Americans Abroad: USMNT strikers Patrick Agyemang and Haji Wright take center stage as Christian Pulisic and AC Milan survive scare against Lecce

In the end, Milan ultimately found a way, so credit to them for that. Three points are three points, no matter how you get them, but Sunday's clash with Lecce was a frustrating one, so credit to Pulisic and Co. for surviving it.

Pulisic played 73 hard minutes, helping to lead the line alongside Rafael Leao. The two combined well at points, with Pulisic seeing two shots saved, but Milan didn't threaten nearly enough prior to his exit. With that exit, Massimiliano Allegri turned to the big fella, Niclas Fullkrug, and he'll be glad he did as the German striker was ultimately the match-winner with his 76th-minute goal.

With the win, Milan stay within three points of local rivals Inter, who currently lead Serie A. Pulisic and Milan are right there and in the midst of an unbeaten run that has helped them keep pace. Days like Sunday will help, as title hopefuls need to find ways to win on bad days, which is exactly what Milan did this weekend.

Things haven't been so easy for Coventry of late. It looked, for a while, like Frank Lampard's men might run away with the EFL Championship. Yet the Christmas period hit them hard. And although they held a six-point lead atop the table heading into Saturday, there is no such thing as a comfortable lead in England's second division. Their fixture against Leicester seemed destined to be a disappointing one. The Sky Blues did well to overturn an early 1-0 deficit, but with 10 minutes remaining, they were frustratingly locked at 1-1. 

And then Wright stepped up. The American hadn't netted since October for his club and lost his spot in the XI here to Ellis Simms. But Wright delivered off the bench. On the 85th minute mark, he lunged in at the back post to turn home a teasing cross-shot from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. It wasn't a pretty goal, but it might yet prove to be a vital one, as it kept Coventry's lead at six points and steadied the ship after a run of just one win in four. For Wright, too, the goal could be a much-needed confidence boost. 

Manager Oliver Glasner summed up the mood for Crystal Palace perfectly after their 2-1 loss to Sunderland on Saturday: 

"I feel we are being abandoned completely. The worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a game. I have kept my mouth shut until now... You get your heart torn out twice this season, both times one day before a game, Eze and Guehi," he said. 

And he makes a fair point. Palace are playing European football. But they are also being absolutely gutted, raided for talent by the elite of the English game. It's hard not to feel sorry for the coach, who said he was leaving at the end of his contract this summer. It all leaves the players that remain in South London in a bit of a spot. And they didn't exactly perform on Saturday. Facing a Sunderland reinvigorated by returnees from AFCON, the Black Cats were opportunistic inside the Palace box en route to a 2-1 win. 

It was a particularly rough one for Chris Richards, who lost his man on one of the goals and will feel he could have cleared the ball on another. Richards will be required to step up here. And on Saturday, he didn't quite provide. 

Wright wasn't the only American to provide in his team's hour of need this weekend. Patrick Agyemang, too, stepped up in similar circumstances. His decision to leave Charlotte FC nearly a year ago was questioned by some. He had it pretty good in MLS, and the EFL Championship can be an unforgiving place. And Agyemang took his time to find some form. This season, though, he has started to click into gear. 

He has, by this point, nailed down a starting spot for Derby County, and on Saturday was trusted with being the main man through the middle. The Rams were enduring a bit of a nightmarish afternoon. Preston is a tough place to go, and they had made hard work of it. Everything looked very English second division: dreary weather, muddy pitch, not much quality on display. Agyemang scored a very English goal, too: beating his man to a floated cross and nodding past a sprawling goalkeeper. It was not a glamorous thing, but it did give Derby a 1-0 lead that they held onto for the remainder of the game. The good news? A playoff spot is now just five points away...

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