It's not all that surprising that an American scored at Goodison Park on Wednesday. After all, Everton's match against Bolton marked Landon Donovan's return to the Toffees. Thing is, Donovan wasn't the one to find the back of the net.
In open play, goalkeeper Tim Howard unleashed a long kick from his own box that took a perfect bounce from about 25 yards out and got carried by a furious wind over Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan into the goal. The tally broke a scoreless draw in the 63rd minute of Everton's 2-1 loss to Bolton.
Howard, who made his 250th Premier League appearance and had come up with a number of clutch saves to that point, was beaten by David Ngog four minutes later and again by Gary Cahill in the 78th minute, with those goals accounting for the final score. Leighton Baines nearly tied the score in stoppage time, but his free kick caromed off the crossbar. With his goal, Howard became the second American goalkeeper to score in the Premier League and the first since Brad Friedel accomplished the feat in 2004.
Donovan, meanwhile, had an active debut — especially in the first half — nearly drawing a penalty toward the end of the first 45 minutes. He played all 90 minutes in the first match of his second loan stint in the Premier League.
Video of Howard's goal is after the jump:
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What did you think of Howard's goal? How do you think Donovan played? Disappointed that Everton let the result slip away?
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