Americans Abroad

Friedel's nine saves are not enough; Chelsea dumps Rovers 4-2.

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

(Tuesday, November 1, 2005) -- It was not a good weekend for Americans playing in the English Premier League.

League-leader Chelsea overwhelmed Blackburn Rovers 4-2 Saturday in a match that was tied 2-2 at halftime. American goalkeeper Brad Friedel made nine saves as Chelsea's attack came at him in waves, recording a 19-9 advantage in shots.

Playing at home at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea struck for two goals early. In the 10th minute, Blackburn failed to clear Frank Lampard's corner kick and he was first to the poor clearance. He sent the ball in front of the net where Didier Drogba steered a near-post header beyond a wrong-footed Friedel.

Two minutes later, Chelsea doubled its advantage from the penalty spot. Blackburn captain Andy Todd took down John Terry and Lampard converted the kick. Rovers, however, fought back to pull level on two goals by Craig Bellamy, one on a penalty kick in the18th minute, and another in the 44th.

But it was all Chelsea in the second half with Lampard netting an unstoppable free kick in the 62nd minute and Joe Cole adding another tally on a shot that was deflected into the net by Rovers defender Zurab Khizanishvili.

Blackburn (4-2-5, 14 points) fell to 12th place, one point behind West Ham United (4-3-3), Newcastle United (4-4-3) and Middlesbrough (4-4-3) in the tightly-bunched middle of the table. Chelsea (10-0-1, 31) is atop the table with a nine-point lead.

Newly-promoted Wigan continued its magical season, running its winning streak to seven matches -- including two matches in the Carling Cup -- with a 1-0 decision over Fulham with a goal in injury time at JJB Stadium. Second-place Wigan (7-2-1, 22), which lost its first two league matches, is 7-0-1 since

Visiting Fulham dominated the action, but could not break through. United States defender Carlos Bocanegra started and played well, but seemed to tire. In the 89th minute, he was rounded by Henri Camara who shot wide.

Bocanegra was replaced in the 90th and the move may have backfired when, two minutes into stoppage time, Pascal Chimbonda scored his first goal for Wigan, heading home a Graham Kavanagh free kick from six yards.

U.S. striker Brian McBride again started on the bench, not coming in until the 82nd minute.

Charlton Athletic (6-1-3, 19) dropped out of second place and all the way to sixth following a 1-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers (6-3-2, 20). Tottenham Hotspur (5-1-5) and Manchester City (6-3-2) also have 20 points.

U.S. defender Jonathan Spector went the distance for Charlton and was unfortunate in the play that resulted in Bolton's tally in the 75th minute. Bolton midfielder Abdoulaye Faye let fly with a shot from 25 yards in the 75th minute that Spector tried to block, but the ball deflected off him and changed direction, leaving his keeper Stephan Andersen with his feet tangled. Faye got to the ball, pushed it to his right to Hidetoshi Nakata who slid it to Kevin Nolan for a goal from close range.

In a Carling Cup match last Tuesday, Chelsea, resting seven starters, outlasted Charlton 5-4 on penalty kicks after the match finished 1-1 in regulation and 30 minutes of overtime.

Spector was on the bench as his replacement, young German defender Robert Huth made a critical error on a back-pass that led to the Chelsea goal in regulation.

Keller could do little in the 21st minute when an unmarked Sebastian Kehl powered home a header home off a cross from defender Leonardo Dede.

Keller was tough the rest of the way, making six saves, before being beaten again in stoppage time. Then, Dortmund launched a quick counter and Ebi Smolarek, advancing at full speed, went up between two defenders and looped a header over Keller to make it 2-0.

Oliver Neuville, who had been frustrated all afternoon, scored for G'ladbach on the last play of the match.

A bad week for G'ladbach started Wednesday when it crashed out of the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) competition after being soundly defeated 3-0 by Hertha Berlin.

Hertha exposed holes in the G'ladbach defense and its lack of scoring punch. Keller gave up goals Malik Fathi in the 35th minute, Ellery Cairo in the 52nd and Thorben Marx in the 80th.

U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo, who is still coming back from a minor knee injury, stayed on the bench as Hannover '96 suffered an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Arminia Bielefeld. Bielefeld got off to a flying start on a first-minute goal from Michael Fink and never looked back, getting a pair of second-half tallies from Isaac Boakye to put the match out of Hannover's reach.

Today, Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake announced that three rookies -- midfielder Kenny Cutler, goalkeeper Jay Nolly and striker Jamie Watson -- will train with Hannover for two weeks, starting tomorrow. The transaction is the first after the German and U.S. clubs announced a cooperative partnership January 6 along with the deal that sent former U.S. national-team midfielder\forward Clint Mathis from Germany to Salt Lake.

"Obviously I think it is a great opportunity for the three of them," said Salt Lake coach John Ellinger. "They've played a full season now as professionals in MLS. It's definitely a different, unique environment in Europe. Hopefully, it will be an eye-opening experience for them and they'll come back better pros because of it."

In the Netherlands, U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley started and went 57 minutes for PSV Eindhoven which outlasted a stubborn host Twente Enschede 1-0 Saturday in an Eredivisie match at Arke Stadion.

Beasley came out in favor of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, probably replaced to have him ready for today when he went the distance in PSV's critical European Champions League1-0 victory over visiting AC Milan.

Against Twente, PSV was frustrated by a packed defense, but finally got on the score sheet when Ibrahim Afellay scored in the 70th minute. Beasley came close twice in the first half, once seeing his long range blast saved by keeper Sander Boschker. Against AC Milan, Jefferson Farfan's goal in the 12th minute proved to be the difference. Early in the second half, amid mounting pressure from Milan, Beasley put a long-range shot on goal.

The Italian side was reduced to 10 men in the 84th minute when Jaap Stam was sent off for a second yellow card after slipping and grabbing Beasley's shirt.

On Sunday, Onyewu started and played 90 minutes as Standard fell 2-1 to Mouscron. Mouscron's second goal, scored by Karim Fellahi in the 54th minute, came after Onyewu lost the ball.

Onyewu was assessed the match's only yellow card in the 66th minute.

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