Weston McKennie scores second goal this week for Juventus

U.S. men’s national team midfielder Weston McKennie capped a week of impressive form with another header goal Saturday afternoon.

McKennie, making the 50th Serie A appearance of his career, finished off a cross from Mattia De Sciglio with a header toward the lower right corner of the goal. Juventus cruised to a 2-0 victory over Udinese thanks to McKennie’s goal and a first-half goal from Paulo Dybala.

McKennie is just the second USMNT player to reach 50 appearances in the Italian top flight. Michael Bradley, the other USMNT man to reach that mark, played 76 games during stints with Chievo Verona and AS Roma. Alexi Lalas is third on that list with 44 appearances with Padova. Gianluca Busio is next with 19 appearances for Venezia.

McKennie made 34 appearances with Juventus last season, in which he played on loan from Schalke. Schalke sold McKennie to Juventus permanently in July 2021 for a reported $27.5 million. McKennie has made 16 appearances with three league goals in 2021/22.

The header McKennie scored Saturday was very similar to the one he scored earlier this week against Inter for the opening goal of the Italian Supercoppa final against Inter on Wednesday. Inter later equalized and won the cup in a penalty shootout, but McKennie starred for Juve with eight of nine duels won, three of four aerial challenges won and three clearances.

The excellent form McKennie has shown as of late correlates with a return to form for Juventus. The Italian giant started the season with some disappointing results, including a 1-0 loss to Empoli. However, the Bianconeri are now on an eight-match unbeaten streak in league games.

Juventus moves on to face Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia quarterfinal at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday.