In the 69th minute of AZ's poor 2-1 loss to lowly RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, Altidore instigated an attack on the left flank and kept running until the ball re-joined him in the penalty area, where he deposited a gentle lob into the net. It was his 24th goal across all competitions this season, besting the record set by Clint Dempsey -- then of Fulham -- for an American abroad just last season. Altidore's new record merits a small post-script. Read on to find out why, and how other Americans Abroad performed over the weekend.
 

The catch to Altidore breaking Dempsey’s record: It's a good deal easier to score goals in the Netherlands than it is in England. But this truism shouldn't cloud the meaning of the Haitian-New Jerseyan's evolution. While his club have suffered through a disaster season and sit in 15th place when they were supposed to contend for the title, Altidore's fortunes have run counter to it as he's broken out.

Under Gertjan Verbeek, who previously oversaw the maturation of Michael Bradley at Heerenveen, Altidore has developed into the target man his body type and skill set had always suggested he should become. His game has acquired savvy and polish and the goals he's now scoring are the residue of that.
 

It was a tough day in the office for the Villa goalkeeper. Guzan saved shot after shot in a heroic effort against defending champs Manchester City, but was finally beaten after a terrible defensive blunder. Ciaran Clark’s mistake led to City’s only goal, which Guzan was helpless to defend against. The American keeper has been one of the rare bright spots for Villa this season.

The American striker lit it up for Santos Laguna over the weekend, scoring twice and assisting the third goal in his club’s win over Jaguares on Friday. Ever since Pedro Caixinha took over as coach for Santos, Gomez has been seeing more consistent playing time than he did at the end of 2012. And it looks like he’s heating up at just the right in time, with the USA World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica in Denver just a few weeks away.

The Hoffenheim duo started and played the full 90 in their side’s 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich. This is big news for Johnson – and the U.S. men’s national team – as he had been sidelined with a knee injury. His return gives him just enough time to prepare for the Denver World Cup qualifier, giving the US backline some much-needed stability.

The American veteran saw his streak of 210 consecutive Premier League match starts end over the weekend, as he was forced out of the lineup with an injury he picked up in Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth round replay win against Oldham. It was unfortunate to see the streak end just two games shy of equaling Neville Southall's Everton record of 212 straight starts – but an still an incredible feat to be applauded. What does this mean for the USMNT? The hope is that Howard’s injury is minor and won’t keep him out of the Denver qualifier, but if Brad Guzan has to step up and fill in, USA fans should be comforted by his Monday performance between the posts for Villa, despite the loss.