By FRANCO PANIZO
Jozy Altidore may not have found the back of the net in his first start in 2014, but he did manage to make an impact.
Altidore helped Sunderland pick up a positive result on a weekend that was full of FA Cup matches, assisting on the final goal in the Black Cats’ third round 3-1 victory over Carlisle United. Altidore, who started and went the distance, set up El Hadji Ba in the waning moments of the home fixture to give himself a team-high sixth assist across all competitions this season.
Other positive developments in the FA Cup came via Clint Dempsey making his Fulham return and Sebastian Lletget making his professional debut with a start for West Ham United. Dempsey showed some rust but played 90 minutes in a 1-1 road draw vs. Norwich City, and Lletget earned a start on a young Hammers team that suffered a 5-0 mauling at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
It was not all good news, however. Michael Bradley was an unused substitute as AS Roma suffered their first defeat of the season to league leaders Juventus in a battle of the top two teams in Serie A on Sunday, and Oguchi Onyewu was also left on the bench in Queens Park Rangers’ 4-0 loss to Everton in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
FA Cup (Third Round)
- Tim Howard dressed but did not play in Everton’s 4-0 win vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 1-1 draw vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in Sunderland’s 3-1 win vs. Carlisle United on Sunday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 2-1 win vs. Leicester City on Saturday.
- Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss vs. Sheffield United on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 4-3 win vs. Burnley on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Jonathan Spector did not play this weekend.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-1 win vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 2-0 loss vs. Chelsea on Sunday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 58 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 5-0 win vs. West Ham United on Sunday.
- Danny Williams came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Reading’s 1-0 loss vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
- Brek Shea did not dress in Barnsley’s 2-1 loss vs. Coventry City on Saturday.
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Queens Park Rangers’ 4-0 loss vs. Everton on Saturday.
- Duane Holmes came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 3-2 win vs. Grimsby Town on Saturday.
- Gboly Ariyibi dressed but did not play in Leeds United’s 2-0 loss vs. Rochdale on Saturday.
- Sebastian Lletget started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in West Ham United’s 5-0 loss vs. Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley dressed but did not play in AS Roma’s 3-0 loss vs. Juventus on Sunday.
FRANCE
Coupe de France
- Alejandro Bedoya dressed but did not play in FC Nantes’ 2-0 loss vs. Nice on Sunday.
MEXICO
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 2-2 draw vs. Pumas UNAM on Sunday.
- Michael Orozco dressed but did not play for Puebla.
- Jose Torres did not dress in Tigres UANL’s 3-0 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Atlante’s 1-1 draw vs. Club Leon on Sunday.
- Greg Garza started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 0-0 draw vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez started and played 90 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona started and played 71 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Edgar Castillo came off the bench and played 19 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 0-0 draw vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Do you see Altidore having a better a second half this season? Should Roma have started Bradley vs. Juventus?
Share your thoughts below.