DeAndre Yedlin Did Something Good Today! USA! USA! USA!

You see that up there? That’s one of those rarest of sights, an American donning the shirt of a (ostensibly at least) top-tier European club. Yes, DeAndre Yedlin made his first ever start for Sunderland today, and he actually did something good, too!

Okay, okay, so the appearance came in England’s League Cup, a competition only marginally more prestigious than those made-up preseason friendly tournaments we see each summer. And it came against a Manchester City team that fielded a surprisingly strong lineup, which you could’ve predicted meant only bad things for the Black Cats’ defenders; a prediction that proved accurate, as the Citizens routinely tore through Sunderland’s wet paper bag of a defense and waltzed to an effortless 4-1 victory.

Oh, but that one Sunderland goal! What a beaut! True, it came way after the match had already been put to bed, when City’s defenders were more concerned with running down the clock than running down any burgeoning Sunderland attacks, but we’re going to enjoy this moment anyway.

Watch as Young Cock bursts into the oceans of space available to him, wisely looks up towards the box, and with the aplomb of an EPL first-team regular, curls a perfect cross onto Ola Toivonen’s head:

Absolutely nothing good came from the last time an American was seen in Sunderland’s colors. With that in mind, Yedlin’s assist probably doesn’t mean too much in the grand scheme of things (fine: it was a meaningless consolation goal in a nearly meaningless match), but we’re grateful for even the slightest rays of good ol’ American sunshine coming from that place. You can do it, DeAndre!

Photo via Sunderland