By FRANCO PANIZO
Trailing against 10-man Bolton, Blackburn scored a late equalizer that looked to have sealed a result for the Rovers.
No one told Stuart Holden that.
Just seconds after Blackburn had pulled level at 1-1 through a Mame Biram Diouf finish, Holden got on the end of a headed pass, controlling the ball with his chest before smacking home a game-winning left-footed volley in the 88th minute. Holden's heroics came right after kickoff and in his first game back after missing the past couple weeks with a thigh injury. The goal was Holden's second this season (both game-winners).
Eric Lichaj also had a memorable game, as he received his first start in the Premier League in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion. Lichaj went 90 minutes in the win with a performance that could warrant him some more playing time.
Not all was good news this weekend. Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca were defeated, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World by African champs TP Mazembe. Torres started and played 72 minutes, Gomez came off the bench and played 17 and Vidal dressed but did not play. Pachua will play in the fifth-place match against host club Al-Wahda on Wednesday.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made two saves in Everton's 0-0 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 0-0 draw vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson came off the bench and played 18 minutes for Fulham.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa's 2-1 win vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes for Aston Villa.
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 win vs. Birmingham on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham United's 3-1 loss vs. Manchester CIty on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Bolton Wanderers' 2-1 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Derby County's 2-0 loss vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 2-0 loss vs. Portsmouth 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 2-0 loss vs. Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
- Mike Grella came off the bench and played 21 minutes for Carlisle United.
- Anton Peterlin did not dress in Plymouth Argyle's 2-0 win vs. Exeter City on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-0 loss vs. Notts County on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 1-1 draw vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Dominic Cervi and Celtic's match vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday was postponed due to the weather.
Spain
- Jozy Altidore dressed but did not play in Villarreal's 1-0 loss vs. Getafe on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 3-0 win vs. Bologna on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 23 minutes in Hannover 96's 2-1 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Friday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
- Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-0 loss vs. SC Freiburg on Sunday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 1-0 win vs. Mainz on Sunday.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams did not dress in SC Freiburg's 3-0 win vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-1 draw vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Sunday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made one save in MSV Duisburg's 0-0 draw vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday.
- Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Karlsruhe's 1-0 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Friday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-1 draw vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 2-0 win vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 1-0 loss vs. AS Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard did not play this weekend.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 57 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 0-0 draw vs. KSC Lokeren on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 72 minutes in Pachuca's 1-0 loss vs. TP Mazembe in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 17 minutes for Pachuca.
- Marco Vidal dressed but did not play for Pachuca.
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What do you think of these performances? How impressed are you by Holden's goal? Think a transfer is inevitable if he continues to play like this? What did you think of Lichaj's first EPL start? Do you see Gomez and Torres returning to Pachuca next season?
Share your thoughts below.
Fine goal by Stu. The hair looked to be in good form as well!
Sorry, I beg to differ…EDU/Holden would have been a better pairing. EDU is way better distributor than MB but not as good as Jones. MB is an X factor for me, he is not the best passer or best defender but he hustles like nobody else, his hustling makes up for all of his shortcomings.
So the other years didn’t count? I think he has improved in his “holding” game, and work ethic, what I’m still waiting is for his game recognition to improve and his FINISHES and for those that say he get beat up allot, what do you think he does to them? he is not a finesse player he is a bruiser. Think of Shaq, he gives as much or more than he gets.
It was also raining during the game. Don’t know if it was when he got injured. Could have been more of a precautionary measure.
both of which mean the same thing…
But Bradley can. Nobody can tell me that Bradley/Holden is not the best pairing now or last June. Ideally we would have would have had a better idea if this is true in June before Clark got so many run outs.
Especially with a fact that Holden pre injury as close to the top of “tackles” stats.
Are you arguing this?
“J jones cannot play out wide internationally ”
Jones is not a winger, true, but what makes you say he can’t play on the left or the right side?
CDM was our most unsettled position, a position that Holden does not play.
Let’s just say this is the year Altidore is paying his dues and becoming a true euro professional. Just like a young QB sitting out for a year.
Let’s judge him next year and year after, after’s he’s gone through this year.
As mentioned.. that’s exactly it. Went over to Sunderland on an extended trial while in college. Supposedly was doing well but somehow got smashed beside the head and had eye trouble for a while. Came back and went the MLS route.
He’s a good model however, for those coming out of college and following the mls path.
Well. .It is a question worth asking. Coyle had been playing Holden in the middle since February and doing well.
