U.S. strikers Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi scored not only important goals for their respective clubs in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but goals of high quality that secured points in Europe’s top-tier competition.
Balogun got it started in the 43rd minute with a sizzling effort from an acute angle for the only goal in Monaco’s 1-0 victory at Bodø/Glimt, the Norwegian club based just north of the Arctic Circle.
FOLARIN BALOGUN GETS HIS FIRST #UCL GOAL FROM THE TIGHTEST OF ANGLES 📐🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/RJqmYdmopU
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 4, 2025
Since returning from national team duty in mid-October, Balogun has scored three times in six matches to increase his total across all competitions to four in 13 appearances.
An hour later, Pepi, a second-half sub, volleyed from 15 yards off goalkeeper Kostantinos Tzolakis in stoppage time as PSV Eindhoven squeezed out a 1-1 draw at Olympiacos. He has scored in each of his past two Champions League matches and struck in the Dutch Eredivisie over the weekend for three goals in his past four appearances — none as a starter — and five goals in 11 games overall.
RICARDO PEPI TO THE RESCUE! 🇺🇸
His late stoppage-time goal salvages a point for PSV on the road 💪 pic.twitter.com/p3gPrGT5xm
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 4, 2025
Monaco and PSV have earned five points apiece from four Champions League matches.
Atop Mauricio Pochettino’s depth chart, Balogun is sure to receive an invitation Thursday to the last U.S. training camp of the year. The Americans will gather Monday in greater Philadelphia before facing Paraguay on Nov. 15 in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Uruguay on Nov. 18 in Tampa.
Pepi’s outlook is not so clear. Hampered by injuries since last winter, the former FC Dallas homegrown has not received a U.S. call-up since the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals a year ago.
Hurting his case now is the lack of playing time: 292 minutes over eight Eredivisie appearances (three starts) and 112 minutes in three Champions League matches (one start). His production shouldn’t be overlooked, however, as Pochettino seeks to bolster frontline depth.
Aside from Balogun, the other strikers in October camp were Coventry City’s Haji Wright and Derby County’s Patrick Agyemang. In the English Championship on Tuesday, Wright (eight goals, one assist in 13 appearances) went the distance and assisted on a late goal in a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United as Coventry remains atop the table.
Agyemang (one goal, three assists in 10 matches) logged 68 minutes in a 2-1 victory over Hull City.
Among other U.S. players in the Champions League on Tuesday, Pepi’s PSV teammate, right back Sergiño Dest, played all 90 minutes; midfielder Weston McKennie did the same in Juventus’ 1-1 draw with Sporting Lisbon; and midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who just returned from an ankle injury, did not play in Atlético Madrid’s 3-1 win over Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise.
