By FRANCO PANIZO
In a solid overall weekend that saw a number of players from the Americans Abroad contingent make an impact, it was Aron Johannsson who had arguably the biggest contribution.
Johannsson lifted AZ Alkmaar to a late victory on Sunday, scoring a sensational long-range goal in the 88th minute of a 3-2 win against NAC Breda. Johannsson’s tally capped a dramatic comeback for AZ, and kept the club even on points with Feyenoord for the Eredivisie’s lone guaranteed UEFA Europa League spot. The goal was Johannsson’s second in as many games, and his seventh this season.
Another U.S. Men’s National Team player to find the back of the net this weekend was Timmy Chandler, who scored his first goal for Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Chandler opened his account with his childhood club by providing an insurance tally in a 3-1 home triumph vs. Hoffenheim. The 34th-minute strike was Chandler’s first tally since scoring for FC Nurnberg on Jan. 25, 2014.
While Johannsson and Chandler were the lone foreign-based Americans to score, a number of other players helped create goals. Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Fabian Johnson, FC Erzgebirge Aue forward Bobby Wood, Cole Grossman of Stabaek, and SV Sandhausen’s Andrew Wooten were the players to notch assists, and they all did so in victories.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Everton’s 2-0 loss vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa’s 1-0 win vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
- DeAndre Yedlin dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-0 loss vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel did not dress for Tottenham Hotspur.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 3-0 win vs. Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
- Gedion Zelalem and Arsenal play Swansea City on Monday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- John Brooks started and played 55 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
- Fabian Johnson started, played 89 minutes and had an ASSIST in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 3-0 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-1 win vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday.
- Julian Green did not dress in Hamburg SV’s 1-1 draw vs. SC Freiburg on Friday.
- Joe Gyau did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
2. Bundesliga
- Terrence Boyd did not dress in RB Leipzig’s 4-0 loss vs. SV Sandhausen on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Alfredo Morales started and played 73 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 3-1 loss vs. VfL Bochum on Sunday.
- Bobby Wood started, played 78 minutes and had an ASSIST in FC Erzgebirge Aue’s 2-1 win vs. FC Union Berlin on Sunday.
- Andrew Wooten came off the bench, played 69 minutes and had an ASSIST in SV Sandhausen’s 4-0 win vs. RB Leipzig on Sunday.
- Jann George did not dress in SpVgg Greuther Furth’s 3-0 loss vs. Heidenheimer SB on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya did not dress in FC Nantes’ 2-1 loss vs. Bordeaux on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in AZ Alkmaar’s 3-2 win vs. NAC Breda on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxUQQ3_SPg]
- Rubio Rubin started and played 90 minutes in FC Utrecht’s 2-2 draw vs. Excelsior on Sunday.
- Desevio Payne did not dress in FC Groningen’s 1-0 loss vs. PEC Zwolle on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Conor O’Brien started and played 61 minutes in FC Magna Wiener Neustadt’s 4-2 loss vs. SV Grodig on Saturday.
SWEDEN
- Heath Pearce dressed but did not play in IFK Goteborg’s 2-0 win vs. Kalmar FF on Friday.
NORWAY
- Danny Cruz started and played 61 minutes in FK Bodo/Glimt’s 5-3 loss vs. Stromsgodset on Sunday.
- Zaire Valentin came off the bench and played seven minutes for FK Bodo/Glimt.
- Ethan Horvath dressed but did not play in Molde FK’s 4-0 win vs. IK Start on Sunday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress for Molde FK.
- Cole Grossman started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in Stabaek IF’s 2-0 win vs. Valerenga on Saturday.
- AJ Soares started and played 90 minutes in Viking’s 1-1 draw vs. Odd on Sunday.
FINLAND
- Stephen McCarthy started and played 90 minutes in Kuopion Palloseura’s 1-0 win vs. HJK on Friday.
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play for Kuopion Palloseura.
MEXICO
- Joe Corona started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 6-2 loss vs. Club Leon on Saturday.
- Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Ventura Alvarado came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Club America’s 2-1 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- William Yarbrough did not dress in Club Leon’s 6-2 win vs. Club Tijuana on Saturday.
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 2-2 draw vs. Santos Laguna on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played nine minutes or Puebla.
- Jose Torres did not dress in Tigres UANL’s 0-0 draw vs. Toluca on Sunday. He is recovering from a herniated disk.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Atlas’ 2-1 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Queretaro’s 1-0 win vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Friday.
- Gabriel Farfan started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 1-0 loss vs. Queretaro on Friday.
What do you think of these performances? How impressed are you with Johannsson’s goal? Surprised to see so many players notch assists?
Share your thoughts below.
want to know how bad JAB’s injury was. he left the game injured. Bedoya says he was simply being rested because of his knee and he will be back for the last game of the season.
as a whole, one of the better weekends for Americans abroad. what a goal from AJ too.
Not good for Guzan with Gold Cup just around the corner…Hopefully the warm up games will help
What I heard was one keeper is getting the last 3 matches, the other gets the cup final, but its up to Givens which he wants.
Seems like a good weekend overall for Americans abroad.
Any news on what happens to Julian Green after loan is up? Hamburg was a waste of time. I know he’s no star now, but Hamburg was stupid to bench him all season.
Bayern should have recalled the loan during the Winter when Green had to meet with HSV team officials and “discuss” his situation. I don’t think he played in any games after that, so at the very least he could have trained with Bayern. It’s a waste because he probably would have gotten in some of these meaningless Bundeslega matches as Bayern once again clinched early. Either Green needs to step up his game and his off season efforts or he is going to be the German-American Freddy Adu, the sole difference being that Green actually scored a World Cup goal.
What makes you think Bayern would play Green in those games? Other than those 15 minutes against Belgium I haven’t seen anything to indicate he’s a top level player, let alone a Bayern level player, even for a game after they’ve clinched the title.
TJ just fell apart the last 6 games or so. The game they lost 6-2 was a must win for them to make the playoffs and Leon was near the bottom of the table. Don’t see how any manager survives such a collapse. Seems like they get a new coach almost every year, maybe Corona and Garza should look elsewhere for employment.
Now that Arsenal is top 4 no matter what, I wonder if Gedion dresses tomorrow? And man did TJ flame out to end the season would expect some major changes down there. Wonder how that affects all those Americans
As a Gooner, no chance. We still need to secure top 3 minimum (shooting for 2nd), goal is to miss out on Champions League playoff game that the 4th place finisher takes part in.
yeah man, really bummed about TJ missing out. 6-2 result to end the season was shocking.