. Gio Reyna came of the bench in the 72nd minute and connected some nice passes and created a few chances. Overall, it was progress for him. Not huge steps, but positive steps. Three wins in a row have lifted Monchengladbach into 12th place.

In the 2.Bundesliga, things weren’t much better.

Santiago Castaneda and Paderborn dropped a 2-0 decision at home to Hannover. Castaneda didn’t stand out much in this game. The good news is that Paderborn remained in first place of the 2.Bundesliga – by a single point over Schalke. Castaneda is coming off his first U.S. call-up at any age level with the U-21 team during the November window.

Julian Green and Max Dietz each went 90 minutes for Greuther Furth in a 4-2 loss to Darmstadt. Furth is now just three points clear of the bottom three.

John Tolkin went 90 minutes for Holstein Kiel in a 4-1 loss to Kaiserslatuern to fall to 11th place. Tolkin is in a tough place to standout – in the middle of the 2.Bundesliga table. He has a chance to make the World Cup team but needs to find a way to standout.

 

Yanks in France

 

Tanner Tessmann played well for Lyon but the 0-0 draw against last place Auxerre was disappointing for Lyon as it fell to seventh place in failing to win. The club is limited by the amount it can spend right now after the messy summer in the forced sale.

Mark McKenzie and 10th place Toulouse lost to 11th place Angers 1-0 at home. McKenzie was not at fault for the goal and played 83 minutes in the disappointing loss.

Folarin Balogun, meanwhile, was suspended for Monaco in its 4-1 loss  to Rennes, its third loss in a row.

 

Yanks in Italy

 

Weston McKennie played decently for Juventus in what was a poor 1-1 draw against last-place Fiorentina on Saturday. McKennie played on the right side of the attack and had two shots. McKennie is useful to the new coaching staff at Juve but the results have not been there and Juventus now sits seventh.

Yunus Musah’s tough season continued as he was glued to the bench for Atalanta in in a 3-1 loss to Napoli. It was the club’s third loss in a row and Musah might benefit from the pressure to do something else.

Benja Cremaschi also did not play for Parma in a 2-1 win over Hallas Verona that move the club three points north of the bottom three.

In Serie B, Gianluca Busio scored the opening goal for Venezia in a 2-0 away win in a derby match against Padova. Venezia moved to fifth place. Quietly, Busio is having another good season in Serie B. But he has yet to find the highest level where he can thrive. He’s beyond Serie B but hasn’t stood out in Serie A. What is between/

Jonathan Klinsmann and fourth place Cesena lost to leaders Monza 1-0. Klinsmann did not have to register a save in the game.  

Andrija Novakovich played 77 minutes for seventh place Reggiana in a 0-0 draw with Carrarese.

 

Yanks Elsewhere

 

PSV Eindhoven moved six points clear of second place Feyenoord in the Eredivisie table with a 1-0 away win over NAC Breda. Sergino Dest was typically solid in a 90 minute performance while Ricardo Pepi played the final 20 minutes after replacing Guus Til, who scored the goal.

Rokas Pukstas played 90 minutes for Hajduk Split in a disastrous 5-0 loss to Rijeka. Despite that, Hajduk Split still tops the HNL table in Croatia.

Celtic remained in second place after securing a 1-0 win over St. Mirren thanks to a goal in the dying seconds. Auston Trusty went the distance in central defense.

Staying in Scotland, Aberdeen defeated leaders Hearts 1-0 with Dante Polvara playing 84 minutes in midfield for Aberdeen.

In Spain, Johnny Cardoso did not get off the bench for Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 win over Getafe.

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