How great was it to watch live soccer again?? It had been way too long without something to watch. It was a jam-packed weekend! Here are the results (Home-Away):
Saturday, May 16th
Borussia Dortmund 4:0 Schalke 04
RB Leipzig 1:1 Freiburg
Hoffenheim 0:3 Hertha Berlin
Düsseldorf 0:0 Paderborn
Augsburg 1:2 Wolfsburg
Frankfurt 1:3 Mönchengladbach
Sunday, May 17th
Köln 2:2 Mainz
Union Berlin 0:2 Bayern Munich
Monday, May 18th
Werder Bremen 1:4 Leverkusen
Because this is an American soccer blog and since Bundesliga has many American players, I'm going to focus on those players that did play this weekend.
Gio Reyna:
He was going to get his first-ever league start for Dortmund...until he didn't. American soccer Twitter exploded with excitement when the lineup was dropped but justtttt before the game started, he was scratched from the lineup with a minor injury he picked up during pre-game warmups. I didn't even realize he was out when the game started; I was trying to find him on the field and then I opened my phone and found the news. He was replaced by Thorgan Hazard, who ended up scoring a goal and an assist. The injury is believed to be muscle-related and not too serious.
Weston McKennie:
On the other side of the field, McKennie got the start for Schalke but his team was crushed in this derby. While he didn't have a terrible game (no one on his team really played that well, to be fair), there were moments where he could have done better. Unfortunately, three of these moments came in the build-up to three of Dortmund's goals. Here's the link to the highlights.
Disregarding the second goal, McKennie was not quick to react on the other three (he's #2). For this first goal, he can't catch up to Hazard and by the time he reaches him it's too late. The same thing happens with the second goal, as McKennie fails to read Hazard yet again (although Håland took a big hit in the build-up so you could make the argument that McKennie thought it would've been a free kick but you have to play on no matter what). Finally, McKennie is a little too slow in closing the distance on Håland before he notches the assist on the third goal. It seems like he has a lapse in thinking and in that split-second, Håland is able to make a great pass. Like I said, a lot of other players did poorly but he definitely could've done better in these big moments.
Tyler Adams:
Adams got the start for RB Leipzig but was subbed off in the 69th minute. It was an average performance, with nothing completely positive or negative happening during his shift (although I heard he improved during the second half). However, it was good to see him go for a long shift injury-free, considering his history.
John Brooks:
He has been a regular on the Wolfsburg backline, so his inclusion in the starting lineup came as no surprise. However, it was not a good game for him as he conceded an own goal off an Augsburg corner. While the official Bundesliga website has it as a goal for Tin Jedvaj, you can clearly see it go over the line after hitting Brooks and then the crossbar. Brooks and his team were saved by a stoppage-time goal, but it was still not a good look for him.
Josh Sargent:
Starting on the bench, he eventually was subbed on in the 71st minute of what was an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Leverkusen. To be fair, one team is fifth whilst the other team is in 17th but that's still a pretty big loss. It was a quiet shift for the youngster with not much to talk about. I'm glad he got some playing time but I feel bad for his placement on such a shockingly bad team. At this point they are almost a guarantee to be relegated to 2. Bundesliga so hopefully he'll have better luck there next season.
And that's it for today's Bundesliga Wrap-up! Thanks for stopping by to read this first edition of the series and I hope you'll stick around!
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