Americans Abroad: PSV's Ricardo Pepi and Bournemouth's Tyler Adams score while Gladbach's Gio Reyna and Juventus' Weston McKennie offer optimism

Since making his return from injury, Pepi hasn't been starting for PSV. Instead, they've been leaning on Guus Til and Ismael Saibari to lead the attack. Peter Bosz, the club's manager, is the first to acknowledge that, while Til and Saibari have done so many things right, it is a bit unlucky that Pepi isn't getting his chance, too.

"Pepi is my first striker," Bosz said. "It's just that things are going so well right now.... And he understands that."

To Bosz's point, PSV have been scoring without Pepi. Saibari and Til both found the back of the net on Friday, but Pepi made sure he got in on the fun, too, scoring to send a message to his coach that things could be even better with him in the XI.

Pepi netted PSV's fourth in a 5-2 beatdown of Fortuna Sittard, finding the back of the net in the 82nd minute. The goal came as part of a 30-minute cameo, one that Pepi, as always, made the most of. He now has three league goals in less than 300 minutes played. You can mix in his goal and assist in a six-minute cameo against Napoli in the Champions League, too.

It seems, then, that it's a matter of when, not if, Pepi gets back into the starting XI. For now, though, PSV have a good problem: too many goal scorers scoring too many goals.

Adams doesn't score often. In fact, he hadn't scored a single goal since arriving at Bournemouth. That changed on Sunday against Manchester City. For a few minutes, it seemed as if Adams' first Premier League goal would make a difference. It didn't happen that way because Erling Haaland exists, but it's still worth acknowledging what Adams' goal means in the big picture.

After conceding an early goal to Haaland, Bournemouth fought back on Adams' first for the club: a scrappy finish to cap a set piece. What followed was, largely, not Adams' fault. City added two more goals of their own, one from Haaland and one from Nico O'Reilly, to effectively bury the Cherries in the first 60 minutes en route to a routine 3-0 victory.

Back to Adams, though. He has taken his game to a new level this season, running the show from the midfield. He's also now adding goal contributions to his game, which has long been the big knock against him. At this level, there are few better defensive midfielders in the world. Adams is proving that every week.

Bournemouth will hope that the Adams' late injury scare Adams - he limped off the field - is just that and nothing more serious. They can’t afford to lose him. Sunday was further proof of that.

It's no secret that Gio Reyna hasn't had the easiest season, or few seasons, to put it frankly. Maybe this weekend was a sign of progress, then, even if that was ever so slight.

Having played just 36 minutes this month, Reyna got 12 minutes to work in Borussia Monchengladbach's 4-0 win over St. Pauli. In those 12, he looked something like the old Reyna. He created a chance, completed 16 of his 18 passes and completed two passes into the final third. Reyna, to put it simply, was dangerous.

Yes, there are obvious caveats when it comes to the state of the game and the time left in it. But when it comes to Reyna, any sign of progress is worth applauding. The hope is still that, at some point, he can break into the starting XI, but, for now, this cameo provided some reason for optimism for a player that sure could use a little bit of that right now.

Richards has been playing a lot of soccer recently. He logged another 90 minutes on Saturday in a 2-0 win over Brentford. Even ahead of that game, Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner took aim at the USMNT for Richards' workload.

“My only complaint is the U.S. team didn’t talk to us because Chris was struggling with his calf for many weeks,” he said on Friday. “We talked to them and said he should rest as they were just friendlies. But they played him twice, every single minute. That’s a little bit disappointing. On the other side, we’ve tried to manage his minutes here, resting him against AEK Larnaca, but you can’t cheat your body."

Glasner became the second coach to raise concerns about USMNT duty, following AC Milan’s frustrations over Christian Pulisic’s usage. Yet the U.S. find themselves in a unique situation as World Cup hosts. Yes, they’re playing “friendlies,” but those matches are all they have to prepare without qualifiers.

International soccer is part of every top player’s workload, and it naturally brings fatigue. The USMNT, as a result, are facing growing scrutiny - fair or not. It's a good problem, in a way. It's an indication that Richards is as vital for club as he is for country. As long as that continues, expect Richards to continue being among the first names on Glasner's starting XI. 

McKennie has long been Juventus' most versatile player. Saturday was more evidence of that as he stood out in a new spot under a new manager. 

Starting on the right wing in his first match of the Luciano Spalletti era, McKennie was one of Juventus' best players throughout his 85 minutes. He created two chances, showing his abilities in the attacking third, while also winning the ball back with two tackles to show some defensive steel.

No matter where McKennie plays, he's generally noticeable and that trend continued this weekend.

What makes McKennie’s move to a wider role intriguing is how it mirrors his recent usage with the USMNT. During the last camp, Mauricio Pochettino suggested he views McKennie more as a No. 10 than a No. 6 - putting him in closer competition with Bayer Leverkusen's Tillman than, say, Lyon's defensive midfielder Tanner Tessmann.

If Juventus continue to deploy him higher up the pitch, could that solidify his place as a more attack-minded option for the national team? There's a long way to go until any sort of decision has to be made. For now, McKennie continues to make waves at Juventus, no matter where he plays or who he is playing under. 

+ Auston Trusty earned Man of the Match honors after providing an assist in Celtic's massive 3-1 Old Firm win over Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semifinal.

+ A rare setback for Haji Wright and Coventry City, who fell, 3-2, to Wrexham on Friday. Wright was uncharacteristically quiet in his 67 minutes on the field.

+ Despite his recent goals, Folarin Balogun was a substitute for Monaco, playing 45 minutes in a surprising home loss to Paris FC.

+ A tough break for Tessmann, who lasted just 15 minutes before being removed due to an early Lyon red card. It came after a poor Tessmann pass to set up the sequence.

+ After balling out against West Ham last week, there was no sequel for Brenden Aaronson and Leeds, who were crushed, 3-0, by Brighton.

+ Following a rough go last week, Noahkai Banks retained his place in Augsburg's starting XI, putting in a much better performance in a 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund.

+ Bayer Leverkusen missed an injured Tillman as they lost 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich.

+ After recently returning from injury, Johnny Cardoso was named to the bench, but did not feature in Atletico Madrid's 3-0 win over Sevilla.

+ Another match on the bench for Yunus Musah, who did not feature once again as Atalanta fell, 1-0, to Udinese.

+ John Tolkin created four chances, more than anyone else on the pitch, but it wasn't enough as Holstein Kiel fell, 2-1, to Preussen Munster on Friday.

+ Josh Sargent's struggles continued as the striker was once again kept goalless in a 2-0 loss to Hull City.

+ Daryl Dike came off the bench in the 90th minute, but West Brom were held to a 0-0 draw by Sheffield Wednesday thanks to the heroics of USMNT teammate Ethan Horvath, who was named Man of the Match, in goal.

+ Charlie Kelman scored for Charlton Athletic, but Swansea City answered to seal a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

+ Patrick Agyemang started in a deeper role, and it was striker Carlton Morris who got the goals with a hat-trick in Derby County's 3-1 win over Sheffield United.

+ Damion Downs made an appearance off the bench, playing 18 minutes in Southampton's 2-0 loss to Preston North End.

+ A rough game for Aidan Morris in Middlesbrough, as they fell, 3-0, at Watford on Saturday.

+ Kristoffer Lund and FC Koln poured it on late in a 4-1 win over Hamburg that saw the losing team earn two red cards.