By FRANCO PANIZO
Talk about a dream return.
Sidelined since early September with an ankle injury, Michael Bradley made his way back onto the field for AS Roma as substitute in Sunday’s duel with Udinese and came up with the timeliest of goals to give his club the three points. Bradley entered the match in the 78th minute and scored the heroic game-winner four minutes later to see Roma pick up the 1-0 victory that added to their lead atop the Serie A table. Bradley now has two goals in his time with Roma.
Another of the weekend’s most dramatic goals came courtesy of Terrence Boyd. The young striker netted an 88th-minute winner in the latest Vienna Derby, one that Rapid Vienna claimed, 1-0, on the road. Boyd now has seven goals in league play and eight across all competitions this season.
Not to be outdone in the drama department, Jozy Altidore set up the late goal that gave Sunderland their sorely-needed first win of the Premiership campaign. Altidore assisted on the winner in the 84th minute of the Black Cats’ match on Sunday, teeing up Fabio Borini for the spectacular go-ahead tally in a surprise 2-1 victory over Newcastle United at Stadium of Light.
There were several other noteworthy performances. Sacha Kljestan scored a goal in less than a minute in RSC Anderlecht’s 1-1 draw with Pro League leaders Standard Liege, Timmy Chandler had an equalizing assist as he was being reportedly scouted by U.S. Men’s National Team coaches in Nurnberg’s 1-1 tie with VfB Stuttgart, and Tim Howard made an early penalty-kick save to help set the tone for a 2-0 Everton triumph over Brad Guzan’s Aston Villa.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend (video to come):
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, made three saves (including a penalty-kick stop) and received a yellow card in Everton’s 2-0 win vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in Sunderland’s 2-1 win vs. Newcastle United on Sunday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 3-2 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.
- Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa’s 2-0 loss vs. Everton on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win vs. Hull City on Sunday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Derby County on Saturday. He is recovering from a thigh injury.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Derby County’s 1-1 draw vs. Birmingham City on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 loss vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
- Danny Williams did not dress in Reading’s 1-1 draw vs. Millwall on Saturday. He is recovering from a foot injury.
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in 2-0 loss vs. Burnley on Saturday.
- Duane Holmes started and played 45 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 3-2 win vs. Leeds United on Saturday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley came off the bench, played 12 minutes and scored a GOAL in AS Roma’s 1-0 win vs. Udinese on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8MYM_kGXYE?feature=player_embedded&w=600&h=360]
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson did not dress in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 4-1 win vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
- Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in FC Nurnberg’s 1-1 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart on Friday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRhCIkI6NC4?feature=player_embedded]
- Michael Parkhurst dressed but did not play in FC Augsburg’s 2-1 loss vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones came off the bench, played 14 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04’s 3-1 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96′s 4-1 loss vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.
- John Brooks dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin’s 3-2 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
2. Bundesliga
- Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-0 win vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Friday.
- Andrew Wooten and Kaiserslautern play VfL Bochum on Monday.
- Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-1 loss vs. Karlsruhe on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya dressed but did not play in FC Nantes’ 1-0 loss vs. Lille on Friday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson started and played 74 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-0 win vs. PEC Zwolle on Sunday.
RUSSIA
- Eugene Starikov did not dress in FK Tom’ Tomsk’s 0-0 draw vs. Terek Grozny on Saturday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in RSC Anderlecht’s 1-1 draw vs. Standard Liege on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QHgCyHou4U?feature=player_embedded]
DENMARK
- Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in Odense BK’s 0-0 draw vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.
- Babajide Ogunbiyi started and played 90 minutes in Viborg FF’s 4-1 win vs. FC Vestsjaelland on Friday.
- Mike Grella dressed but did not play for Viborg FF.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started, played 90 minutes, scored a GOAL and received a yellow card in Rapid Vienna’s 1-0 win vs. Austria Vienna on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfI5JPAVAPo]
SWEDEN
- Brian Span did not dress in Djurgarden IF’s 1-1 draw vs. Gefle IF on Sunday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 1-0 loss vs. Molde FK on Saturday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress in Molde FK’s 1-0 win vs. Rosenborg BK on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Ethan Horvath did not dress for Molde FK.
- Ben Spencer did not dress for Molde FK .
- Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 0-0 draw vs. Brann on Sunday.
MEXICO
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 3-1 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
- Jose Torres came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 0-0 draw vs. Club Tijuana on Friday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 0-0 draw vs. Tigres UANL on Sunday.
- Paul Arriola started and played 76 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona started and played 61 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 29 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez dressed but did not play in Monterrey’s 1-1 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
BRAZIL
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Bahia’s 1-1 draw vs. Atletico Paranaense on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Could you have envisioned a better Roma return for Bradley? Think Boyd should be called into next month’s U.S. camp? Do you see Altidore and Sunderland picking things up now that they have their first win under their belt?
Share your thoughts below.