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U.S. men's schedule, results
Sanneh scores for Nürnberg in wild 5-3 triumph over Union Berlin.
Howard named best keeper in England.
Lewis returns in style, scoring in Preston's 2-2 draw with Cardiff.
Lewis returns to training, hopes to play for North End Saturday.
Howard returns to goal, has quiet night as Man. United blanks Charlton 2-0.
Sanneh scores for Nürnberg in wild 5-3 triumph over Union Berlin.
Friedel records easy shutout in important Blackburn victory.
O'Brien re-signs with Ajax Amsterdam for 2004-05 season.
Sanneh reserve effort helps Nürnberg retake first place; Cherundolo excels for Hannover 96.
Howard will be given chance to play before EPL season ends.
Friedel concedes three, but Blackburn picks up needed win 4-3 over Fulham.
Howard will serve as backup to Carroll for rest of Man. U. season.
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Americans Abroad Reserve McBride gives Fulham 1-1 draw with Portsmouth, but misses winner.
and Gary Davidson (in Washington, D.C.) SoccerTimes (Sunday, May 2, 2004) -- Striker Brian McBride came off the bench late Saturday to score a highlight-reel goal that gave visiting Fulham a 1-1 English Premier League draw with Portsmouth. Any celebration by the American will probably be muted, however. Deep in stoppage time, he missed the potential winner, a sitter eight yards in front of a wide-open net. With Fulham trailing 1-0, McBride replaced defender Martin Djetou in the 77th minute. Eight minutes later, he took control 30 yards out and triggered a booming left-footed blast that beat Howard University product, goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and found the corner of the net. With time expiring, Junichi Inamoto sent a rolling cross in front of the net, but McBride, facing nothing but net, somehow could not convert. U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra was in the thick of the extremely physical affair for Fulham over 90 minutes. In the 42nd minute, Bocanegra was fortunate to receive only a yellow card with his blatant obstruction of Lomano LuaLua who was about to break free for an open run down the middle of the field. With the draw, Fulham (13-13-10, 49 points) failed to move up one spot from eight place. Portsmouth (11-16-8, 41) assured itself a return to the Premiership next season. U.S. keepers Tim Howard and Brad Friedel faced off Saturday with Friedel's Blackburn Rovers dealing a 1-0 defeat to visiting Howard and United on Jonathan Stead's tally in the 85th minute. United (22-9-5, 71) virtually was eliminated from any chance of finishing second with its automatic berth in the next Champions League, trailing Chelsea (23-7-6) by four points with two games remaining. Man. U., which now will have to go through qualification to get into the Champions League, did not use five key players -- injured strikers Ruud van Nistlerooy and Louis Saha, midfielders Cristiano Ronaldo and Roy Keane, plus suspended mid Paul Scholes. Manager Alex Ferguson wants to make certain all are available for the FA Cup final against Millwall May 22. Rovers, who were pretty much safe from relegation entering the match, guaranteed staying in the top flight, moving into 13th place at 12-17-7 with 43 points.
Manchester City also has been fighting relegation, but is virtually assured of staying in the Premier League after defeating Newcastle United 1-0 Saturday on Paulo Wanchope's goal in the 59th minute. U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna came on for City in the 71st minute, replacing Trevor Sinclair and helped kill off the final 20 minutes. City (8-14-14, 38). in 17th place, the lowest spot above the drop zone, has a six-point edge over Wolverhampton (7-18-11) and Leeds United (8-20-8) with two games to go, but with a minus-five goal differential to minus-27 for Wolves and minus-32 for Leeds, City is realistically safe even if its lost its last two while the latter pair each won out. U.S. keeper Kasey Keller and Tottenham Hotspur conceded a point-blank goal to Juan Pablo Angel in the fifth minute and lost 1-0 to Aston Villa. Thomas Hitzlsperger delivered a free-kick to the back post where Gareth Barry headed it across the face of the goal. Angel was left unmarked and had a simple task to head it home. Spurs (11-19-6, 39), in 16th place, are assured of another season in the Premiership In England's First Division, American keeper Marcus Hahnemann is back to fitness after recovering from a leg injury. But it was Jamie Ashdown, who has played brilliantly at times, remaining in goal and the teen came up big for Reading which defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Steve Sidwell's strike two minutes from time. Reading (20-15-10, 70) is in a three-way tie for seventh place, two points from the four-team promotion playoff with two matches left in the season. The top two teams earn promotion, while those in third-through-sixth places compete in a playoff for the third spot in the Premier League. U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis was back in the starting lineup for the first time in six weeks following hernia surgery, but Preston North End fell 3-2 to Norwich on Darren Huckerby's tally in the 84th minute. Lewis went the distance, earning a yellow card in the 81st minute. In a disappointing season that once contained hopes of promotion, North End is in 14th place at 15-17-13 with 58 points. In France, U.S. defender Greg Vanney, who has been fighting both nagging injuries and his coach's displeasure, returned to the starting side Saturday, but Bastia was hammered by Rennes 4-0. Swiss striker Alexander Frei scored twice and set up the other two goals for Rennes which was up by four goals when Bastia had a player sent off midway through the second half. In the Netherlands, U.S. midfielder John O'Brien is back training, but unlikely to see any more action this season as Ajax Amsterdam just about clinched the Eredivisie title with a 5-0 win at FC Zwolle yesterday. O'Brien was not dressed for the game With two games to go, Ajax (23-4-5, 74) has a six-point lead over PSV Eindhoven (21-6-5). However, Ajax has a goal differential of plus-31 to plus-9 for Eindhoven, so even should Ajax lose its last two and Eindhoven close with a pair of wins to pull even in the standings, Ajax would prevail on the tiebreaker. In Belgium, American defender Oguchi Onyewu continues to play very well for La Louviere. Last week against La Gantoise, he led La Louviere back to a 2-2 draw. Late, he came forward from the back line to assist the equalizing goal and win "Man of the Match" honors. This weekend, he played solidly in a 2-1 win over Saint-Trond which played much of the game with 10 men. Onyewu is on loan from Metz of France which started the season strongly, and then faded sharply. Still, Metz remained in the French Ligue 1, the first division, and it is expected that Onyewu will be recalled next season. Whether he will be a starter remains to be seen. Onyewu's former defensive mate in the U.S. youth program, Alex Yi continues to appear only in reserve matches for Antwerp and has not dressed either of the past two first-division matches. In Denmark, U.S. defender Wade Barrett has been battling injury problems and has not played in AGF Aarhus's last two matches.
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. Gary Davidson is SoccerTimes' managing editor. E-mail Gary Davidson. |
