By FRANCO PANIZO
Conor O’Brien will not soon forget this debut.
Playing in his first match for Austrian outfit FC Magna Wiener Neustadt, O’Brien helped lift the club to its first win of the season by scoring a goal in a wild and much-needed 5-4 victory over FC Trenkwalder Admira. The 29-year-old midfielder started the thrilling play by netting the opener in the 26th minute of his last-placed side’s home game, but the goal was quickly negated. Still, it was O’Brien and Magna Wiener Neustadt who emerged victorious thanks to an action-packed second half that now has them on four points through six games in the Bundesliga.
Jozy Altidore may not have found the back of the net or seen the kind of playing time that would have pleased most of his observers, but he did get on the field as Sunderland club grabbed a good early-season result against a talented foe. Altidore came off the bench and played the final 13 minutes of the Black Cats’ home opener, a 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Sunday, and the result moved Sunderland to 0-0-2 in the Premiership campaign.
Brad Guzan was one of the top performers from the Americans Abroad pool, posting a cleansheet in Aston Villa’s scoreless draw against Newcastle United. Guzan made four saves in the match that opened the Villans’ home schedule, and he has now posted back-to-back shutouts to start the season.
As is the case with almost any weekend, there were some negatives. Geoff Cameron was unable to earn any minutes for Stoke City in a 1-1 draw with Hull City despite being in uniform, the German Bundesliga-based Americans struggled to see much time, and Tim Howard and Everton allowed a two-goal lead against Arsenal to slip away late in a 2-2 tie at Goodison Park.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Everton’s 2-2 draw vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw vs. Manchester United on Sunday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 win vs. Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
- Geoff Cameron dressed but did not play in Stoke City’s 1-1 draw vs. Hull City on Sunday.
- Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 0-0 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Brentford on Saturday.
- Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-1 loss vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 4-0 win vs. Reading on Saturday.
- Danny Williams did not dress in Reading’s 4-0 loss vs. Nottingham Forest on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Duane Holmes did not dress in Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Emerson Hyndman dressed but did not play in Fulham’s 5-1 loss vs. Derby County on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 5-1 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 1-1 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
- John Brooks dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin’s 2-2 draw vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler dressed but did not play in Eintracht Franfkurt’s 1-0 win vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
- David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
- Julian Green dressed but did not play in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Friday.
2. Bundesliga
- Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 2-0 win vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Sunday.
- Terrence Boyd did not dress in RB Leipzig’s 1-0 win vs. FC Erzgebirge Aue on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Bobby Wood started and played 83 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-2 draw vs. Heidenheimer SB on Friday.
- Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played six minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 2-1 loss vs. St Pauli on Friday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minutes in FC Nantes’ 1-0 loss vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson did not dress in AZ Alkmaar’s 3-0 loss vs. Willem II Tilburg on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- Rubio Rubin did not dress in FC Utrecht’s 2-1 win vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on Sunday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan dressed but did not play in RSC Anderlecht’s 1-0 win vs. Waasland-Beveren on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Conor O’Brien started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in FC Magna Wiener Neustadt’s 5-4 win vs. FC Trenkwalder Admira on Saturday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 2-0 win vs. Sarpsborg 08 on Sunday.
- Andrew Jacobson started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF’s 3-2 win vs. Stromsgodset on Saturday.
- Michael Stephens started and played 90 minutes for Stabaek IF.
- Ethan Horvath did not dress in Molde FK’s 5-0 win vs. Aalesund on Sunday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress for Molde FK. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Zarek Valentin did not dress in FK Bodo/Glimt’s 2-1 win vs. Haugesund on Sunday. He is recovering from an Achilles injury.
- Jeb Brovsky did not dress in Stromsgodset’s 3-2 loss vs. Stabaek IF on Saturday.
SERBIA
- Freddy Adu did not play in FK Jagodina’s 3-1 win vs. Radnicki Nis on Saturday.
MEXICO
- Michael Orozco started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Puebla’s 1-0 loss vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Atlas’ 3-1 loss vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
- Jose Torres dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL’s 5-1 win vs. Morelia on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez did not dress for Tigres UANL.
- Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 0-0 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Queretaro’s 2-1 loss vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
- Joe Corona started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 1-1 draw vs. Pumas UNAM on Sunday.
- Greg Garza started and played 90 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido came off the bench and played three minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Amando Moreno did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Fernando Arce Jr did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Monterrey’s 1-0 win vs. Puebla on Saturday.
- Gabriel Farfan did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 0-0 draw vs. Club America on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? How much success will O’Brien have in Austria this season? Think Altidore and Sunderland are in store for a much better campaign? What negative development most concerned you?
Share your thoughts below.