American forward Josh Sargent came on at halftime and scored the final goal as Werder Bremen defeated FC Koln 6-1 on Saturday to finish 16th in the Bundesliga and avoid outright relegation by a single point.
Sargent's goal was the highlight of a busy final day of league action for MLS, US national team and Canada national team exports. And Bremen's result sets up a two-leg playoff against 2. Bundesliga third-top finisher Heidenheim, with the winner heading to the first division next season and the loser to the second flight.
The Goal was Sargent's first since play resumed following a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He finishes the season with four in the league over 28 appearances (16) starts.
Bremen earned 13 points in their last nine matches to avoid the outright drop.
VfL Wolfsburg 0, Bayern Munich 4
Former Vancouver Whitecaps winger Alphonso Davies helped keep one last clean sheet as the German giants Bayern Munich completed their championship-winning season with an easy away win.
Davies has done a lot of celebrating this season, both individually as the Bundesliga's rookie of the year, and with a team that still has some unfinished business. They'll play Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday in the DFP-Pokal final in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, then turn to the final stages of the UEFA Champions League in August.
Any chance of young USMNT striker Ulysses Llanez making his first-team debut for Wolfsburg went out the door in the 71st minute when Joshua Giulavogui was sent off for a second bookable offense. American center back and Wolfsburg starter John Brooks came off shortly thereafter.
FC Augsburg 1, RB Leipzig 2
New York Red Bulls product Tyler Adams put in an 87-minute shift in his customary holding midfield role to close his first full Bundesliga campaign.
Injuries limited Adams to 14 league appearances (10 starts) in 2019-20, but his break also won't be long, with Leipzig already into the Champions League quarterfinals. Those quarters begin a single-elimination knockout tournament that will be staged in Lisbon. Leipzig also secured Champions League qualification again with their third-place finish, which was guaranteed before the match began.
Chelsea-bound Timo Werner scored his 27th and 28th league goals.
Borussia Dortmund 0, TSV Hoffenheim 4
Former New York City FC academy man Giovanni Reyna's second Bundesliga start didn't go nearly as well as his first, in which he contributed an assist in 2-0 victory over Leipzig.
This time, Reyna lasted 65 minutes. By then, the Bundesliga second-place side had conceded four times to Andrej Kramaric.
Union Berlin 3, Fortuna Dusselforf 0
American midfielder Alfredo Morales entered in the 62nd minute in a move to try to change the match but his Fortuna Dusseldorf team succumbed to relegation following a 3-0 defeat at Union Berlin that saved Bremen in the process.
USMNT and former Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper Zack Steffen remained out injured as his loan to Dusseldorf expired. He hasn't appeared in a league match since last December.
Sport-Club Freiburg 4, Schalke 04 0
US midfielder Weston McKennie went the full 90 minutes as Schalke sank to a 4-0 away defeat to end a miserable second half of the season. Schalke finished 12th in the table, winning only once and earning only nine points following the winter break. The loss was their third straight.
