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Americans Abroad: Tuesday Rewind

By FRANCO PANIZO

Thanks in part to Sacha Kljestan, Anderlecht’s UEFA Champions League hopes are still alive.

Kljestan helped lift the Belgian club to a 1-0 victory over Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday, delivering a first-half assist on a neat give-and-go sequence with teammate Dieumerci Mbokani. The win saw Kljestan and Anderlecht move to four points in Group C, just one behind second-place AC Milan.

Jermaine Jones was also involved in Champions League action, and he helped Schalke bounce back from a two-goal deficit to earn an important result. Jones went the distance as Schalke rallied to tie Arsenal, 2-2, at home, a result that keeps the German club atop Group B with two games remaining.

Here is how the Americans Abroad who were involved in games on Tuesday fared:

UEFA Champions League

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and had the game-winning ASSIST in RSC Anderlecht’s 1-0 win vs. Zenit St Petersburg.
  • Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04’s 2-2 draw vs. Arsenal.
  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Malaga’s 1-0 win vs. AC Milan.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector came off the bench and played 48 minutes in Birmingham City’s 2-0 win vs. Bristol City.
  • Will Packwood dressed but did not play for Birmingham City.
  • Tim Ream dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers’ 0-0 draw vs. Leicester City.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Conor Doyle did not dress in Derby County’s 2-0 win vs. Barnsley. He is recovering from an appendix injury.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Leicester City’s 0-0 draw vs. Bolton Wanderers. He was serving a one-game suspension due to the ejection he received in the last game.

League One

  • Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United’s 1-1 draw vs. Preston North End.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Scunthorpe United’s 4-1 win vs. Walsall.
  • Robbie Rogers dressed but did not play in Stevenage’s 3-1 win vs. Yeovil Town.

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What do you think of Kljestan’s assist? Expecting Jones and Schalke to reach the knockout round of the Champions League? Disappointed by the lack of activity from the other players whose teams had games on Tuesday?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I was hoping Gooch would get a few vs AC. Do you guys think his lack of minutes this season just means time, age and injuries have caught up with him? It this the best we can hope for…hoping for minutes, not starts?

    Reply
    • He is the third option at CB. Teams don’t often make subs involving CBs during a match barring injury or somebody having a horrible match. That said, with Malaga involved in Champions League, La Liga, and Copa del Rey, he should have a few opportunities to get starts and minutes. Additionally, if a CB picks up a suspension or a knock, he moves into the starting line up.

      Reply
  2. Credit to Anderlecht overall, actually. Zenit has been a stump team for anybody that has gone against them in the Champions League. Very impressive win.

    Reply
  3. Nice assist from Sacha. Even as a huge fan of his, he hasn’t performed that great against real competition for the U.S.. He’ll probably have his chance against Russia.

    I kind of wonder if he should think of making a move to a different league. Maybe a lower table club in Italy, or Germany.

    Reply
      • Holden injury situation is annoying

        The dude is always tweeting about the stupidest Stuff but never releases any info on his injury in real time. The only thing I saw of him was an 8 second training clip.

        Holden is a nerd

      • It’s better than the flip-side of the injured-on-twitter coin, which was Charlie Davies, who was constantly tweeting ridiculously optimistic “updates” about his recovery.

      • I’d rather err on caution after what happened last time. **He came on too soon after injury and reinjured himself**

  4. Man Robbie Rogers can’t even get on the field for Stevenage. Right there is the reason why athletic ability is not the main contributing factor in becoming a good footballer. Robbie Rogers is fast physically, but has one of the slowest soccer brains I have ever witnessed.

    Reply
    • Which makes me wonder why he’s in England… I dunno. I don’t see that league as the place to develop a good soccer brain. Not at that stage in your career. I would go to somewhere like Holland, which is actually where he was for a while before he moved to the MLS.

      Reply
  5. Not a biggest fan but, Jermaine Jones was fantastic. A player like him is most useful playing against a skillful side like Arsenal.

    Reply

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