Among the leading U.S. Men's National Team highlights last week were Malik Tillman and Paxten Aaronson doubling their pleasure with braces for their respective Dutch Eredivisie clubs - PSV Eindhoven and Vitesse. Also in Europe, Josh Sargent continued his torrid pace with his 16th goal of the campaign for Norwich City.
In North America, Timmy Tillman - Malik's older brother - got into the scoring column for Los Angeles FC, Ben Cremaschi recorded his first points of the season for Inter Miami CF, and Brandon Vazquez came off the bench to score for Monterrey.
In a key assist, Gianluca Busio did not score, but set up the winning goal as Venezia continued its quest for automatic promotion to Italy's Serie A.
Malik Tillman continued his impressive season with two goals and an assist in the opening minutes of PSV Eindhoven's 8-0 victory at Heerenveen on Thursday, April 25. He has nine goals and 15 assists across all competitions, as PSV (27-1-3, 84 points) moved within at least a draw and a Feyenoord (23-2-6, 75) loss of clinching the Dutch Eredivisie crown. Tillman, 21, did all his damage in the opening 11 minutes. He assisted on Gus Til's goal in the seventh minute before striking for a brace. In the ninth minute, off a Jordan Teze feed, Tillman made it 2-0, before celebrating his second goal two minutes later after beating goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart. PSV can clinch the Dutch title with a home win against Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday, May 5.
Before PSV took on Heerenveen on Thursday, April 25, Sergiño Dest's teammates gave him a nice tribute as they walked out wearing special shirts with the defender's No. 8 on it. Dest suffered a knee injury during training on April 20. Quite appropriately, PSV scored eight goals in an 8-0 triumph. Dest has played on loan from Barcelona this season.
Malik's older brother, Timmy Tillman, also made an impact. The 25-year-old midfielder scored his fourth goal of the MLS campaign in Los Angeles FC's 3-2 home win over the 10-man Portland Timbers on Saturday, April 27. Tillman converted a Cristian Olivera feed and drilled a right-footed, 19-yard shot off the left post past keeper Maxime Crepeau with the last kick of the first half three minutes into stoppage time. LAFC (4-3-3, 15) sits in fifth place in the Western Conference.
Midfielder Paxten Aaronson had the first and last words for Vitesse in its 3-2 home victory over Fortuna Sittard in the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday, April 28. Aaronson put away a Thomas Buitink feed to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage in the 22nd minute. With the score deadlocked at 2-2, he slotted home Kacper Kozłowski's right-wing feed from eight yards past keeper Luuk Koopmans for the 76th-minute game-winner.
Aaronson, who was loaned to the Dutch side by Eintracht Frankfurt in January, has scored four times in 11 league matches.
Vitesse (5-21-5, 2 points), which will be relegated to the second division next season, moved into the plus column in points with the win. The team had 18 points deducted on April 19 after apparent financial ties between the club and the Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich were uncovered.
Josh Sargent continued his magical comeback and season for Norwich City, connecting for his 16th goal of the season in its 2-2 draw with Swansea City in its final home match of the English Championship season on Saturday, April 27. Six minutes into first-half stoppage time, 24-year-old forward headed home Gabriel Sara's right-wing cross, one bounce into the lower right corner past goalie Carl Rushworth to lift the hosts into a 2-1 advantage. Since returning from an early season ankle injury in January, Sargent has found the net 13 times. Fifth-place Norwich (21-14-10, 73) can clinch a berth in the promotion playoffs to the English Premier League in its regular-season finale at Birmingham City on Saturday, May 4. The top two teams automatically moved up, while the next four sides will compete in a playoff.
As Venezia battles for automatic promotion to Italian Serie A, Gianluca Busio provided an assist on the winning goal in its 2-1 victory over Cremonese on Friday, April 26. Busio set up Bjarki Bjarkason's 76th-minute tally that snapped a 1-1 deadlock in the Serie B encounter. Busio scored his seventh goal of the season in his team's 2-1 away win over Lecco on April 20. Third-place Venezia (20-8-7, 67) trails second-place Como (20-7-8, 68) by a point with three matches remaining in the regular season. The top two clubs move up to Serie A, while the next four squads will battle in the promotion playoffs.
Ben Cremaschi recorded his first points of the MLS campaign in Inter Miami CF's 4-1 victory at the New England Revolution on Saturday, April 27. Only eight minutes after coming on for Julian Gressel in the 75th minute, the 19-year-old Cremaschi made an impact. He slotted home a rebound of a Lionel Messi shot from six yards past goalkeeper Julian Gressel into the lower right corner to lift the visitors into a 3-1 lead in 83rd minute. Cremaschi also received a second assist. He flicked the ball to Messi, who found Suarez for his 86th-minute goal. Cremaschi has made three appearances, playing 40 minutes, after sports hernia surgery in January. Inter Miami (6-2-3, 21) is atop the MLS Eastern Conference, enjoying a three-point lead over FC Cincinnati (5-2-3, 18).
Brandon Vazquez made the most of his 23 minutes as a substitute in Monterrey's 5-2 away triumph over Necaxa on Sunday. April 28. The 25-year-old scored the final goal of the Liga MX match in the 86th minute past goalkeeper Luis Unsain off an Arturo Gonzalez assist. Since joining Monterrey from FC Cincinnati in January, Vazquez has tallied 10 times, six in the league and four in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Monterrey hosts the Columbus Crew in the second leg of its CCC semifinal series on Tuesday. Columbus won the first leg, 2-1, on April 24.
Four USMNT regulars met in Italy on Saturday, April 26, as AC Milan took on Juventus at Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy. For Milan, both Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah were included in the starting lineup, while Tim Weah was in the first XI for Juve before being replaced by Weston McKennie in the 71st minute. The match finished 0-0, as Milan remains in second place in Serie A with 70 points, and Juventus in third with 65.
Djordje Mihailovic, Jordan Morris and Folarin Balogun recorded assists in their team's respective losses this past weekend.
Mihailovic's corner kick set up the Colorado Rapids' lone goal of its 2-1 MLS road loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday, April 27. Defender Moise Bombito sliced the deficit in half in the 72nd minute on Mihailovic's fourth assist of the campaign.
Morris assisted on Leo Chu's goal in the 14th minute of the Seattle Sounders' 2-1 setback at D.C. United in MLS action on Saturday, April 27. Chu headed in his pass from the right side from six yards to give the visitors the lead.
And Balogun was credited with an assist on Wissam Ben Yedder's first-minute score in Monaco's 3-2 loss at Lyon in French Ligue 1 on Sunday, April 28.
Forward Haji Wright and ninth-place Coventry City (17-14-13, 64) will remain in the English Championship for the 2024-25 season. City was eliminated from contention for the promotion playoffs after playing to a 0-0 deadlock at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, April 27.
Defender Auston Trusty and his Sheffield United teammates were demoted from the EPL to the Championship, after suffering a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday, April 27. Trusty played 90 minutes for Sheffield (3-25, 7, 16), which is in the league basement (20th place).
In his first game for Utrecht in more than two months, Taylor Booth played 17 minutes off the bench in a 2-2 tie at RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, April 2. Booth replaced Can Bozdogan in the 73rd minute of the Dutch Eredivisie match. The midfielder suffered a knee injury in Utrecht's 1-0 victory over Twente on Feb. 18.
