By FRANCO PANIZO
From seldom used to Champions League bound.
Fabian Johnson punctuated an overall good first season at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, turning in a 78-minute performance that helped the club book a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League. Johnson, who started the campaign as a role player but wound up carving out a starting role, was again used on the left side of the midfield in the match. Moenchengladbach now has an uncatchable five-point lead over Bayer Leverkusen for the third and final Champions League spot heading into the final weekend of the Bundesliga season.
Alfredo Morales also played an important role, as his club achieved something special on Sunday. Morales came off the bench and contributed 51 minutes and a huge game-winning assist in Ingolstadt’s 2-1 comeback victory over RB Leipzig. The helper ensured promotion from the 2. Bundesliga for Morales and Ingolstadt, and also clinched the league title.
The biggest individual performance of the weekend arguably came from Aron Johannsson. A week after scoring a stunning winner from distance, Johannsson shone with two goals and an assist in a 4-1 victory over Excelsior on Saturday. The veteran forward has now scored four times in his last three matches, and has nine on the season.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton’s 2-1 win vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa’s 6-1 loss vs. Southampton on Saturday.
- DeAndre Yedlin dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 win vs. Hull City on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel did not dress for Tottenham Hotspur.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 0-0 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.
- Gedion Zelalem did not dress in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw vs. Manchester United on Sunday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- John Brooks started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hertha Berlin’s 0-0 draw vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Fabian Johnson started and played 78 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 0-0 draw vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
- Julian Green did not dress in Hamburg SV’s 2-1 loss vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
- Joe Gyau did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg 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 came off the bench, played 51 minutes and had an ASSIST in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 2-1 win vs. RB Leipzig on Sunday.
- Bobby Wood started and played 90 minutes in FC Erzgebirge Aue’s 0-0 draw vs. Kaiserslautern on Sunday.
- Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 2-0 loss vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday.
- Jann George did not dress in SpVgg Greuther Furth’s 1-0 win vs. SV Darmstadt 98 on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya did not dress in FC Nantes’ 1-1 draw vs. Lorient on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson started, played 90 minutes, scored TWO GOALS, and had an ASSIST in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-1 win vs. Excelsior on Sunday.
- Rubio Rubin started and played 90 minutes in FC Utrecht’s 3-3 draw vs. Vitesse Arnhem on Sunday.
- Desevio Payne did not dress in FC Groningen’s 5-4 win vs. NAC Breda on Sunday. He is with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team.
AUSTRIA
- Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in FC Magna Wiener Neustadt’s 0-0 draw vs. FC Trenkwalder Admira on Saturday.
SWEDEN
- Heath Pearce dressed but did not play in IFK Goteborg’s 2-1 win vs. Orebro on Sunday.
NORWAY
- Danny Cruz started, played 54 minutes and received a yellow card in FK Bodo/Glimt’s 1-0 win vs. Tromso on Saturday.
- Zarek Valentin dressed but did not play for FK Bodo/Glimt.
- Ethan Horvath came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Molde FK’s 3-3 draw vs. Stabaek IF on Saturday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress for Molde FK.
- Cole Grossman started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF’s 3-3 draw vs. Molde FK on Saturday.
- AJ Soares started and played 90 minutes in Viking’s 1-0 win vs. Start on Saturday.
FINLAND
- Stephen McCarthy started and played 90 minutes in Kuopion Palloseura’s 1-1 draw vs. Inter Turku on Sunday.
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play for Kuopion Palloseura.
MEXICO
- Ventura Alvarado came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Club America’s 4-3 loss vs. Pachuca in the second leg of their Liga MX Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. Club America was eliminated via a 7-5 aggregate score.
- Jose Torres did not dress in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 loss vs. Santos Laguna in the second leg of their Liga MX Liguilla quarterfinals series on Saturday. He is recovering from a herniated disk. Tigers UANL was eliminated via a 2-1 aggregate score.
- Edgar Castillo came off the bench and played 61 minutes in Atlas’ 4-1 loss vs. Chivas de Guadalajara in the second leg of their Liga MX Liguilla quarterfinals series on Sunday. Atlas was eliminated via a 4-1 aggregate score.
