By FRANCO PANIZO
St Etienne may have only tied AJ Auxerre, but it received good news before the match with the return of Carlos Bocanegra to its starting eleven.
Having not played in a match since Oct. 17 due to a neck injury, Bocanegra started and went the distance in the 1-1 draw with Auxerre. Bocanegra was deployed at his usual left back spot and helped St Etienne's defense limit Auxerre's potent offense to just one goal.
Stuart Holden also had a noteworthy weekend. Holden went the distance in Bolton Wanderers' 5-1 demolition of Newcastle United. The win put Bolton in fifth place in the Premiership standings, meaning they currently hold the Europa League berth, and are just a few points shy of a Champions League spot.
It wasn't all good news this weekend. Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus lost their first game of the season in Denmark's second division, falling 1-0 to Bronshoj, and Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach took a step back towards avoid relegation with a 3-2 loss to Mainz.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard and Everton play Sunderland on Monday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 4-1 loss vs. Manchester City on Sunday.
- Eddie Johnson did not dress for Fulham.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa's 2-0 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-1 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in West Ham United's 3-0 loss vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers' 5-1 win vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County's 3-2 win vs. Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 1-1 draw vs. Leeds United on Saturday. He is recovering from a calf injury.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Carlisle United's 2-1 loss vs. Walsall on Saturday.
- Mike Grella started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL for Carlisle United.
- Anton Peterlin did not dress in Plymouth Argyle's 2-1 loss vs. Brentford on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Milton Keynes Dons' 4-1 loss vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-2 win vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 1-1 draw vs. Dundee United on Saturday.
Spain
- Jozy Altidore dressed but did not play in Villarreal's 1-1 draw vs. Valencia on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 1-0 win vs. Fiorentina on Saturday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96's 3-2 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday. He was suspended due to his ejection in last week's game.
- DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play for Hannover 96.
- Michael Bradley started, played 89 minutes and received a yellow card in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-2 loss vs. Mainz on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 4-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 4-0 loss vs. TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams dressed but did not play in SC Freiburg's 2-1 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 3-3 draw vs. FSV Frankfurt on Sunday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play Energie Cottbus on Monday.
- Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Karlsruhe's 3-1 loss vs.FC Augsburg on Sunday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 4-1 win vs. VfL Bochum on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 1-1 draw vs. AJ Auxerre on Saturday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 2-0 win vs. Lorient on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg started and played 90 minutes in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 4-2 win vs. Lyon-Duchere in the Coupe de France on Saturday.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan came off the bench and played 65 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 1-0 win vs. Germinal Beerschot on Saturday.
Denmark
SUPERLIGA
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 2-1 loss vs. Brondby on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Chris Rolfe did not dress for Aalborg BK. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.
VIASAT DIVISION
- Benny Feilhaber started and played 90 minutes in AGF Aarhus's 1-0 loss vs. Bronshoj on Sunday.
Norway
- Steve Clark dressed but did not play Honefoss BK's 4-1 loss vs. Fredrikstad in the promotion/relegation playoff on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Pachuca's 3-3 draw vs. Monterrey (4-4 on aggregate) in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Liguilla on Sunday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench, played 32 minutes and got an ASSIST for Pachuca.
- Marco Vidal did not dress for Pachuca.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 45 minutes in San Luis' 4-1 loss (4-1 on aggregate) vs. America in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Liguilla on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Do you see St Etienne going up in the Ligue 1 standings now that Bocanegra is back? How far can Holden and Bolton go this season? Are you starting to worry about Bradley and Moenchengladbach's chances of avoiding relegation?
Share your thoughts below.