Americans Abroad

Friedel stars for Rovers, but suffers unkind fate in draw with Man. U.

Paul Dickov (left) watches his shot beat Tim Howard. -- Blackburn Rovers web site photo --

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

(Saturday, August 28, 2004) - United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel was nothing short of brilliant, playing one of his best games ever in a Blackburn Rovers jersey during a 1-1 English Premier League draw against visiting Manchester United today. And he deserved a better fate.

Manchester United, with American goalkeeper Tim Howard and defender Jonathan Spector starting, tied the game when Alan Smith scored a controversial equalizer with about 30 seconds remaining in four minutes of stoppage time. Rovers played a man short after defender Lorenzo Amoruso was sent off with his second yellow card in the 71st minute.

Friedel made seven fantastic saves and would have had a clean sheet if United forward Louis Saha had been called for handling the ball. With his back to the goal, Louis knocked the ball down with his hand and Smith lashed a 12-yarder into the net for the 1-1 tie.

"It definitely bounced off Saha('s hand)," Friedel told Sky Sports. "I don't need to see the replay. It happened right in front of me."

"That's another wrong decision by the referee today," United manager Alex Ferguson conceded to ESPN Soccernet. "I think (Blackburn manager) Graeme (Souness) will be quite happy he got a point -- it could have been six or seven (goals for United).

Ferguson was happy to leave Ewood Park with a point in the standings after Friedel's heroics. "I thought we might go empty-handed," Ferguson said. "There are only a number of times you can hit a door and it doesn't open. In fairness, their goalkeeper must have made over half a dozen (saves). He did a fantastic job, but we had some good chances and should have been putting a few away."

A week earlier, Blackburn lost to Southhampton 3-2 when James Beattie scored on a penalty kick awarded for a seemingly non-existent foul on Craig Short. "It seems every week we are talking about referees. We went down to 10 men, getting battered and then that happens," Friedel said to Sky Sports. The lack of a hand-ball call "was one play on one day, but it was a critical play. We were hard done by at Southampton and hard done by here. It's not a personal attack on the referee. But we'll take it, we've got a point, and we have to take the positives from it."

Manchester United, despite a patched-up lineup because half of its regulars were hurt or suspended, dominated from the start. Manchester had 24 shots, 14 on goal, but only Friedel's superb saves kept Rovers in the match. He stopped Smith three times, Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo twice apiece, and Jose Kleberson once.

Brad Friedel exhorts his defense to tighten up. -- Blackburn Rovers web site photo --

"My defenders in front blocked a fair few shots today," Friedel said. "Some days it looks like a beach ball and some days it looks like a marble, but I was really pleased to play behind those defenders today. . . To get hit by a last-minute goal was a bit of a blow."

Against the run of play, Rovers' newly-arrived striker Paul Dickov beat Howard from a sharp angle in the 17th minute for a 1-0 lead. It was one of only four shots Rovers managed all day with Howard making only a single save.

With four defenders missing, Spector was given his second start in a row at left back. He had some anxious moments early when several instances of miscommunication with Howard almost proved costly. He was at his best on long runs pushing forward, but had troubles on defense, getting beaten to the outside several times. He was moved into the middle and then to the right side of defense before being replaced by Liam Miller in the 75th minute.

U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna had an up-and-down day for Manchester City which won easily at home, defeating Charlton Athletic 4-0 on a pair of goals from Nicolas Anelka.

For the first time this season, City looked sharp over the full 90 minutes, especially dominating in the midfield, thanks in part to Reyna's energetic play. He did, however, make one glaring error, giving away a ball that led to Charlton's best chance on the day, but the City defense rose to the occasion.

U.S. keeper Kasey Keller remained on the Tottenham Hotspur bench with Paul Robinson recording another shutout in a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City. In the dull match, Robinson was credited with just a single save to make Jermain Defoe's goal in the 35th minute stand up.

In an unexciting outing in the second-tier English League Championship, Preston North End fell 1-0 to Brighton when North End defender Marlon Broomes put a ball into his own net. U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis played 90 minutes, but it was not until late that Preston was able to generate much offense.

Craig Brown stepped down as manager after Preston's third straight setback and the club (1-3-1) turned the reins to Billy Davies on an interim basis.

Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was sharp while his fellow American, midfielder Bobby Convey made an early relief appearance for Reading in its 1-0 loss to Millwall.

Hahnemann made a number of good saves, especially deflecting David Livermore's hard-hit header around the post in the third minute. He kept the match even until the 79th minute when Daniele Dichio beat him for the game's only goal.

Convey replaced injured midfielder Glen Little in the 14th minute. Convey went down hard just two minutes later on a Dennis Wise challenge for which the Millwall player-manager was booked. Convey created several chances, but Reading was unable to finish.

The Corsicans again relied on their defense with American Greg Vanney at left back, settling in and not allowing many chances after giving up a goal to Sebastian Roudet in the fifth minute. Bastial leveled the score at 1-1 on Tony Vairelles's tally in the 81st minute.

In Portugal, it looks like American striker Kenny Cooper will be in the starting side when Académica faced Sporting Braga Monday evening in its season opener. Two Academica forwards, Dário and Delmer, both recovering from off-season surgery, have been ruled out of the match.

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