- Jonathan Bornstein started and played 81 minutes in Queretaro’s 2-2 draw vs. Veracruz in the second leg of their Liga MX Liguilla quarterfinals series on Sunday. Queretaro advanced via a 4-3 aggregate score.
What do you think of these performances? How big of an accomplishment is it for Johnson to clinch a Champions League spot with Moenchengladbach? Impressed with Morales’ latest outing?
Share your thoughts below.
Glad to see Cole Grossman getting more serious playing time with Stabaek IF. In Salt Lake he was stuck behind Beckerman. Bob Bradley is showing a lot of trust in him with his increased play.
Time for Guzan to get another shot and the FA cup start!
Nice to see AJ scoring again. I think this represents that he is finally all the way back from his ankle problems from the WC. Hope he stays there for at least next year so he can play in the Europa league. That next year will tell us a lot about whether he has the potential to move to a higher league or if he has found his level. In the dutch league with Europa minutes if he scores between 25-30 goals in all competitions he might have the talent to play at a higher level and should think about moving.
another good weekend. really great that FJ will be in the CL next year, AJ in EL, and Morales in the Bundesliga. because AJ will get time in Europa League, i see no reason for him to consider a move this offseason.
as for Morales, really hope he can maintain his place in the squad. he certainly started more games than not this season and did very well. i imagine he’ll get his chance to prove his can cut it in the Bundesliga. if he can, he’ll shake up the USMNT midfield.
and while this wasn’t the first team, but Gatt scored in the Molde II game. so good to see he is getting back into it.
I know that Jozy and Aron Bacon often replaced each other when at AZ together, but I’m intrigued to see what they can do together in a 4-4-2. Any chance we get to see them up top together in the Gold Cup, or upcoming European friendlies (if Jozy is allowed to)? I can only recall them playing together for the Nats once or twice, and it was just kind of meh.
I think that Bacon is finally fit again, and I also think that Jozy’s mental state is much better now that he’s no longer suffering in Northern England. Could also be interesting with Bradley as the #8 behind them now that he and Jozy have some chemistry (I haven’t watched much TFC but I assume it’s helping them?)
What do you guys think?
The last pass Bradley made to Jozy was just a bit overweight and Jozy tweaked his hamstring stretching to reach it. Rule of thumb is hamstrings take 6 weeks (that means Jozy is out until nearly July).
Let’s hope AJ can do a better job of replacing Jozy than he did last summer.
Yeah, I was bummed to see Jozy on his bum holding his hamstring. Total flashback to WC. Hopefully a minor tweak, but it’s hard to say that it won’t affect him – Gold Cup is just 7 weeks away….
the good news is JK can bring in players after the group stage. maybe Jozy is healthy in time for the knock out rounds?
worth noting that johannsson’s performance in that game also clinched a europa league spot for az.
yup, was going to note that as well. huge performance from him.
Bornstein still alive for Mexican league title… Starting… Tough to ignore for jk?
Though I wouldn’t put anything past Klinsmann, it would be pretty easy to ignore Bornstein. While he’s not as bad as he gets made out to be, the guy hasn’t played a role with the Nats in four years and is only recently getting playing time after spending the bulk of those four prime years of his career sitting on the bench. If you’re wondering just how far off the map he fell, including his recent stint of games, dude has like 18 appearances total in that time.
Then there’s the competition. Garza, Shea, FJ and Chandler all there. Eric Lichaj is still out there. Castillo has been playing consistently the entire time Bornstein’s been sitting the bench. MLS options like Rogers and, if Klinsmann wanted to take a look at him, Tierney. All of those guys at this point have a better case than Johnny B.
While I don’t think JK will have any problem ignoring him, I am glad to see that Bornstein is finaly getting playing time at his club. JB is, after all, still a hero in Honduras and reviled in Costa Rica.
Glad to see Aron putting the ball in the net. I for one do no want to see him screw up a good thing and try to move to a bigger league. However, if he is going to try, he should do so this season or next. I don’t want to see him try to move the season just before the next world cup like Jozy.
Aron should sign with whatever team will pay him the most money. A sports career can end in a heartbeat (Ask Eddie Johnson) so players need to cash in when they can.