It is valid that Holden wasn’t all the way back yet by June.
It is also valid considering Holden did get some minutes in SA why Sweats never put Holden in the middle in the tune ups. Especially since Center Mid was our most unsettled position.
Just saying.
already posted, but this Demspey goal was similar in skill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9sZVyrgFr0
Great weekend for Yanks. I saw the Villa game: actually, as much as I love Lichaj, I thought he struggled. I mean, it wasn’t a terrible or even a bad performance, but he had to be bailed out by his teammates a few times and was partially responsible for the one goal Villa gave up. So not a stellar debut, but one that we at least earn him more time.
***BIG QUESTION: what was the Stu Holden “falling the ground/ frozen robot” celebration? I could be mad its not the Stanky Leg (haha) but i love just about any celebration especially by an american. Club level goal of the year indeed! (Dempsey’s wonderchip was in a tourney)
what position did lichaj play? i know they’ve used him in the midfield before
anyone have a link for the goal?
I agree, the bashing is old hat but…along the same lines I’m getting tired of hearing Altidore’s name along with “he’s only 21” and “youngest” . I wished he just improved enough for us to comment something different about him.
Bad news for Guzan in that Villa is reportedly close to bringing in a new keeper to replace Freidel: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1338158/Aston-Villa-set-land-Borussia-Dortmund-goalkeeper-Roman-Weidenfeller-free.html
+1.
What position did Spector play? and how did he do?
It’s hard to believe that Kevin Davies only has one cap for England. Best Target forward in England. Nice of Stu to finish. Great run too.
Deuce had a pretty sweet goal against West Ham this season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9sZVyrgFr0
Do you guys even research a player? Westberg did play this weekend. He started and got a clean sheet in Evian’s win over amateur club Semmoz Vieugy in the Coupe de France. A simple visit to the club’s website would have sufficed.
I actually think Eddie is going to get a start for Fulham soon… they were far more threatening with him on in the last 20 mins… Kamara looked lazy in the first half and that probably did not go over well with MH..
I am encouraged about Eddie Johnson getting minutes at Fulham. He seems to be impressing the coach to be getting subbed into a significant amount of games.
Maybe he will get a look for the Gold cup if he keeps getting into matches.
Deuce’s wonder chip against Juventus beats out this strike, but it’s the best USMNT club goal I’ve seen since the World Cup.
I don’t speak French, but Google does. Here is their translation of the reserve game recap. Sounds like Davies scored off a rebound.
Private championship, the reserve Sochaux played this Saturday, December 11 friendly matches on the lawn of his counterpart in Neuchatel Xamax. The team was led by Eric Hély to score after a goal from the penalty spot space just before half- time. Elle est parvenue à égaliser à un quart d’heure de la fin, suite à un corner repoussé par la défense suisse que Charlie Davies a repris victorieusement. It reached even a quarter of an hour remaining, following a corner saved by the Swiss defense that Charlie Davies returned victoriously.
No, but maybe “American Goal of the Club Season.”
Not a penalty kick. Came from a corner kick
You must have missed both his actual play, (which has been stellar) and all the reports in the media (which ALL portray his demotion as a clash with the coach). Jones is a one of the best DM in the bundesliga, no question about it. Period.
Unfortunately he may also be the biggest dickhead in Deutschland.
Dito. Its hard to break through, and he is earning his place little by little.
He consistently makes the bench on the best team in Spain not named Real Madrid and Barcelona. Oh yeah, and he’s only 21 and is sitting behind 3 amazing strikers.
Enough with the Altidore hate. It’s over done and he deserves more credit for what he is doing in Spain as a youngster.
First, great goal by Holden — who’s really played well this season. Of course, Holden will have to score 2 more to catch up to Michael Bradley’s 4 for Gladbach (3 in Bundesliga, 1 in German Cup). Had to be said.
Mind you, I love Holden, but I just don’t see why Junior gets left out in the cold when he’s having a pretty darn good year himself.
Right now Junior is only the d-mid playing right now. Edu is hurt again (shocking I know). And Jones’ benching is part political and ALSO part his play. He’s been picking up cards like he’s playing solitaire this year and Magath needs to him settle down. Everyone loves Jones’ bite in the tackle, but he already has 1 red (2 yellows in a match) and was also suspended a match for yellow accumulation (5 in Bundesliga). Jones’ “fire” has been hurting his team. It’s a fine line in soccer, but you’ve got to control yourself out there.