USMNT Watch: Garza Leaves with an Injury, Guzan's Relegation Fight Continues
A week after the United States men's national team was hit by an injury at the forward position, one of the top full-backs in the talent pool left his club's match with one as well.
Greg Garza, who is one of many fighting for the two starting positions on the defensive flanks, left Club Tijuana's match on Saturday after suffering a knock in the first half.
Outside of the injury front, a few USMNT players were involved in key matches in relegation battles across Europe this weekend.
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Before we get to that, we start our weekly USMNT watch in Mexico with the Garza news.
Garza Leaves Match with an Injury
Garza suffered his injury right before the half in Club Tijuana's 3-2 win over Pachuca on Saturday.
The left-back appeared to suffer a knock to his lower right leg, but the extent of the injury is unknown as of now, per a report on MLSSoccer.com from Tom Marshall.
Over the last six months, Garza has been a consistent figure in the USMNT camp, and he has emerged as one of the top players to fill the void at left-back.
If he is out for a decent amount of time, the door could be for Fabian Johnson or Tim Ream to cement their status with the first team.
Joe Corona was the player who replaced Garza in the 41st minute of Xolos' come-from-behind win in Liga MX. He was not involved in any of the three goals.
Elsewhere in Mexico, Edgar Castillo went the full 90 minutes for Atlas in a 3-0 defeat to Veracruz. Michael Orozco also lasted the entire match for Puebla in a 4-1 win over Queretaro.
Neither Herculez Gomez or Jonathan Bornstein featured in the match at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc.
Guzan and Aston Villa Drop Points Again
Brad Guzan was handed yet another blow in the English Premier League relegation battle on Saturday, as Aston Villa lost to Newcastle 1-0.
The top goalkeeper on the USMNT depth chart made four saves in the club's 15th loss of the season.
Entering March, the Villans are locked in a fight to stay alive with Burnley, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City and Sunderland.
Tim Howard earned the start in between the pipes in Everton's 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday. The Toffees are stuck in 14th place in the English top flight.
Geoff Cameron did not feature in Stoke City's 1-0 victory over Hull City. The Potters sit in 10th place in the Premier League table with two months left in the season.
Championship Defenders Continue Consistent Run
The Championship contingent in the USMNT talent pool put in another solid weekend of work across England.
Tim Ream, Danny Williams, Eric Lichaj and Jonathan Spector all played 90 minutes for their respective sides in league action on Saturday.
Lichaj's Nottingham Forest went on the road and defeated Williams' Reading 3-0 to keep hold of ninth place in the table.
Ream and Bolton Wanderers earned a 1-0 win at home over Brighton and Hove Albion, which pushed them back into the middle of the table in 17th.
Spector's Birmingham City pulled out a key 1-0 victory as well against seventh-place Brentford at the St. Andrew's Stadium.
Oguchi Onyewu did not play in Charlton Athletic's 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
Upward Movement in the Table for German Duo
A pair of USMNT defenders made moves up the Bundesliga table with their respective sides thanks to wins on Saturday.
Timothy Chandler played all 90 minutes of Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 win over Hamburg at the Commerzbank-Arena. The three points moved the club within four points of the European places.
At the other end of the table, John Brooks and Hertha Berlin secured a key 1-0 win over Augsburg to move out of the relegation zone. The center back featured in the entire match for the 14th-place side in the Bundesliga.
Fabian Johnson delivered a standout performance on Sunday in Borussia Monchengladbach's 2-0 win over Paderborn. Starting on the left flank, Johnson earned a goal and played a key role in the second strike.
News and Notes
USMNT U-17 prospect Christian Pulisic turned heads Friday night with a fantastic move in the Yanks' 5-0 win over Cuba.
Aron Johannsson returned from injury to play the final 11 minutes of AZ Alkmaar's 2-0 win over Willem II.
Rubio Rubin was left on the bench once again for Utrecht's home match with Feyenoord on Sunday.
Conor O'Brien scored on a penalty kick in Wiener Neustadt's 1-0 victory over Austria Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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