Yedlin has best game of the season

There were several quality American performances over the weekend but DeAndre Yedlin outperformed the rest by a wide margin. This was easily his best game of the season and perhaps his best since 2014 when he turned heads at the World Cup.

On Saturday, Newcastle cruised past Rotherham United 4-0 and Yedlin assisted on the first and third goal while also having his hand in the second goal. He was consistently involved on the defensive side of the ball and was a nightmare to defend.

Newcastle now holds first place in the Championship and looks to be heading for promotion.

Yedlin has had a rich and varied career. He has played in the World Cup, Gold Cup, Copa America, MLS, and CONCACAF Champions League. He has been part of a successful Premier League relegation fight and now is participating in what looks to be a lsuccessful English Championship promotional campaign. He rarely played in 2015, sitting on the bench at Tottenham, but there have been few dull moments for the 23-year-old. 

Hyndman seizes the moment in debut

Whenever a young player is on a short-term loan, he's usually kept on a short leash given the club’s limited investment. In 2014, Julian Green failed to make the most of his opportunities at Hamburg and he quickly was sent to the bench and then the reserve team.

Well, Emerson Hyndman made the most of his debut with Rangers on Saturday in a Scottish Cup fourth round matchup against Motherwell. The Texan came on in the 74th minute and helped spark a late two-goal rally to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win.

Hyndman assisted on the winning goal in the 89th minute when his perfect through-ball found Kenny Miller who finished nicely to send Rangers into the fifth round.

For Hyndman it was a dream debut. Local Glasgow media was full of praise for for the 20-year-old American, so at this point it seems likely that Hyndman should see more opportunities in the near future.

Paul Arriola boosts Tijuana

After scoring a terrific goal last week, Paul Arriola continued his outstanding start to 2017 with a 74th-minute assist to help deliver a 1-0 victory for Club Tijuana on the road against Chivas.

On the crucial play, Arriola was played wide and used his speed to catch up to the ball. Just before the ball crossed the endline, he was able to whip in a cross from the right side which was headed home by Milton Joel Caraglio. It was a tough play that required a lot of skill.

Arriola, 21, was one of three Americans to start for Xolos—Joe Corona and Michael Orozco also got the nod.

It is unclear how Bruce Arena rates the Chula Vista, Calif., native but if Arriola can keep this up he will be very difficult to ignore—if not for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers than for this summer’s Gold Cup.

Pulisic inks new Dortmund deal

On Monday, Borussia Dortmund announced that it has signed Christian Pulisic to a new contract through 2020. Over the past year there were some rumors that big clubs (specificially Liverpool, which is managed by former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp) could be after the Pennsylvania native. 

The extension is no guarantee Pulisic stays with Dortmund until 2020, of course, but this move means he is not going anywhere anytime soon. For American fans and for Pulisic himself, this is great. 

Young signs for Werder Bremen

The current exodus of United States youth internationals continued when U-20 winger Isaiah Young signing a deal with Werder Bremen, where he will play with the club’s youth teams. The New Jersey native was previously with the Philadelphia Union’s academy at the U-16 level. He made a commitment to play college soccer at Wake Forest but backed out of that and rejoined his youth team, the Player Development Academy (PDA), instead.

Last summer he helped PDA to the national USSDA semifinal where he scored nine goals in seven games. For that he was named the 2016 East Player of the Year in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

Young is not with the U-20 team right now in California and is considered on the bubble for the team. Now at Werder, he is going to have to try to climb the ladder quickly to move past his U.S. competition, which includes Joshua Perez, Brooks Lennon, Sebastian Saucedo, Jonathan Lewis.

Bundesliga resumes

The Bundesliga resumed from winter break this weekend and it was mostly a tough weekend for American players.

John Brooks returned after missing the last two games before the winter break due to an Achilles injury. He played a role in an early goal for Hertha as his powerful header was saved but teammate Valentin Stocker put in the rebound. Despite that Hertha fell to Bayer Leverkusen 3-1.

Bobby Wood went 90 for Hamburg in a 1-0 loss to Wolfsburg. Similarly, Alfredo Morales went the distance for Ingolstadt in a 1-0 loss to Schalke. Ingolstadt remained mired in the relegation zone. Timothy Chandler started for Eintracht Frankfurt, which suffered a red card to its goalkeeper in the opening minutes and was overmanned by RB Leipzig 3-0.

The only American to win in the Bundesliga to win this weekend was Pulisic who started for Borussia Dortmund in its 2-1 win over Werder Bremen. Pulisic went a full 90 and had some nice moments but did not really stand out.

Gooch returns to training

After missing the past two months with an ankle injury, Lynden Gooch, 21, returned to training on Monday. 

8 weeks today and first day back full training. Amazing to be back out there with the lads again ???????? #safc pic.twitter.com/usIih4SkEO

— Lynden Gooch (@lyndengooch46) January 23, 2017

The Santa Cruz, Calif., native made nine Premier League apperances early in the season and broke into the U.S. national team under former head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Eligible for England and Ireland, Gooch became cap-tied to the U.S. team in November during a dreadful 4-0 loss to Costa Rica.