By FRANCO PANIZO
Only one American remains in the UEFA Europa League, and he is the same player who was receiving his share of criticism earlier this week.
Tim Howard helped Everton move into the tournament’s Round of 16 on Thursday, as the Toffees picked up a 3-1 victory in the second leg of their series against Swiss side Young Boys. Howard started in goal for Everton on Wednesday despite struggling over the weekend, and the veteran goalkeeper came up with one save in the match at Goodison Park. The Premiership club received offensive contributions from Belgian duo Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas on the day, and advanced via an impressive 7-2 aggregate score.
Fabian Johnson and Borussia Moenchengladbach were not as fortunate. Johnson and Moenchengladbach entered the day needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit after falling in the first leg of their series with Sevilla, but the Spanish club once again got the better of the Bundesliga outfit with a 3-1 win. Johnson, who continues to struggle to earn a consistent workload at Moenchengladbach, contributed off the bench by playing the final 12 minutes.
Herculez Gomez was also involved in a cup competition in recent days, and he delivered by scoring two goals for Puebla in a narrow defeat to Toluca. Gomez bagged his third and fourth goals of the Copa MX on Tuesday, but his notable showing was for naught as the Camoteros suffered their first defeat in the tournament. Puebla lost the Group 5 match, 4-3.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed during the midweek action:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Everton’s 3-1 win vs. Young Boys in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League series on Thursday. Everton advanced via a 7-2 aggregate score.
- DeAndre Yedlin did not dress in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 loss vs. Fiorentina in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League series on Thursday. Tottenham Hotspur was eliminated via a 3-1 aggregate score.
- Brad Friedel did not dress for Tottenham Hotspur.
- Gedion Zelalem did not dress in Arsenal’s 3-1 loss vs. AS Monaco on Wednesday.
Championship
- Tim Ream did not dress in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-0 loss vs. Middlesbrough on Tuesday. He is recovering from a back injury.
- Eric Lichaj started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 win vs. AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday.
- Danny Williams did not dress in Reading’s 3-0 loss vs. Huddersfield Town on Tuesday.
- Emerson Hyndman did not dress in Fulham’s 3-0 loss vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Derby County’s 2-0 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Tuesday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Charlton Athletic’s 2-0 loss vs. Derby County on Tuesday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson came of the bench and played 12 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 3-2 loss vs. Sevilla in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League series on Thursday. Moenchengladbach was eliminated via a 4-2 aggregate score.
- Joe Gyau did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 loss vs. Juventus in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
MEXICO
- Hercules Gomez started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and scored TWO GOALS in Puebla’s 4-3 loss vs. Toluca in Copa MX on Tuesday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aqGPc9BFAI]
- Michael Orozco did not dress for Puebla.
- Amando Moreno came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 1-1 draw vs. Universidad de Guadalajara in Copa MX on Tuesday.
- Paul Arriola came off the bench and played 22 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- John Requejo dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Fernando Arce Jr dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Atlas’ 1-0 win vs. Atletico MG in the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday.
- Ventura Alvarado started and played 90 minutes in Club America’s 3-0 win vs. Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday.
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Queretaro’s 5-0 win vs. Santos Laguna in Copa MX on Wednesday.
- Gabriel Farfan started and played 70 minutes in Jaguars de Chiapas’ 3-0 win vs. Pumas UNAM in Copa MX on Wednesday.
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What do you think of these performances? How far do you see Howard and Everton going in the Europa League? Should Johnson look to leave Moenchengladbach this summer?
Share your thoughts below.