Americans Abroad

Lewis returns in style, scoring in Preston's 2-2 draw with Cardiff.

(Sunday, April 25, 2004) -- United States midfielder Eddie Lewis returned to Preston North End in style yesterday, scoring in a 2-2 draw with visiting Cardiff in England's First Division.

Lewis returned to the lineup more than five weeks after developing a right-sided hernia that required surgery. His first comeback attempt two weeks ago was aborted when he developed a pain in his left side.

Not long after Lewis had a shot blocked by goalkeeper Martyn Margetson, he played a give-and-go with Ricardo Fuller in the 15th minute. Fuller advanced and then fed a sprinting Lewis who blasted a left-footed shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Lewis, who played 90 minutes, nearly made it 2-0 late in the 40th minute, but his well-placed shot rang the crossbar.

Paul McKenna did put North End ahead 2-0 in the 45th minute, but Cardiff earned the draw with tallies from Andy Campbell and Daniel Gabbidon in a five-minute span early in the second half.

Lewis soon had a chance to put Preston back ahead, but Margetson made another of several great saves by tipping his shot around the post.

By winning their third straight game, Rovers (11-17-7, 40 points) moved into 13th place, eight points clear of the drop zone and, with three matches remaining, virtually assured of avoiding relegation. Jonathan Stead's goal in the 81st minute delivered the three standings points.

Friedel was especially sharp in the first half when he pushed a powerful header from Steve Watson over the crossbar and defused Wayne Rooney's left-wing cross. Later, he made a fingertip save on a low drive from Tomasz Radzinski.

Despite a strong match from U.S. keeper Kasey Keller for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal celebrated the league championship today, holding on for a 2-2 draw despite conceding two late goals.

Spurs gave up a pair of classic first-half goals to Patrick Viera and Robert Pires, and Arsenal could have had four had Keller not made several great saves. In the third minute, the Premiership's most potent strike force made it 1-0 after a good Keller save conceded a corner kick. Thierry Henry received the corner at the back post and fed Dennis Bergkamp whose perfect centering pass was tapped in by Vieira.

In the 35th minute, Bergkamp fed Vieira who pulled the ball back to fellow French international Robert Pires and he side-footed it home for his 19th goal of the season.

Keller limited the first-half damage by making spectacular saves on Bergkamp and Henry just before the break. In the second half, Keller twice denied Henry in the first 15 minutes. After Jamie Redknapp narrowed Spurs' deficit to 2-1 in the 62nd minute, Keller forced Pires to shoot high off a feed from Henry after an awful defensive giveaway,

Robbie Keane gave Spurs (11-18-6, 39) the draw with a penalty kick in stoppage time. Tottenham is tied for 15th place and is seven points above the relegation zone with three games left.

Fulham moved back into contention for a place in European competition next season with a 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic. U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra played a strong 90 minutes as Fulham easily blanked fading Charlton.

With a 2-0 lead, U.S. striker Brian McBride replaced Collins John in the 69th minute. Fulham (13-13-9, 48) is tied with Charlton (13-13-9) for seventh place, with its goal differential one better than Charlton.

Newcastle United (13-7-14), with a game in hand, and Liverpool (14-10-11) are tied for fourth place with 53 points. Fifth place earns participation in the UEFA Cup and Fulham, down by five points, has an outside chance of qualifying.

American Tim Howard was in goal for Manchester United for the second time in a week, but this time for a 1-0 loss to Liverpool. Danny Murphy's penalty kick in the 63rd minute gave Liverpool the decision

Howard was a bit busier than in Tuesday's 2-0 whitewash of Charlton when he was not called on to make a difficult save. Yesterday, he made three saves and also was also involved in United's best scoring chance on the day when Louis Saha flicked his long goal kick to Ryan Giggs. Giggs volleyed wide after being hurried by a pair of defenders.

With U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna still not completely healthy and on the bench, Manchester City earned a desperately needed point with a 1-1 draw with Leicester City. Manchester goalkeeper David James saved the day with a stoppage-time save of Paul Dickov's penalty kick.

Manchester (7-14-14, 35) is in 17th place, one position and three points above the relegation zone with three games left.

Reading (19-16-10, 67) is only three points from the promotion playoff but, in ninth place, must jump three positions. The teams in third-through-sixth places compete for the third invitation to the Premier League.

In the Second Division, American defender John Thorrington continues not to dress for Grimsby Town which lost 2-1 to Stockport and is facing relegation.

Grimsby (12-21-11, 47) is third from the bottom, in 22nd place and in the relegation zone with two games remaining. Grimsby, however, is within one point of three teams.

In France, U.S. defender Greg Vanney is out of favor at Bastia and did not dress as Bastia fell to Bordeaux 2-0.

Thornton is on a six-month contract, but there is much media speculation that Benfica will release backup keeper Bossio after the season because of his high salary.

The jury seems to be out on Thornton's future with the club. According to the media, he has not been that impressive in reserve matches, but still has a chance to be offered a new contract to back up starter Moreira.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. Gary Davidson is SoccerTimes' managing editor. E-mail Gary Davidson.