When Besiktas striker Cyle Larin bagged a temporary equalizer during the first half of a 4-1 loss to UEFA Champions League Group C visitors Sporting CP on Tuesday, the former Orlando City SC man joined a very select club of MLS products that have scored in the glamorous tournament.
With that corner-kick header, Larin became the seventh player that got his pro start with an MLS club or academy to tally in the Champions League proper.
Player |
Goal total |
|---|---|
DaMarcus Beasley |
4 |
Weston McKennie |
2 |
Tyler Adams |
1 |
Maurice Edu |
1 |
Sacha Kljestan |
1 |
Cyle Larin |
1 |
Andy Najar |
1 |
If we include the UCL qualifying round, the number of scorers with an MLS origin story bumps up to nine.
Player |
Goal total |
|---|---|
DaMarcus Beasley |
6 |
Sacha Kljestan |
3 |
Brenden Aaronson |
2 |
Cyle Larin |
2 |
Weston McKennie |
2 |
Tyler Adams |
1 |
Maurice Edu |
1 |
Andy Najar |
1 |
Henry Wingo |
1 |
Just three years and three weeks ago, that number was four. And with the likes of Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) and Timothy Weah (OSC Lille) still chasing their first Champions League goal, one would like to think we'll soon be in double figures.
Now that we've got the counting out of the way, let's turn to some quick fun facts about the goals, the scorers and the victims.
Fast facts
- The only MLS product to score three goals in one tournament proper and the only one to net four in a single full edition (encompassing qualifiers) is DaMarcus Beasley. Both marks were set in 2004-05.
- The former USMNT speedster does have a little company in some other distinctions. Beasley (PSV Eindhoven and Rangers) and Weston McKennie (Schalke and Juventus) are the only guys to have scored in the Champions League for two different clubs, and they're the only ones to score in two different group phases. He and Adams are the only two players who have rung the bell in the knockout rounds beyond the group stage. Finally, Aaronson recently joined Da Bease in having hit two match-winners.
- The Red Bull Salzburg youngster, however, is the only player who started his pro development on MLS books (Philadelphia Union) to grab winners in both legs of a Champions League tie.
- While we're on the topic of winners, these MLS-raised scorers were certainly not shy about playing the hero, and especially late. Out of the 16 goals on this particular ledger, six decided the match and three of those came in the waning moments. That doesn't even include a 71st-minute goal by Andy Najar (D.C. United) that gave Anderlecht a lead they'd blow late.
- Though two of his Champions League tallies came in qualifying, Kljestan stands alone among the group for scoring in three different editions of the tournament.
- Belgium's Anderlecht (Kljestan and Najar) and Scotland's Rangers (Beasley and Edu) are the only clubs that have had two different MLS products score a Champions League goal for them.
- Our subjects have definitely not just saved their goals for the weaker Champions League entrants. Among the dozen victims during Champions League proper play: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Lyon, Monaco, Sevilla, Sporting CP and Valencia.
