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

(Monday, September 1, 2003) -- United States goalkeeper Tim Howard was outstanding for most of the match, but he mishandled a corner kick in the closing moments, costing Manchester United a goal en route to the defending EPL champion's first setback of the early season, a 1-0 loss at Southhampton.

When Howard failed to collect Graeme Le Saux's corner, James Beattie was in position to put away a header in the 88th minute for the winning margin.

Around the 70th minute, Beattie fed Kevin Phillips who was denied by a great save by Howard. Seconds later, Howard turned away Claus Lundekvam's header. In the 75th minute, Beattie again rose above the United defense, but Howard was up to the challenge with the save.

U.S. keeper Brad Friedel recovered from an off day last Monday in Blackburn Rovers' 3-2 loss to Manchester City and was back in solid form Saturday in a 2-2 draw at Chelsea for a surprise point in the standings. Chelsea, which spent extravagantly to improve the club, entered the match with a 2-0 record and was heavily favored against Rovers.

After Andy Cole put Rovers ahead 1-0 after 19 seconds, Friedel was beaten seconds before halftime when Romanian international Adrian Mutu was put through cleanly. As Friedel came out to cut the angle, Mutu went around him before slotting the ball into an empty net from a tight angle.

Cole again put Blackburn ahead 2-1 in the 57th minute, but the lead lasted only four minutes before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sent a penalty kick past Friedel for the 2-2 draw.

U.S. keeper Kasey Keller endured a long Saturday afternoon with his Tottenham Hotspur defense coming apart in a 3-0 home loss to Fulham. Keller, who had played well in Spurs' 0-0 draw with Liverpool Wednesday and 2-1 decision over Leeds United August 23, probably could not have been expected to do more considering his lack of support.

Barry Hayles scored a pair for Fulham, exploiting two glaring defensive errors, and Luis Boa Morte added the third goal on a two-on-none break. Had Keller not made spectacular saves on Steed Malbranque, and Hayles, matters could have been worse.

Tottenham announced that backup keeper Neil Sullivan, who Keller beat out for the starter's job last season, is transferring to Chelsea. This leaves Keller without an experienced backup for the time. But it may not be for long. Newspaper reports say Spurs might be interested in acquiring Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Preston North End, with U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis excelling on the left wing, finally won its first match of the season, a 1-0 victory over Stoke. A Lewis cross to Brian O'Neil should have been the opening goal, but it was headed wide. His own blast was denied by a super save from Ed de Goey in the second half as North End raised its record to 1-3-1.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter went the entire way for the Bundesliga 2's Energie Cottbus which fell to the VfL Wolfsburg Amateurs 2-0.

American striker Conor Casey went 120 grueling minutes as Karlsruhe of the Bundesliga barely got by the FSV Mainz reserves of the third division 4-3 in a penalty-kicks shootout after a 1-1 draw. Casey was the only Karlsruhe player to miss his penalty kick.

American midfielder Joe Enochs also went 120 minutes for second-division Osnabrück which played a scoreless draw, but lost 5-4 in penalty kicks to the Bundesliga's Hansa Rostock. Enochs was not among the penalty takers.

In the Regionalliga Nord (third division), American defender Cory Gibbs scored a goal in the 52nd minute for St. Pauli Tuesday in a 3-0 defeat of HSV-Amateurs 3-0. Playing the full match, Gibbs recorded his first tally of the season.

American defender Robbie Russell started and played well for Sogndal in a 1-1 draw with league-leading Rosenborg in Norway's Tippeligaen.

American defender Wade Barrett started and played 64 minutes of AGF Aarhus' 4-0 loss to a much superior FC København in Denmark's SAS Ligaen. He was replaced in a failed effort to generate some attack.

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