Americans Abroad

Howard is shaky in Man. U.'s 3-1 loss to Arsenal in Community Shield match.

Tim Howard had a rough day in Manchester United's 3-1 loss to Aresenal in Sunday's Community Shield match. -- Manchester United web site photo --

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

(Tuesday, August 10, 2004) -- United States goalkeeper Tim Howard was shaky in net for visiting Manchester United which was rudely dumped 3-1 by defending Premier League champion Arsenal which found net three times after intermission in the annual Community Shield match before 63,317 at Millennium Stadium.

In the battle of English Premier League powers, Howard was not solely responsible for United's problem's in this major preseason test -- Man. U.'s starting strikers and half of its defense are out with injuries -- but he wasn't sharp either.

Several times, Howard came out of his net only to be beaten by an Arsenal player. Twice he was rounded, but Arsenal did not score either time. With the match scoreless, Arsenal striker Jose Antonio Reyes went around defender Mikael Silvestre and went in alone on Howard. With the keeper faked to the ground, Reyes went around him to the right, but could do no better than hit the right outside netting.

A minute later, Howard was not as fortunate. Reyes received a long pass and was 10 yards behind the United defense on the right flank. With three attackers going in alone on him, Howard came out to the top of the box but, as the keeper approached, Reyes perfectly led Brazilian Gilberto who easily shot into the unattended net to make it 1-0 in the 49th minute.

Six minutes later, Alan Smith tied the game at 1-1, blocking Arsenal defender Pascal Cygan's clearance attempt with his chest and touching once before drilling an 18-yard blast into the top left corner.

United could only stay even until the 59th minute. Arsenal midfielder Dennis Bergkamp's cross bounced off Gilberto and conveniently squirted to Reyes who was wide-open standing on the penalty spot. As Howard charged forward and slid to make a save, Reyes cranked his left-footer under him and into the net to put Arsenal back ahead 2-1.

In the 79th minute, Ashley Cole split two United defenders and carried into the left side of the box. Silvestre stuck out a foot to block Cole's attempted cross, but instead redirected the ball inside the near post for a 3-1 advantage while Howard stood helpless on his goal-line.

A minute later, American 18-year-old defender Jonathan Spector entered for Manchester. He has been registered by United for European Champions League play and will wear number 29. United was to start Championship League third-round qualifying at Dynamo Bucharest, but the match was postponed today because of inclement weather and will be played tomorrow at the national stadium in Romania.

U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna had another excellent preseason outing for Manchester City in a 3-1 triumph over Italian power Lazio to win the Thomas Cook Trophy. Reyna dominated the midfield at times and was denied a second-half goal by a tremendous point-blank save from Angelo Peruzzi.

Reyna is optimistic about the Blues' prospects for the season that starts next weekend. "There is probably a quiet confidence around the camp now whereas last season the expectations were probably a bit too high," he told his club's web site. "This year people are not expecting too much from us, so we can maybe sneak up and show what we really can do."

U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra might have won an opening day spot in Fulham's backline with a very solid performance in a 2-2 draw at Feyenoord of the Netherlands. He played solid defense and pushed the ball up the right side effectively.

In the early-going, Bocanegra put the ball onto striker Andy Cole's head, but the shot crashed off the crossbar. The match was played in sweltering conditions and American Brian McBride came on in the 69th minute, but neither side could muster much of a threat after that.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.