Fabian Johnson may not have earned his club three points, but he saved it from defeat.
Johnson turned in his latest goal-scoring performance of the season on Sunday, as he netted the equalizer in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 2-2 draw with FC Augsburg. The veteran midfielder found the back of the net in the 55th minute, finishing off a good attacking sequence with a low, one-timed effort that ensured his side would not falter. Johnson now has six goals in German Bundesliga play, and eight across all competitions.
The other foreign-based U.S. Men’s National Team player to find the back of the net was Bobby Wood. Thanks to a fortuitous 60th-minute deflection, Wood found the winner in FC Union Berlin’s 2-1 comeback victory over Karlsruhe on Friday. The 23-year-old forward now has 10 goals on the season, and is the third-leading scorer in the 2. Bundesliga.
Two other positive developments came via similarly young players. Luis Gil, 22, earned his third start of the Liga MX Clausura campaign on Saturday in Queretaro’s 1-1 draw vs. Morelia, and Cody Cropper, 23, got the nod at Milton Keynes Dons for the second straight game in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers. Both players went the distance for their respective sides, and Cropper turned in five saves for his club.
Here are how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard and Everton did not play this weekend.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 2-1 win vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- DeAndre Yedlin started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 1-0 loss vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in Birmingham City’s 2-0 loss vs. Queen Park Rangers on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 loss vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
- Danny Williams came off the bench, played 25 minutes, and received a yellow card in Reading’s 4-3 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Emerson Hyndman dressed but did not play in Fulham’s 2-0 loss vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.
- Tim Ream did not dress for Fulham.
- Cody Cropper started, played 90 minutes, and made five saves in Milton Keynes Dons’ 3-2 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
- Duane Holmes dressed but did not play in Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
League One
- Lynden Gooch came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Doncaster Rovers’s 1-1 draw vs. Millwall on Saturday.
SCOTLAND
- Gedion Zelalem did not dress in Rangers’ 1-0 win vs. St Mirren on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes, and scored a GOAL in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-2 draw vs. FC Augsburg on Sunday.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izRqQ8266NQ]
- Timmy Chandler did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 0-0 draw vs. Schalke 04 on Sunday.
- John Brooks started, played 90 minutes, and received a yellow card in Hertha Berlin’s 1-0 win vs. FC Cologne on Friday
- Alfredo Morales did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-1 draw vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
- Aron Johannsson did not dress in Werder Bremen’s 2-2 draw vs. SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday.
- Christian Pulisic did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 win vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday.
2. Bundesliga
- Bobby Wood started, played 80 minutes, received a yellow card, and scored a GOAL in FC Union Berlin’s 2-1 win vs. Karlsruhe on Friday.
https://dailymotion.com/video/x3ui42z
- Andrew Wooten did not dress in SV Sandhausen’s 3-2 loss vs. VfL Bochum on Saturday.
- Terrence Boyd did not dress in RB Leipzig’s 1-0 win vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Caleb Stanko did not dress in SC Freiburg’s 2-0 win vs. Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
- Shawn Barry started and played 90 minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 0-0 draw vs. TSV Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minutes in FC Nantes’ 0-0 draw vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Rubio Rubin did not dress in FC Utrecht’s 2-1 loss vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on Sunday.
- Desevio Payne came off the bench and played 35 minutes in FC Groningen’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Twente on Saturday.
MEXICO
- Paul Arriola came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 1-1 draw vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Sunday.
- Michael Orozco did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido did not dress for Club Tijuana. He is recovering from an injury.
- Edgar Castillo started, played 45 minutes, and received a yellow card in Monterrey’s 4-0 loss vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
- Jose Torres dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL’s 4-1 win vs. Club America on Saturday.
- Joe Corona did not dress in Dorados de Sinaloa’s 2-1 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Sonny Guadarrama did not dress Dorados de Sinaloa.
- Ventura Alvarado dressed but did not play in Club America’s 4-1 loss vs. Tigres UANL on Saturday.
- Luis Gil started and played 90 minutes in Queretaro’s 1-1 draw vs. Morelia on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play for Queretaro.
- William Yarbrough started and played 90 minutes in Club Leon’s 3-1 loss vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- Miguel Ibarra did not dress for Club Leon.
- Omar Gonzalez started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca’s 1-0 win vs. Toluca on Saturday.
- Jorge Villafana dressed but did not play in Santos Laguna’s 1-1 draw vs. Puebla on Sunday.
- Sebastian Saucedo dressed but did not play in Veracruz’s 0-0 draw vs. Pumas UNAM on Friday.
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What do you think of these performances? Does Johnson’s finish only further emphasized the point that he should be playing in the midfield for the USMNT? How impressive has Wood’s season been so far?
Share your thoughts below.
Not mentioned anywhere here was Ethan Horvath’s performance last week Thursday against Sevilla in the return leg in the round of 32 for Europa. Molde beat Sevilla 1-0 and Horvath had a very solid game.
