By FRANCO PANIZO
Jermaine Jones' struggles for playing time at Schalke 04 have been alleviated somewhat, as Jones made his first appearance for the club in nearly two months on Thursday.
Having last played for Schalke on Aug. 6, Jones came off the bench in the 76th minute of Schalke's Europa League match against Maccabi Haifa to help the club preserve its 2-1 lead. Jones was able to do that, and minutes after he entered, Schalke put the game away with an insurance goal to win 3-1.
On a day that saw no American player's team lose in Europa League action, Steve Cherundolo also made his return to his club's starting lineup. Having been benched for Hannover 96's last two league games, Cherundolo started, went the distance and was given a yellow card in Hannover's 2-1 win over Vorskla.
Here's how the Americans Abroad in Europa League action on Thursday fared:
- Jozy Altidore started, played 82 minutes, scored a GOAL and received a yellow card in AZ Alkmaar's 1-1 draw vs. FC Metalist Kharkiv in Group G.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham's 2-1 win vs. NK Maribor in Group H.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 1-1 draw vs. Udinese in Group I.
- Jermaine Jones came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Schalke 04's 3-1 win vs. Maccabi Haifa in Group J.
- Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and helped set up a goal in Fulham's 2-0 win vs. Odense BK in Group K. You can see Dempsey's involvement in the goal here.
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 2-0 win vs. Lokomotiv Moscow in Group L.
- Brad Friedel did not dress in Tottenham Hotspurs' 3-1 win vs. Shamrock in Group A.
- Steve Cherundolo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96's 2-1 win vs. Vorskla in Group B.
- Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Sporting Lisbon's 2-1 win vs. Lazio in Group D.
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What do you think of these results? Do you see Jones' appearance as the start of him returning to Schalke's rotation? Should Cherundolo be starting more for Hannover?
Share your thoughts below.