USMNT Serie A match day 10 recap: Pulisic scores, McKennie goes down

The announcement of the USMNT's roster for the November window is just days away. That means Mauricio Pochettino will want his key players in good form. With a couple of key players and a couple of bubble players in Serie A, let's look at how the Americans in Italy performed on matchday. 10.

Christian Pulisic, AC Milan

For the second straight weekend, Pulisic scored in a Serie A match. In the always contentious Milan Derby, Pulisic was the icebreaker, scoring in the fourth minute, doing so with his head, no less. That ended up being his own shot on goal, but it certainly made a big impact, as AC Milan beat Inter 3-1. Pulisic played 82 minutes, getting 44 touches, and was rated Milan’s second-best player in the game, which is exactly what you want to see right before an international window.

Yunus Musah, AC Milan

Musah didn’t quite make as big an impact as Pulisic in the Milan Derby, but he had a strong showing. He was 41 of 43 on his passes, while making five defensive contributions. Musah also won six of his eight duels, helping AC Milan to control for long stretches. Like Pulisic, he played 82 minutes in the 3-1 victory over Inter. Musah is surely on the bubble as far as a call-up for the November window is concerned after struggling to make an impact during the last international break, but this kind of performance certainly helps.

Weston McKennie, Juventus

While Pulisic and Musah shined with Milan, it wasn’t a great weekend for McKennie. He was forced off at halftime of Juventus’ 2-0 win over Napoli with an injury. Initial reports indicate that the main issue was muscle fatigue and that he should be fine after a few days of rest. But that does put into question whether he’ll be fit enough to come to USMNT camp for the Nations League games. Juventus plays in Europa League on Thursday and has one more Serie A game before the break on Sunday, so time will tell. For what it’s worth, McKennie created two chances and had one defensive contribution in his 45 minutes against Napoli.

Gianluca Busio, Venezia

After coming off the bench last weekend, Busio got his first start for Venezia since getting hurt in September. He’s still not back to 100% fitness, as he only managed to play 55 minutes. But it was a step in the right direction for Busio, who was one of Venezia’s best players during those 55 minutes of action. He played on the left side of midfield, creating one chance and making four defensive contributions, while winning six of his seven duels. It won’t be enough to put Busio on the November roster, but his performances in Serie A are at least keeping him on the USMNT radar.