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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

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Aron Johannsson AZ Alkmaar 72

By FRANCO PANIZO

Talk about starting the new month off with a bang.

After nearly two months without a goal, Aron Johannsson got himself back on the scoresheet to help lift AZ Alkmaar to victory on Sunday. Johannsson netted his third goal of the season by scoring the opener in a 3-1 triumph against Heracles Almelo, flicking teammate Nemanja Gudelj’s shot past goalkeeper Dennis Telgenkamp in the ninth minute. The goal was the 24-year-old U.S. Men’s National Team forward’s first since Dec. 6, and helped keep AZ within striking distance of a guaranteed UEFA Europa League spot.

While Johannsson was potentially starting a new scoring streak, Sacha Kljestan was closing out his time at Anderlecht. Kljestan played in his final game for the club on Sunday before joining the New York Red Bulls, playing the last 17 minutes of a scoreless draw with Zulte-Waregem. Aside from contributing off the bench, the veteran midfielder also delivered a farewell speech to Anderlecht fans before kickoff.

Fabian Johnson, like Johannsson, snapped a humbling streak of his own this weekend. Johnson received his first start for Borussia Moenchengladbach since Oct. 5 on Saturday, going the distance in a 1-0 road win over VfB Stuttgart. Johnson was deployed as a left midfielder in the match, which was was Moenchengladbach’s first since the Bundesliga winter break.

One left-sided player who did not enjoy as good of a weekend was Greg Garza. While he saw Club Tijuana move up to first place in the Liga MX Clausura campaign with a 4-2 win over Morelia, Garza left the Friday encounter with an injury. Garza hurt his knee in the second half, and had to be replaced by fellow American Joe Corona in the 52nd minute.

Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard did not dress in Everton’s 1-0 win vs. Crystal Palace on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa’s 5-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Sunday.
  • Brad Friedel did not dress in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-0 win vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
  • DeAndre Yedlin did not dress for Tottenham Hotspur. He is with the U.S. Men’s National Team.
  • Geoff Cameron dressed but did not play in Stoke City’s 3-1 win vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
  • Gedion Zelalem did not dress in Arsenal’s 5-0 win vs. Aston Villa on Sunday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 0-0 draw vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Tim Ream started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-2 draw vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play in Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 loss vs. Millwall.
  • Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes in Reading’s 2-0 win vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
  • Emerson Hyndman did not dress in Fulham’s 2-1 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Derby County’s 2-0 win vs. Cardiff City on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Charlton Athletic’s 1-1 draw vs. Rotherham United on Saturday.

GERMANY

  • John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Sunday.
  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 1-0 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
  • Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 4-1 loss vs. SC Freiburg.
  • Julian Green did not dress in Hamburg SV’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
  • Joe Gyau did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 0-0 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 18 minutes in FC Nantes’ 1-1 draw vs. Lille on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in AZ Alkmaar’s 3-1 win vs. SC Heracles Almelo on Sunday.
  • Rubio Rubin started and played 74 minutes in FC Utrecht’s 2-0 loss vs. PEC Zwolle on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan came off the bench and played 17 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 0-0 draw vs. Zulte-Waregem on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • Michael Orozco started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Puebla’s 0-0 draw vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
  • Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 14 minutes for Puebla.
  • Greg Garza started and played 52 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 4-2 win vs. Morelia on Friday.
  • Joe Corona came off the bench and played 32 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Paul Arriola did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Jose Torres did not dress in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 loss vs. Club America on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Atlas’ 1-1 draw vs. Pumas UNAM on Saturday.
  • Ventura Alvarado started and played 90 minutes in Club America’s 1-0 win vs. Tigres UANL on Saturday.

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What do you think of these performances? How many more goals do you see Johannsson scoring before the end of the season? What will you remember about Kljestan’s time at Anderlecht? Think Johnson will continue to start for Moenchengladbach in the coming weeks?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  5. Poor Guzan…Today definitely was a really bad day at the work place. With a terrible back line not only did his team get mauled by Arsenal but he just looked off. He even guessed right and stood still for a direct shot through the center PK, yet couldn’t even save that

    Reply

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