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UEFA Cup Rewind: Onyewu’s Liege falls while Guzan’s Villa draws

Oguchi Onyewu 1 (AP) 

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Standard Liege's strong run through the UEFA Cup came to a halt on Wednesday as Portuguese side Braga delivered a decisive victory in the first game of their home-and-home series.

Braga posted a 3-0 victory against Oguchi Onyewu's club to head to Belgium with a three-goal cushion going into next week's second leg.

Brad Guzan continued his stretch of UEFA Cup appearances with a start in Aston Villa's 1-1 UEFA Cup draw vs. CSKA Moscow. Villa fell behind on a Vagner Love goal in the 14th minute before a John Carew equalizer in the second half helped the EPL club salvage a point head into the return leg in Russia.

Former Wake Forest star Marcus Tracy didn't make it off the bench, but he was in uniform for Aalborg's convincing 3-0 victory against Deportivo La Coruna.

David Beckham didn't start for AC Milan, but the (for now) LA Galaxy midfielder did come off the bench for a short cameo in Milan's 1-1 tie vs. Werder Bremen.

Here is a rundown of the results from Wednesday's UEFA Cup action:

  • Dynamo Kiev 1, Valencia 1

  • NEC Nijmegen 0, Hamburg SV 3

  • Zenit St. Petersburg 2, VfB Stuttgart 1

  • Paris Saint-Germain 2, VfL Wolfsburg 0

  • Olympiakos 1, St Etienne 3

  • Sampdoria 0, FC Metalist Kharkiv 1

  • Aston Villa 1, CSKA Moscow 1

  • Aalborg 3, Deportivo La Coruna 0

  • Werder Bremen 1, AC Milan 1

  • Braga 3, Standard Liege 0

  • Bordeaux 0, Galatasaray 0

What do you think of these results? Which result surpised you the most? Think Onyewu and Standard Liege can score three at home next week? Do you see Brad Friedel will get the nod over Brad Guzan in their return match? Are you happy to see Marcus Tracy making the bench for Alborg?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Onyewu has grown by leaps and bounds in the years(!!) since he left newcastle. Saying that he is the same is stupid. He has grown much for the USMNT since 2006.
    ONYEWU TO BAYERN MUNICH, THEY COULD USE A GOOD DEFENDER.

  2. Just because Onyewu didn’t do well with Newcastle doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be good with another team in the EPL. And you can’t say he will be bad there because of his size/speed. Last I checked there were several big/slower fullbacks in EPL that do well for themselves. That being said, I am not lobbying for him to go to EPL. Either Marseille or PSG would be good locations, or even a team in the Bundesliga. Look what Mike Bradley has done to improve his game playing for Monchengladbach (sp?).

  3. Ryan, thanks. We always called that “home and away”. I guess that is because it is said from the angle of a person not representing either team, eh? Well, thanks again for answering a question just about everybody knew the answer too but me! 🙂

  4. First off Dempsey was darn near Fulham’s best player yesterday (not saying much but it was Maunre that they were playing)…Secondly…Gooch is a god in Belgium…

    Third…Nonoe of the MLS teams even put out strong sides in the CONCACAF JOKE LEAGUE except Houston who oddly enough is in it still and may win…

  5. Gooch will be well suited to either the French or German leagues. Supposedly he’s already assured of being transfered to either Marseille or PSG. Both are fighting for a Champions League spot. I’m sure he could be starting XI though fighting for a spot.

  6. First off Onyewu is not worth any major club paying huge money for. Plus if he leaves Standard at the end of the season, it better be on a free. When he played at Newcastle, what really did he do on that loan move? Nothing!! He is slow and faster players will always get by him, I know most people don’t like to hear this but it is true.

  7. BlueWhiteLion,

    It just means each team plays at home… That’s all. Team A plays at home the first leg and team B plays at home the second leg.

  8. Ok, let me specify. No, I am not saying he signed with Liege for money. I am saying now that his value is up there are going to be a lot of teams interested in him. I just hope he makes a good choice based on furhtering his soccer career and not based on who will pay him the most.

  9. Onyewu played poorly plus Sporting Braga demolished the Standard defense. Dempsey was going up against a midfield with Paul Scholes and defenders like Evra, Vidic and Rio; players way better than him what do you expect? Pluse Vidic has been tipped as Player of the Year in England. Onyewu didn’t do anything to inspire any major club to buy him. He either comes for free and ride the bench or stay put in Juliper with Standard.

  10. What the heck does “home and home” series mean? Is it essentially “home and away?” Why call it home and home? Or not Away and away? Seriously, I can’t find anybody that really knows what “home and home” means, and I have asked old and young, soccer and other sports people. Enlighten me, please!

    Fulham was not very good yesterday. Dempsey–and I like him–did not look sharp either. He looked like he had good spacing and a couple nice plays. Scholes schooled him on a crafty take away.

  11. I was impressed with Hamburg’s solid victory. Okay, so they were not playing the strongest side but 3-0 away pretty much wraps up the win and this team is not one to be taken lightly as we come down the stretch.

    I was also a little disappointed that Valencia could not do more but playing so far away and getting a draw I guess has to be a positive.

  12. hahaha only one out four MLS teams made it past the group stage in the CONCACAF Champs League. quick everyone pretend to be surprised!

  13. Where do you get the “…solely for money.”???

    Gooch hooked up with Standard Liege when his value was down and there weren’t many suitors willing to take him on at that time where he would have a great chance for playing time.

    Just asking for some clarrification about your statement…

  14. JustinG…

    Where would you like to see Gooch play? I’m also curious as to what you deem a “crap team” abd “lower class league”. What do you fear? Gooch will do what’s best for him.

  15. I can’t wait to see where Gooch ends up transferring come summer. Hopefully he won’t let me down and go to some crap team in a lower class league solely for money.

  16. Gotta think Friedel will get the nod over Guzan next week, they’ll want to be as strong as possible.

    I will be very interested to see if Tracy has a chance to play next since Aalborg played so well yesterday.

  17. Standard’s backline is doing to have to play without mistakes next game and the offense has their work cut out for them….

  18. I’m surprised that Standard Liege looked so poor against Braga. I’ve always been under the impression that the Portuguese league was mediocre outside of the big three – especially in lieu of how strong Liege looked against Liverpool and Everton. I’m curious to how Onyewu played.

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