Sacha Kljestan's run of form is turning out to be anything but temporary.
Kljestan continued his strong season for Anderlecht, scoring a goal in the club's 5-3 triumph over Lokomotiv Moscow in their UEFA Europa League battle. His curling effort to the far corner dug Anderlecht out of an early 1-0 deficit and helped the Belgian side win its group, which should make for a more favorable result during Friday's knockout round draw.
Kljestan wasn't the only American to find the back of the net in the Europa League Wednesday, either. Clint Dempsey scored in Fulham's 2-2 draw with Odense BK, taking a layoff pass from Bobby Zamora and blasting a right-footed shot from the top of the box that give Fulham a 1-0 lead at the time.
Fulham ended up blowing a two-goal advantage, though, conceding an equalizer in the waning seconds of stoppage time and settling for a 2-2 draw. As a result, Fulham will miss out on the knockout stage, because Wisla Krakow overtook the Cottagers for second place in their group with a victory over FC Twente.
Highlights of both goals are after the jump:
KLJESTAN vs. LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW
DEMPSEY vs. ODENSE BK
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj3qoISf9Vk]
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What do you think about both goals? Think Kljestan deserves a regular place on the national team considering how he's been playing? Disappointed Fulham won't be going any further?
Share your thoughts below.
The entire sequence from the cross getting in to Zamora to the ball being in the back of the net lasted no more than 2-3 seconds, if that. The time he might have had to make a choice would be even less than that. It’s not enough time to make a conscious decision to go near post instead of far post.
The keeper was drifting to his left because there was a defender between Dempsey and the goal ( and theoretically covering him) and what seems most likely is the keeper could not see the ball. That was the direction Dempsey was heading anyway. The keeper was probably about to come out (it did not look like he got far) and heading to his left anyway since he had already made the de facto decision to leave the near post defense to his defender. That way had Dempsey held on to the ball, he would then have been faced with either trying to round the keeper, trying to lob him or trying to blast it past him from a very acute angle.
The shot wound up going in the near post because when Dempsey finally squared up and shot that was exactly where his form was pointing him. Clint is a fine player but I’ve seen many better players be put in exactly that same situation and send the ball wide or over. It’s not an exact science and it would not have been surprising if that had happened in this instance.
We could argue this forever and the only way to settle it is to have someone interview Clint.
So sad for Fulham. I watched this game and the team they played looked pretty weak. FFC came out strong and the first half was great. Clint played well. He and Bobby Z linked up well and I liked Dembele playing behind in a more central role. Dispicible they blew this 2 goal lead at home, especially sad in the fashion they did. As for Clint being subbed- not sure other than the game seemed in hand at that point and they brought on fresh legs.
Grrr, didn’t mean to post that in reply to KEV…
Mixx and him play different positions.
he is not an attacking mid. he plays as one of two holding mids in Belgium. he works well in a 4-2-3-1 with the other holding mid taking on more defensive responsibilities.
he is not an attacking mid. he plays as one of two holding mids in Belgium. he works well in a 4-2-3-1 with the other holding mid taking on more defensive responsibilities.
given he plays as one of his clubs two defensive mids, i don’t see why can’t play there for the nats.he’ll get forward more comfortably than Edu, Beckerman, Jones or Bradley, but he can still track back to help out. i’d like t see him paired with Bradley or Jones.
BS. Fiscal hardly played any games. people just complained because he got called up over Omar and John. The kid hardly played, and when he did, no one scored.
yes they do. sasha plays in a 4-2-3-1. he is one of the “2s” in the formation. i agree he isn’t the same as edu, but they basically do play the same position.
a lot of people think he is a #10 though. he is not and would not do well. he is either the holding mid in a 4-4-2 or one of the holding mids in a 4-2-3-1. at least, that is where he has been playing in Belgium and been on fire.
Shhhhh, don’t tell Klinsi.
I’m pretty sure Clint would say he was trying to put it to the near post. Yes, it was a quick succession of events, but a pro like him doesn’t just happen to slot the ball between the keeper and the near post. It’s deliberate.
Also, the play was moving from left to right, hence the keepers general drift to his left (Fulham’s right). That’s why putting it to the near post essentially meant putting it behind the keeper.
Exactly. If JK insists on having two defensive guys in the middle, Klestjan works pretty well in the second forward role that Duece has been filling lately.
He wasnt born in Germany though.
I’m happy for Kljestan, and I hope he keeps improving, but he’s never impressed me in his games with the Nats. Doesn’t mean I completely write him off, but I’d rather see more from the likes of someone such as Diskerud before we fall back to Kljestan.
It sucks that Fulham has been eliminated but as a fan, this was probably better off. Now they can solely concentrate on avoiding relegation.
I agree with others – I would love to see Clint get a chance with a bigger club. He deserves it.