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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Franco Panizo

FabianJohnson1

 

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.

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