By FRANCO PANIZO
Blackburn gained some much-needed breathing room in its battle against relegation with its first win since January, and Jermaine Jones helped the club do so.
Jones started and went the distance as Blackburn defeated Bolton, 1-0, in a match that ended the Rovers' 10-game winless streak. Jones helped contain the likes of Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander, and now Blackburn is three points clear of the drop with three games left to play.
Freddy Adu didn't start for Caykur Rizespor in its match against Adanaspor, but he did score the lone Americans Abroad goal this weekend. Four minutes after entering the game, Adu found the back of the net with a right-footed finish in Rizespor's 2-1 loss.
Another young American in action was left back Sean Cunningham, who made his professional debut for Molde FK in the NM Cupen in Norway. Cunningham started and played 72 minutes in Molde's 11-0 mauling of Eldsvag.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 7 saves in Everton's 1-1 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey did not dress in Fulham's 3-0 win vs. Sunderland on Saturday. He was resting a slight injury.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made 2 saves in Aston Villa's 2-1 loss vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan did not dress for Aston Villa.
- Michael Bradley dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. Birmingham on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham United's 2-1 loss vs. Manchester City on Sunday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Blackburn Rovers' 1-0 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Derby County's 2-0 loss vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Portsmouth on Monday.
- Eric Lichaj started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Leeds United's 1-0 win vs. Burnley on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress for Leeds United.
- Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest's 5-1 win vs. Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson did not dress in Preston North End's 2-1 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 3-0 loss vs. Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
- Anton Peterlin dressed but did not play in Plymouth Argyle's 1-0 loss vs. Exeter City. Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Southampton on Monday.
Scotland
PREMIER LEAGUE
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 5-0 win vs. Motherwell on Saturday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 4-1 win vs. Dundee United on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 1-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
- Ricardo Clark started and played 21 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-0 loss vs. Mainz on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams came off the bench and played 60 minutes in SC Freiburg's 2-0 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler did not dress in FC Nurnberg's 2-0 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. He is recovering from a foot injury.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- David Yelldell started, played 90 minutes and made 4 saves in MSV Duisburg's 4-0 win vs. FSV Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card for a penalty kick foul and made 2 saves in Karlsruhe's 2-2 draw vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday.
- Edson Buddle came off the bench and played 45 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04's 0-0 draw vs. FC Erzgebirge Aue on Saturday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress for FC Ingolstadt 04. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-1 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Friday.
- Alfredo Morales did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 2-1 loss vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Friday.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 1-1 draw vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Le Mans on Monday.
Netherlands
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Twente Enschede's 4-0 win vs. Willem II Tilburg on Sunday.
Turkey
SUPER LIG
- Jozy Altidore came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Bursaspor's 1-0 loss vs. Kayserispor on Sunday.
BANK ASYA 1. LIG
- Freddy Adu came off the bench, played 34 minutes and scored a GOAL in Caykur Rizespor's 2-1 loss vs. Adanaspor on Saturday. You can see the goal here.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 0-0 draw vs. Club Brugge on Sunday.
Denmark
- Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 loss vs. Lyngby on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 2-0 win vs. FC Midtjylland on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Chris Rolfe started and played 69 minutes for Aalborg BK.
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in Brondby IF's 0-0 draw vs. Horsens on Sunday.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play AIK on Monday.
- Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Gefle on Monday.
- Gale Agbossoumonde came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Djurgardens IF's 3-2 loss vs. Trelleborg FF on Sunday.
Norway
- Mixx Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF's 1-0 win vs. Holmlia in the NM Cupen on Sunday.
- Josh Gatt started and played 90 minutes in Molde FK's 11-0 win vs. Eldsvag in the NM Cupen on Sunday.
- Sean Cunningham started and played 72 minutes for Molde FK.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 55 minutes in Pachuca's 1-1 draw vs. Necaxa on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez started and played 90 minutes.
- Edgar Castillo did not dress in Puebla's 2-0 loss vs. Morelia on Sunday.
- Sammy Ochoa did not dress in Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G.'s 3-1 loss vs. Santos Laguna on Friday.
- Sonny Guadarrama did not dress in Atlante's 2-1 win vs. Toluca on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL's 3-0 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Gustavo Adrian Ruelas did not dress in Santos Laguna's 3-1 win vs. Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. on Friday.
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What do you think of these performances? Do you think Jones and Blackburn will avoid the drop? Impressed by Adu's goal? Think Cunningham and Molde should have applied the mercy rule?
Share your thoughts below.