PSV Eindhoven coach Peter Bosz said the play of United States attacker Malik Tillman was “almost scary” as his side held on to a 1-1 draw with Arsenal to close out Champions League Group B play on Tuesday.
Tillman, who plays for PSV on loan from Bayern Munich, one of the Eredivisie team’s most productive players on the field, and his USMNT teammate Ricardo Pepi also had a great performance helping in the Yorbe Vertessen equalized at the beginning of the second half. .
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“It’s almost scary to see how smart he was,” Bosz said after the game. “I enjoyed sitting on the bench. I thought I was betting well and it’s great to see. “
“We could have lost it at the end, but I also think we could have won today. I have a proud feeling about how we played today.”
Arsenal and PSV had already qualified for the round of 16 in first and place respectively, with Gunners manager Mikel Arteta opting to leave key players Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka on the bench.
The USMNT duo have excelled in the national team’s last two matches (a pair of wins over Trinidad and Tobago that secured the team’s spot in next summer’s Copa America), with Pepi filling in for Tillman in the first leg at home, and away games to score the goal. first match in a 3-0 win.
The pair swapped roles in the second leg, with Tillman replacing Pepi in a 2-1 loss that saw PSV and fellow American Sergiño Dest sent off for misconduct in a first-half incident. Still, the United States took a step forward 4-2 overall after T
Dest came on in the 74th minute of the 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.