Jurgen Klinsmann looked and sounded confident on Tuesday when he hinted that Fabian Johnson would play for Borussia Moenchengladbach this weekend.
On Saturday, Johnson did just that.
At the center of a controversial exit from the U.S. Men’s National Team this past week because of a reported injury, Johnson added further fuel to the fire by getting the nod and going the distance in Moenchengladbach’s 5-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Johnson started on the left side of the midfield for his club, and helped it pick up a win that moved Moenchengladbach to 10th place in the Bundesliga. The performance, however, only raised further questions as to what really happened during last weekend’s CONCACAF Cup clash with Mexico.
While the league loss was certainly one to forget for all of Eintracht Frankfurt, the match marked the return of Timmy Chandler. Playing in his first game since Aug. 29 because of a knee injury, Chandler came off the bench and contributed 31 minutes for his side. The appearance was the veteran fullback’s third of the campaign, and will help him as he aims to get back to full fitness.
Like Chandler, the U.S.’s top two goalkeepers also suffered defeats against talented opposition. Tim Howard and Everton dropped a 3-0 result to Manchester United on Saturday while Brad Guzan and Aston Villa fell, 2-0, to Chelsea. Howard made three saves as Everton saw a five-game unbeaten run come to an end, and Guzan came up with two stops in the Villans’ fifth straight defeat and eighth game without a victory.
Another notable performance came via DeAndre Yedlin, who played from whistle to whistle in Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Yedlin was deployed at right back in the match, but could not help prevent the Black Cats from suffering their fourth loss in their last five games. The start was Yedlin’s second straight for last-placed Sunderland.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made three saves in Everton’s 3-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes, and made two saves in Aston Villa’s 2-0 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
- Geoff Cameron and Stoke City play Swansea City on Monday.
- DeAndre Yedlin started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 1-0 loss vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Lynden Gooch did not dress for Sunderland.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in Birmingham City’s 2-1 win vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj did not dress in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 loss vs. Bristol City on Friday. He was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
- Danny Williams came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Reading’s 1-0 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Andrija Novakovich did not dress for Reading.
- Tim Ream did not dress in Fulham’s 0-0 draw vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.
- Emerson Hyndman did not dress for Fulham.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons’ 3-0 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
SCOTLAND
- Gedion Zelalem did not dress in Rangers’ 2-1 win vs. Queen of the South on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- John Brooks came off the bench and played one minute in Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 loss vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday.
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 5-1 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 5-1 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- Aron Johannsson did not dress in Werder Bremen’s 1-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Alfredo Morales started and played 77 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-0 loss vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
2. Bundesliga
- Terrence Boyd did not dress in RB Leipzig’s 1-0 win vs. VfL Bochum on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Bobby Wood started, played 90 minutes, and received a yellow card in FC Union Berlin’s 2-1 loss vs. TSV Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday.
- Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 1-0 win vs. Kaiserslautern on Friday.
- Caleb Stanko dressed but did not play in SC Freiburg’s 5-2 win vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya did not dress in FC Nantes’ 3-0 win vs. Troyes on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Rubio Rubin did not dress in FC Utrecht’s 1-1 draw vs. Roda JC Kerkrade on Saturday.
- Desevio Payne did not dress in FC Groningen’s 2-1 win vs. Willem II Tilburg on Saturday.
NORWAY
- Zarek Valentin started and played 90 minutes FK Bodo/Glimt’s 1-1 draw vs. Rosenborg on Sunday.
- Danny Cruz did not dress for FK Bodo/Glimt.
- Cole Grossman started and played 84 minutes in Stabaek IF’s 4-1 loss vs. Aalesund on Saturday.
- Ethan Horvath started and played 90 minutes in Molde FK’s 3-1 win vs. Mjondalen IF on Sunday.
- A.J. Soares started, played 90 minutes, and received a yellow card in Viking FK’s 3-1 loss vs. Tromso on Sunday.
- Erik Hurtado started and played 90 minutes in Mjondalen IF’s 3-1 loss vs. Molde FK on Sunday.
- Rhett Bernstein did not dress for Mjondalen IF.
MEXICO
- Michael Orozco started and played 38 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-0 loss vs. Club America on Friday.
- Paul Arriola came off the bench and played 27 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona did not dress in Veracruz’s 3-0 loss vs. Santos Laguna on Friday.
- Greg Garza did not dress in Atlas’ 1-0 win vs. Morelia on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Jose Torres dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL’s 2-1 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes, and received a yellow card in Monterrey’s 2-2 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- Ventura Alvarado dressed but did not play in Club America’s 2-0 win vs. Club Tijuana on Friday.
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Queretaro’s 4-2 loss vs. Toluca on Saturday.
- Gabriel Farfan did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 2-2 draw vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
- William Yarbrough dressed but did not play in Club Leon’s 3-1 loss vs. Pumas UNAM on Saturday.
- Miguel Ibarra dressed but did not play for Club Leon.
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What do you think of these performances? What do you make of Johnson playing 90 minutes? Expecting Chandler to start again for Eintracht Frankfurt in the coming weeks?
Share your thoughts below.