In a week in which he lamented a bias against U.S. men’s national team players in Europe, Weston McKennie did what he does best.

The midfielder stood up in a pinch to be counted, proving that you can write him and his USMNT teammates off at your peril.

The pair sat on the bench alongside compatriot Tim Weah at their Italian club Juventus when they hosted Manchester City and, together as substitutes, ensured the decisive win against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Just six minutes after their introduction into the contest, McKennie launched a move, finding Weah and then bursting into the box before the latter sent a perfect cross to the back post for the Texan to fire a spectacular volley past Ederson.

US version:

Spotted in Turin, made in America! 🇮🇹🤝🇺🇸

Juves #USMNT The duo work together to score an unforgettable goal as Tim Weah sets up Weston McKennie 🪄 pic.twitter.com/ZaZsL3u7jY

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 11, 2024

UK version:

Juventus doubles its lead over Man City 😳

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/okSptReD23

– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 11, 2024

It achieved a 2-0 win against the reigning Premier League champions and thus wrote a piece of men’s Champions League history.

It was the first time an American assisted another American on a goal in Europe’s premier club competition. “There was a beautiful, languid confidence in the way Timothy Weah threw it his compatriot’s way,” said commentator Clive Tyldesley on Paramount+.

“I fell over,” McKennie said after the game. “No, I’m just playing. We’ve seen it before, I did it against Barcelona too.”

The moment had a timely resonance, particularly for McKennie, who spoke of his frustration with perceived prejudice against American players in excerpts from a new Paramount+ documentary about Christian Pulisic.

“There is definitely a bias,” said McKennie, who has had to prove himself to two different managers over the last two summers after appearing to not be up to the task in Turin. “I go through this most of the time when I’m at Juventus. Every year I’m kind of out there ready to be picked, and every summer I’m like a new player coming in and wanting to make a name for himself.”

McKennie started just three of a possible six Champions League games for Juventus and initially sat on the bench with Weah on Wednesday after recently recovering from muscle problems that had limited his involvement.

After the final whistle, Juventus’s X account posted a photo of the pair with the caption “American Connection” and a stars and stripes emoji. The win lifted Thiago Motta’s side to 14th place in the Champions League table and boosted their chances of automatic qualification for the last 16 of the tournament with two games of the first phase of the league remaining.

American connection 🇺🇸🔗#JuveManCity #UCL pic.twitter.com/kH18CKbUia

— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) December 11, 2024

It was a Champions League night that started inauspiciously for the Americans in Europe – Christian Pulisic was injured at Milan, striker Folarin Balogun was sidelined at Monaco and McKennie and Weah were on the bench. The night before, in-form striker Ricardo Pepi was on the bench as PSV lost to Brest, while Malik Tillman had a tough night in the same game.

However, Gio Reyna bucked that trend as he made his first competitive start for Borussia Dortmund this season in the home game against Barcelona.

Reyna started in midfield against the Catalan giants, a big improvement on his recent minimal playing time as a substitute in the Bundesliga, where his previous season was ruined by groin problems.

But the 22-year-old attacking midfielder played 73 minutes in a thrilling 3-2 defeat at Signal Iduna Park, a sign that he is ready to take on a more prominent role in Nuri Sahin’s team going forward. According to Fotmob, no other Dortmund player made more passes into the final third against Barcelona than Reyna did six.

He was back in the starting lineup on the second anniversary of the start of a spectacular feud with former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter that left a bad impression on their relationship after the 2022 World Cup.

At the San Siro, Milan’s USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah also started for his team as the Rossoneri beat Red Star Belgrade 2-1.

The headline-grabber, however, came in Turin, where Manchester City’s recent struggle had a distinctly American flavor and where the evening’s goal may have gone some way towards alleviating that perceived stigma.

(Top photo: Valerio Pennicino / Getty Images)