It’s not unusual for coaches in the Bundisliga and other leagues to rotate young players as fatigue levels rise due to the increase and intensity of training and game play, not to mention the intense pressure of playing in a top division or a large team. If the physios, who measure stress and fatigue levels quite regularly for youth players, see a rise in certain blood levels of certain stress pointers, they will relay this information to the coaching staff who will determine what to do.Sending him down to the youth level is one way to take the stress off and lower fatigue levels. Sometimes teams will bring up a player for a set amount of time and because it is a coaches decision that deals with tactics and strategy, will usually not inform the press.
I thought it is interesting that, while Santos started many of it’s regulars and sat some down, with three subs in the Puebla game., At least 4-6 players for Santos will be playing against the Galaxy on three days res,. If three of those are subbed out, at least 2-3 will play the whole 90. Having 2-3 players playing on three days rest is something that requires a level of fitness that few teams in the MLS have now.
Teams as deep as most of the Liga MX teams are, can afford to do this and this is why it’s really,really hard to beat Liga MX teams at this juncture. If you throw in heat and altitude, you have a double whammy. The Galaxy will have to work very hard to keep possession early and avoid chasing Santos and the game for at least the first half as I expect Santos to press hard to get possession and run the Galaxy to soften them for the second half.
i love that Wood’s goal was deflected off the defender’s face. i’m going to say Wood did that on purpose!
Bedoya had a goal incorrectly called off. Good to see Gil getting 90. Like someone else said above, Villafana was resting for CCL. Arriola looked good once again. hit the post on a ridiculous shot. that kid not only should be on the Olympic team, but seriously pushing for the senior squad. Disappointed to see Ibarra not even dress.
awesome to see Yedlin continue to start and Payne is quickly becoming a depth option at RB for the senior squad given Lichaj is constantly ignored. also great to see Cameron back. think the starting XI for March, as of now, has to be:
GK: Howard (not for much longer…)
DEF (R to L): Yedlin, Cameron, JAB, Villafana
MID (R to L): Lee, Bedoya, Bradley, FJ
ST: Jozy, Dempsey
obviously Jozy has a hammy issue to work out, but for now he stays.
I like your lineup. Question, did Villafaña play in the Feb. friendlies? If not, wouldn’t it be unusual to earn your first cap in a qualifier? Not that JK doesn’t do unusual. In fact, the unusual seems to be his usual. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
he did not. chances of JK calling him up are probably decent, but almost 0% to start him. but i’d do it. he showed well for Portland last year and has managed to move to Santos and grab a starting spot. he has the skill to compete in CONCACAF. plus, we need to get him integrated for Copa America.
FWIW, Miazga’s first cap came in the qualifier against SVG in November…
i doubt we see Villafana called up for the qualifiers since he hasnt been called in previously as JK seems to be big on getting a player around the rest of the team so that he is comfortable, so i’m not sure if he makes it in. Jozy will be out, he’s been ruled out for the first few weeks of the season and there will be no time to build his fitness or form before the Guatemala matches. All in all, it should still be quite interesting to see how the senior and u-23 teams come together.
i think he has to get called up. will he start? probably not. but he needs to be integrated ASAP so he is ready to start in Copa America (assuming form stays the same).
and yes, i am well aware of Jozy’s hammy, as noted. but TFC has had multiple reports stating it’s not that bad and given the qualifiers are the end of March, i think he’ll make it in. like you said though, will he be in form?
that all said, Wood, Morris, and Zardes should provide decent enough options.
I’m starting to fade on Zardes. Considering the minutes he got for the US last year he didn’t produce enough. I saw some good play out of him, but unless he has Donovan, Keane and Junihno feeding him and taking away defenders his game suffers. Maybe he’ll find his rhythm this year with the turnover that LA has gone through.
Silver Rey, I agree with you. Zardes does not have the technical or tactical tools to be a starter for us. What he does have is an incredible work rate, and good physical tools, which should be used later in matches against weary defenders, the same way Lukaku was used at the WC.
Yedlin is the same, although his game seems to be improving.
Why is Rubio Rubin not playing?
Still recovering from foot surgery. He said in an interview he was planning on returning mid-march.
A lot of ‘did not dress’ updates. Not good. What’s up with Tim Ream?
was wondering the same thing.
What’s up with Zelalem. Hasn’t been making the game day roster for Rangers in the past few weeks. Also, Pulisic not in the game day roster for the past 2 games.
He is got some kind of injury, not sure what it is
Pulisic started with the youth (u19?) team. Not sure why they brought him back down but its nothing unexpected or to read into imo..
Zalehem and Ream, Villafaña too, idk what has happened to them recently.
Good to see Danny Williams and Geoff Cameron back on the field.
I think Villafana is just a CCL scheduling consideration. He went 90 against the Galaxy on Wednesday and they have the 2nd leg tomorrow, so it’s not really realistic for him to play 3 matches in 6 days.