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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Bobby Wood FC Union Berlin 19

Bobby Wood may have been denied by the woodwork twice, but he still found a way to help create a goal for his club. Even if it came via a fortuitous deflection.

Wood set up the opener in FC Union Berlin’s 1-1 draw with Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday when a header crashed off his leg before falling into the path of teammate Benjamin Kessel, who pushed his effort from close range in with ease. The 32nd-minute assist may have been a bit lucky, but it was a just reward for Wood’s active first half. The U.S. Men’s National Team striker came close to finding the back of the net on a couple of occasions in the opening half-hour, but was denied of his sixth goal of the season by the crossbar and post.

Fabian Johnson would not be rejected on Saturday, as he scored twice to cap a special week and month. Johnson netted the opener and late-game equalizer in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 3-3 draw vs. Hoffenheim, and the two goals were impressive for different reasons. Johnson now has three goals in the German Bundesliga campaign, but has five goals in all competitions in November for both club and country.

While Johnson had himself a memorable weekend, Alejandro Bedoya did not. Bedoya got his first start for Nantes since Sept. 26 in Saturday’s clash against Bastia, but the outing ended poorly as he was sent off with a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time. The ejection did not haunt Nantes, however, as the match ended in a scoreless draw.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made six saves in Everton’s 3-3 draw vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes, and made four saves in Aston Villa’s 3-2 loss vs. Watford on Saturday.
  • Geoff Cameron came off the bench and played 40 minutes in Stoke City’s 2-0 loss vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
  • DeAndre Yedlin started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 2-0 win vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
  • Lynden Gooch did not dress for Sunderland.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 2-1 loss vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win vs. Reading on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams started, played 90 minutes, and received a yellow card in Reading’s 3-1 loss vs. Nottingham Forest on Saturday. You can see the goal here.
  • Andrija Novakovich did not dress for Reading.
  • Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 1-1 draw vs. Preston North End on Saturday.
  • Emerson Hyndman did not dress for Fulham.
  • Cody Cropper dressed but did not play in Milton Keynes Dons’ 0-0 draw vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

SCOTLAND

  • Gedion Zelalem started and played 90 minutes in Rangers’ 4-0 win vs. St Mirren in the semifinals of the Challenge Cup on Saturday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
  • Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes, and scored TWO GOALS in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 3-3 draw vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.

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  • Timmy Chandler dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2-1 loss vs. Mainz on Saturday.
  • Aron Johannsson did not dress in Werder Bremen’s 3-1 loss vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 4-0 loss vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Terrence Boyd and RB Leipzig play Karlsruhe on Monday.
  • Bobby Wood started, played 90 minutes, and had an ASSIST in FC Union Berlin’s 1-1 draw vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ilvovo0vnc]

  • Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 3-0 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Sunday.
  • Caleb Stanko dressed but did not play in SC Freiburg’s 2-1 win vs. SC Heidenheimer on Friday.
  • Shawn Barry started and played 90 minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 2-1 loss vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minutes before receiving a SECOND YELLOW CARD in stoppage time in FC Nantes’ 0-0 draw vs. Bastia on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Rubio Rubin did not dress in FC Utrecht’s 4-2 win vs. SC Heracles Almelo on Sunday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Desevio Payne dressed but did not play in FC Groningen’s 2-1 win vs. ADO Den Haag on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • Joe Corona did not dress in in Veracruz’s 1-0 loss vs. Pumas UNAM in the second leg of their Liguilla quarterfinals series on Sunday. Veracruz did not advance via a 1-1 aggregate score because it was the lower seed.
  • Jose Torres dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 win vs. Jaguares de Chiapas in the second leg of their Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. Tigres UANL won the series via a 3-1 aggregate score.
  • Edgar Castillo did not dress in Monterrey’s 3-1 loss vs. Toluca on Sunday.
  • Ventura Alvarado dressed but did not play in Club America’s 2-1 loss vs. Club Leon in the second leg of their Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. Club America won the series via a 5-3 aggregate score.
  • Jonathan Bornstein started and played 76 minutes in in Queretaro’s 0-0 draw vs. Puebla on Friday.
  • Gabriel Farfan did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 1-0 loss vs. Tiges UANL in the second leg of their Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. Jaguares de Chiapas lost the series via a 3-1 aggregate score.
  • William Yarbrough started, played 90 minutes, and made seven saves in Club Leon’s 2-1 win vs. Club America in the second leg of their Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. Club Leon lost the series via a 5-3 aggregate score.
  • Miguel Ibarra did not dress for Club Leon.

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What do you think of these performances? Like the confidence Wood has been showing as of late? Could Fabian Johnson draw interest from bigger clubs if he keeps playing like this?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • Since about the same time a totally accidental unexpected deflection off any body part that goes into goal counts as a goal/own goal.

      Reply
      • Those two things are not the same thing. A ball crossing the line is a goal. If it is shot by a player and is on its way to the goal, but then is deflected by a defender, it is still attributed to the player who struck the ball because it was goal-bound. But hey, if that’s all that they can muster and you celebrate it, then it’s clear that we expect very little from Americans abroad.

  1. Not bad. Sadly, most Americans in Liga MX did not play, but Americans in Europe did really well. Fabian looks like the best USMNT player we have this generation.

    Reply
  2. SBI peeps. He is not a player, but I would really love to see a weekly update here or elsewhere on how Bob Bradley is coming along at Le Havre.

    Reply
    • Bob has Le Havre playing a high pressing style which has the club’s supporters optimistic for the second half of the season. The 3-1 score against Nancy is deceiving. Le Havre had a couple very good scoring chances which should have been put away, and Nancy’s third goal came in second half stoppage time. Nancy have been the best side in Ligue 2 this season, and their fans are saying that Le Havre were their toughest opponent yet. Most Le Havre fans seem to speak very highly of Bradley and are cautiously optimistic that they can finish in the top 3.

      Reply
  3. Not a bad weekend for those playing in Europe. Happy to see Yedlin & Brooks back in the starting line-ups. Question….How long until Berry gets an audition for the USMNT?

    Reply

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