By FRANCO PANIZO
Rapid Vienna have very few reasons to smile these days, but the play of Terrence Boyd continues to be one of them.
Boyd was back to his scoring ways on Saturday, netting his 16th goal across all competitions this season in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs FC Wacker Tirol. Boyd found the back of the net for the 12th time in league play when he pounced on a rebound and smashed it home with a kung-fu kick. Unfortunately for Vienna, Boyd’s second-half strike would not hold up as they surrendered a late equalizer that extended their winless run in league play to nine games.
While Boyd added to his goal-scoring total this weekend, one veteran made his way back into his club’s starting lineup. Now recovered from his problematic knee injury, Steve Cherundolo started and went the distance for Hannover 96 in a scoreless draw with VfB Stuttgart on Sunday. The match marked the first time Cherundolo had played for Hannover since a Dec. 19 DFB Pokal fixture against Borussia Dortmund.
In England, Brad Guzan continued his outstanding form in helping Aston Villa secure a vital 3-1 victory over Geoff Cameron and Stoke City. The win helped the Villans climb out of the drop zone, while also pushing Stoke even closer to the relegation race. Another match-up of Americans saw Tim Howard and Everton tie Clint Dempsey and Tottenham.
Stuart Holden also brought some reason for optimism, as he made his second appearance for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Holden started for the club and played 59 minutes in a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers, a result which pushed the Owls three points clear of the relegation zone in the Championship.
Here’s how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
Premiership
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 3-1 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
- Sebastian Lletget did not dress in West Ham United’s 0-0 draw vs. Liverpool on Sunday.
- Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw vs. Everton on Sunday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play for Tottenham.
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Everton’s 2-2 draw vs. Tottenham on Sunday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector started, played 45 minutes and received a yellow card in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not played in Derby County’s 1-0 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
- Tim Ream dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-0 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden started and played 59 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-2 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Leceister City’s 1-1 draw vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
League One
- Frank Simek did not dress in Carlisle United’s 2-1 win vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress in Scunthorpe United’s 3-0 loss vs. Preston North End on Saturday.
SPAIN
La Liga
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Malaga CF’s 4-2 loss vs. Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Segunda Division
- Carlos Bocanega started and played 90 minutes in Racing Santander’s 1-0 win vs. AD Alcorcon on Saturday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Lazio on Monday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-0 win vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
- Danny Williams did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 2-1 win vs. Mainz on Sunday.
- Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 4-2 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04’s 2-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 0-0 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
2. Bundesliga
- Joe Gyau started and played 72 minutes in St Pauli’s 3-2 loss vs. Dynamo Dresden on Saturday.
- John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday.
- Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday.
- Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 2-1 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Sunday.
- Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-1 draw vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 1-1 draw vs. NEC Nijmegen on Sunday.
PORTUGAL
- Tony Taylor dressed but did not play in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 4-0 win vs. CD Nacional de Madeira on Sunday.
- Caleb Patterson-Sewell dressed but did not play in Vitoria Setubal’s 2-1 loss vs. Rio Ave on Sunday.
RUSSIA
- Eugen Starikov dressed but did not play in FK Rostov’s 1-0 win vs. Spartak Moscow on Saturday.
TURKEY
- Maurice Edu and Bursaspor play Besiktas on Monday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 0-0 draw vs. Standard Liege in the Belgian playoffs on Saturday.
DENMARK
- Clarence Goodson dressed but did not play in Brondby IF’s 1-0 win vs. Randers FC on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Randers FC’s 1-0 loss vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.
- Conor O’Brien came off the bench and played nine minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 2-0 win vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and scored a GOAL in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs. FC Wacker Tirol on Saturday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgVzllbLKI?feature=player_embedded]
SWEDEN
- Alejandro Bedoya and Helsingborg IF play Oster on Monday.
- Brian Span and Djurgarden IF play Mjallby on Monday.
NORWAY
- Josh Gatt came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Molde FK’s 1-0 loss vs. Brann on Saturday.
- Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 4-0 win vs. Sogndal on Sunday.
- Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 4-3 loss vs. Aalesund on Sunday.
MEXICO
- Herculez Gomez started and played 56 minutes in Santos Laguna’s 0-0 draw vs. Club Tijuana on Sunday.
- Benji Joya did not dress for Santos Laguna.
- Michael Orozco Fiscal started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Puebla’s 1-1 draw vs. Club America on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 75 minutes for Puebla.
- Jose Torres started, played 74 minutes and received a yellow card in Tigres UANL’s 0-0 draw vs. Leon on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 0-0 draw vs. Santos Laguna on Sunday.
- Joe Corona started and played 78 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 1-1 draw vs. Puebla on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? How many more goals do you see Boyd netting with Rapid Vienna this season? Think Cherundolo can put together a string of good performances now that he is back from injury?
Share your thoughts below.