U.S. men’s national team midfielder Weston McKennie scored yet again for Juventus on Sunday, continuing a well-timed career-best goalscoring run ahead of this summer’s World Cup in North America.
McKennie nabbed Juventus’ first goal in a 2-2 draw against Lazio, the goal kicking off his side’s comeback with a 59th-minute header that slashed the visitors’ lead in half. The play started as Kenan Yildiz made his way into the penalty area but looked to play a pass, spotting Manuel Locatelli making a central run into the box. Before he entered the area, though, Locatelli spotted McKennie in front of him and the American acted quickly to take a shot, but the ball hit an opponent instead.
The ball then drifted to McKennie’s right and fell to Juventus substitute Edon Zhegrova, who took a shot that was met with a save by Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel. The ball then rolled to the attackers’ left, McKennie making a run towards the ball but smartly stopping as it whizzed out of reach. Andrea Cambiaso met up with the ball at the endline instead, McKennie aware of his teammate’s movement and taking a few backwards steps before turning towards goal, leaping in the air and flicking the ball into the back of the net with his head, adding style points by kissing it off the post.
Watch the goal below.
McKennie now has seven goals across all competitions for Juventus this season, officially making it his best goalscoring season in his club career. He scored all of his goals after ex-Italy boss Luciano Spalletti took over as the team’s coach in November, Spalletti’s tactical preferences paving the way for a new role that has allowed McKennie to flex his attacking skills. He has been a fixture for the new coach as an attack-minded player on the right, though he has the freedom to move centrally and play a large role in Juventus’ goalscoring operation, a stylistic change the 27-year-old has seamlessly transitioned to.
Attacking assignments are not unfamiliar to the versatile McKennie but since joining Juventus at the start of the 2020-21 season, he has been deployed in a wide variety of positions including as a deep-lying midfielder and as a wingback, roles that did not maximize his attacking strengths. Spalletti had a very different impression of McKennie’s skillset, one that has benefitted the team and the player in equal measure.
“McKennie is a perfect central striker,” Spalletti said following last month’s statement win over Serie A champions Napoli. “He fights, he’s strong in the air and he can jump high. He plays to get results because he makes decisions. He would be a perfect striker.”
McKennie’s current form offers USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino another option to find goals as he attempts to build an attack-minded version of the team in time for next summer’s World Cup on home soil. How exactly Pochettino might deploy McKennie is currently a bit of an unknown – the player has been in and out of the national team over the last year, chiefly due to a lack of availability. He was ineligible for last June’s Concacaf Gold Cup while competing at the Club World Cup with Juventus and Pochettino left him off the roster for the November friendlies, a 2-1 win against future World Cup group stage opponent Paraguay and a 5-1 win over Uruguay, so he could settle in after Spalletti’s hire.
Juventus currently sit in fourth place, 12 points adrift of Serie A leaders, but in the midst of a competitive battle to qualify for next season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League.
