Americans Abroad: Folarin Balogun, Haji Wright and Yunus Musah shine with crucial goals

If last year was a season that proved that Haji Wright can hold his own in the Championship, this one has served as evidence that he might just be ready for a step up. 

At times, in his Coventry career, Wright has looked a bit awkward, an protypical inside forward stuck in the middle and asked to do striker responsibilities. But his improvement under Frank Lampard simply cannot be understated. The forward doesn't touch the ball loads, but he doesn't have to. The Sky Blues have plenty of creative players who can provide service - and Wright, most of the time, does the rest. 

Such was the case on Saturday. It was a very Championship fixture between Coventry and Stoke. Sure, the Sky Blues had most of the ball, but there wasn't a clean sort of game. Wright, though, did his part to settle things down. He scored inside 12 minutes, a proper poacher's header in which he ghosted to the back post, rose above a defender, and nodded home. The American had a few chances otherwise and was unlucky to see an effort hit the post. And although Coventry needed second-half stoppage time heroics to take home three valuable points, it was Wright's impactful play that really set everything up. He now has 15 goals on the season, and seems likely to bag a few more, too. 

There is something genuinely uplifting about seeing Folarin Balogun back among the goals. His time at Monaco hasn’t always been straightforward.

His first season still felt a lot like a bedding-in period for a striker who was still figuring out how to take a step up. The second was injury-interrupted. This season, his third, was the time to really show what he can do. Even if that was an unspoken assumption rather than an outright promise, Balogun has started to deliver the goods. A slow start has given way to an impressive second half, and he has now scored four in his last four. 

The latest of them, against Angers on Saturday, came at a nice juncture. Monaco were well short of their best against a side more in danger of relegation than competing at the top. But Balogun had his moment, a tidy finish giving them a 1-0 lead just short of the hour mark. A second, this time from Simon Adingra, came soon after, and Balogun was withdrawn before full time after delivering another impressive afternoon of work. 

There are still surely some criticisms around his ability to get involved in play. And those are certainly fair. But for now, this is a striker finding the back of the net. There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever. 

Few players in the USMNT pool needed a goal more than Musah. Given everything that's gone on with his move to Atalanta, the American midfielder needed just one moment of joy, and he got it on Sunday, even if the circumstances meant it was somewhat subdued.

Down 2-0 in the final moments against Sassuolo, Musah gave Atalanta a lifeline with a first-time finish. It was his first goal for the club, but also his first goal in Serie A, having gone scoreless during his first two seasons with AC Milan. Atalanta would end up losing, souring the occasion for sure, but there is something to be said about how a goal lifts confidence, right?

Musah needs that lift. With the World Cup coming, he is, at the very least, in danger of missing out, having been left out of the USMNT squad since last spring. One goal won't change anything, but it could inspire more performances, which is something Musah needs desperately in these final few months of the season.

Juventus were second best for most of their match at Roma, and for nearly the entire second half Sunday, they looked doomed. The Old Lady would need a miracle to change that fact.

That miracle came late, and it came off the head of Weston McKennie. In the game's final seconds, McKennie's header fell right into the path of Federico Gatti, who was able to tap home to earn Juventus a point from a wild 3-3 draw in Rome.

It's a result that seemed very unlikely, given what happened just 15 minutes earlier. After each scoring a goal in the first half, Roma outplayed Juve in the second and maintained a 3-1 lead through 77 minutes. After Jeremie Boga's goal in the 78th minute, Juventus fought for a late equalizer, and it came eventually, earning them a crucial point as they battle for European places in Serie A.

McKennie has, at times, singlehandedly kept them in that race. It's no surprise, then, that he did it again on Sunday as he helped Juve escape with a draw that looked so unlikely for so long. He is now on four goals and five assists on the season. 

Milan got the win they needed. It ended 2-0 over Cremonense. That keeps them in the Scudetto race, but only just as Inter remain 10 points ahead.

Christian Pulisic played 78 minutes, but didn't impact either of those goals, and so the scoreless run goes on as the narrative continues to build that he isn't quite at his best. He did have a few looks. Two were blocked away and one was fired right on target, only to be saved.  Of his 36 touches, though, none went into the back of the net, which means he remains scoreless in 2026 as the calendar moves into March.

Is it time to worry? It depends on who you ask. What's undeniable is that Pulisic isn't at the heights he was at in the fall. He could sure use a goal to get back to his best.

+ Noahkai Banks set up a goal in Augsburg's 2-0 win over FC Koln

+ Tim Weah and Marseille won a 3-2 thriller over Tanner Tessmann's Lyon thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

+ Tyler Adams played a typically scrappy hour in Bournemouth's 1-1 draw with Sunderland 

+ Sergino Dest won a penalty while Ricardo Pepi came off the bench in the second half of PSV's 3-1 win over Heracles

+ Alex Freeman was on the bench but did not play in Villarreal's 4-1 loss to Barcelona

+ Chris Ricahrds played all 90 minutes as 10-man Crystal Palace squandered an early lead to lose, 2-0, to Manchester United

+ Malik Tillman missed Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw to lowly Mainz with an ankle injury 

+ James Sands turned in a solid midfield performance as St. Pauli continued their push to avoid relegation with a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim. 

+ Mark McKenzie went all 90 minutes in Toulouse's 1-0 loss to Rennes

+ Patrick Agyemang struggled in an unfamiliar left wing role, but Derby picked up a much-needed 3-1 win 

+ Daryl Dike had a difficult 30-minute cameo in West Brom's 2-1 loss to Oxford

+ Johnny Cardoso turned in a solid hour in Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win over Real Oviedo 

+ Damion Downs started and played 67 minutes in Hamburg's 2-1 loss to RB Leipzig