Americans Abroad

Friedel, Rovers fail to capitalize on Everton loss, tie West Brom 1-1.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
and Gary Davidson (in Washington, D.C.)
SoccerTimes

(Monday, May 5, 2003) -- Blackburn Rovers failed to fully capitalize on an unexpected chance to catch Everton in the race for sixth place in the English Premier League and an automatic spot in next season's UEFA Cup

After Everton fell 2-0 at Fulham, Rovers were within three points of Everton, but could do no better than a 1-1 draw over visiting West Bromwich Albion which tied the game when United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel was left flat-footed by a shot that redirected off a defender.

Friedel, the Premier League "Goalkeeper of the Year" turned in his usual strong effort and escaped the post-match wrath Rovers manager Graeme Souness directed at many of his players.

With one match remaining, Everton (17-12-8, 59 points) is two ahead of Rovers (15-10-12) who play next Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur and U.S. keeper Kasey Keller. Everton closes home against Manchester United which clinched the league title. Blackburn is currently five better than Everton in goal differential should the two teams tie in the standings.

Blackburn seemed comfortable in the lead on the power of Damien Duff's goal in the 10th minute, but the lead disappeared because of some bad luck in the 53rd minute. West Brom's Jason Koumas ran by several defenders and let loose a hard shot. Rovers defender Lucas Neill tried to block the shot, but it went off his leg, changing directions and leaving Friedel helpless to stop the tying goal.

Friedel then avoided complete disaster two minutes later when he saved forced Jason Robert wide on a breakaway and then saved the hard shot.

Friedel's career future could ride on the next Sunday's outcome. English press reports speculate that if Rovers do not make it into the UEFA Cup, they will have to cut their payroll and will listen to transfer offers for Friedel. Reportedly, Arsenal and possibly Manchester United might be interesting in acquiring him.

Speaking of Keller, the American continues to victimized by a porous defense, being beaten five times despite showing brilliance at times in a 5-1 setback at Middlesbrough. Spurs were undone in the space of five minutes in the first half when Middlesbrough, which had not scored in their previous three matches, found the net three times, twice after Tottenham midfielder Chris Perry of Tottenham was sent off with a red in the 23rd minute.

In the 22nd minute, Keller made a terrific stop on a bullet from Szilard Nemeth, only to watch helplessly as Malcolm Christie tapped in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.

After referee Uriah Rennie ejected Perry for a lunge on Nemeth in the box, Keller stopped Juninho's penalty kick, but the Brazilian followed up to knock the rebound home to make it 2-0 in the 25th minute. Two minutes later, the margin expanded to 3-0 with Spurs in complete disarray. An unmarked Nemeth was the first to react when Keller's parry of Luke Wilkshire's shot was only partially cleared and he found the corner.

Two second half goals from Massimo Maccarone completed the day for Middlesbrough. Jamie Redknapp produced Spurs' only goal after his team trailed 4-0.

U.S. striker Jovan Kirovski was not dressed Saturday when Birmingham went down to Newcastle United 1-0.

Reading (25-17-4, 79) finished fourth and is in four-team playoff for the third promotion spot.

Preston North End (16-17-13, 61) finished its season on a disappointing note, losing to Norwich 2-0 after an anemic effort on offense. U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis came close twice, once forcing Norwich keeper Robert Green into a great save and came out in the 64th minute for striker Lee Cartwright.

Ajax continued at the top of its game, winning its fifth straight outing with a 6-1 drubbing of RKC Waalwijk Saturday. With four matches to go, Ajax (22-3-5, 71) remained one point ahead of Feyenoord (22-4-4) which is unbeaten in 15 outings (12-0-3) after defeating FC Utrecht 2-1 despite playing a man down for 67 minutes.

Cherundolo pushed the ball up the right flank for much of the afternoon. Stuttgart (16-7-8, 56), which won on two first-half tallies by Sean Dundee. is in second place, 13 points behind Bayern Munich while Hannover (10-15-6, 36) is tied for 13th place.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter sat out a yellow-card suspension and did not play for soon-to-be-relegated Energie Cottbus which earned a surprising 0-0 draw with Hamburg SV.

Press reports in Germany this week indicate that FSV Mainz has expressed an interest in Berhalter. Cottbus has said it cannot meet his salary demands if it is relegated back to the second division. Mainz is currently in a three-way tie for third place and the final promotion spot in the Second Bundesliga.

In an odd situation, Metz and the French media reported that American defender Oguchi Onyewu's injury to the patellar tendon in his left knee might require surgery which would keep him out of training for between six months and a year. But the player himself is quoted as saying the injury is not serious and that he should be back at practice soon. A new MRI exam will probably clarify the situation.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. Gary Davidson is a SoccerTimes managing editor and can be e-mailed at editor@soccertimes.com.