Americans Abroad

Friedel, Rovers have easy time blanking Birmingham City 2-0.

American Kasey Keller is a favorite with the Borussia Monchengladbach fans. -- Borussia Monchengladbach web site photo --

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

(Tuesday, October 25, 2005) -- United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel had an easy day in net when he earned his fourth shutout for the host Blackburn Rovers who defeated lowly Birmingham City 2-0 at Ewood Park.

Blackburn, which had the lowest goal total in the English Premier League last season (32 goals in 38 matches) is not exactly an offensive powerhouse, but a penalty kick and a late goal from substitute Craig Bellamy were more than enough to push past Birmingham which managed only two shots on goal.

The only save Friedel had to make was on a close-in shot from Nicky Butt that he easily covered. Friedel did control his area well and cut off a number of corners.

New Zealand defender Ryan Nelson, who played for Major League Soccer's D.C. United through 2004, is now a mainstay on the Rovers back line. He went off just before the half suffering a knee injury after a collision.

Rovers are 4-2-4 with 16 points, in 10th place.

It was a difficult afternoon for U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna and Manchester City who fell 1-0 to host Arsenal at Highbury.

The afternoon's only goal came on a 61st-minute penalty kick by Robert Pires, the result of a disputed foul. Reyna pushed forward well while playing a solid defensive role as Arsenal was held to just two shots on goal. He came out in the 73rd minute after injuring his knee and ankle on an attempted tackle.

Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers are both 5-3-2 with 17 points, tied for sixth place.

Playing probably its best match of the season, Fulham defeated Liverpool 2-0 at home at Craven Cottage on a first-half goal from Collins John and a stoppage-time effort from Luis Boa Morte.

U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra was especially sharp for Fulham, twice blocking shots in the late going as Liverpool pressured for what would have been the equalizer. American striker Brian McBride replaced John in the 76th minute and had a few good touches, but did not get a shot off.

Fulham is tied for 14th place with Aston Villa at 2-5-3 with nine points

U.S. defender Jonathan Spector registered a sharp outing for Charlton Athletic which erased a halftime deficit with two second-galf goals in a 2-1 victory at Portsmouth. The Charlton defense gave up an early 14th-minute goal to Dario Silva, but then tightened up and did not allow the home team many chances for the rest of the way.

Darren Ambrose and Dennis Rommedahl scored for Charlton (6-2-1), which is the surprise of the Premier League, tied for second place at 19 points with Tottenham Hotspur (5-1-4) and Wigan (6-2-1).

The only goal Keller gave up came off a scrum in the penalty area after an corner kick in the 18th minute. Ervin Skela found Marcello Pletsch inside the area and he pushed the ball to Boubacar Sanogo who showed quick reactions to beat Keller to the far corner from close range.

G'ladbach (5-2-3, 18 points) won for the fourth time in five home matches. It has lost only once since opening day and is tied with Schalke 04 (4-0-6) in fourth place.

U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo has mostly recovered from a knee injury, but did not leave the bench in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw with league-leading Werder Bremen Saturday. He is expected to start tonight against Alemannia Aachen.

Cottbus (7-2-1, 22 points) is tied for first place with VfL Bochum (6-0-4).

U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, coming off the midweek scoreless Champions League draw at AC Milan, started on the bench, but came on in the 58th minute and played mostly defensively.

Eindhoven held onto first place in the Dutch Eredivisie at 7-1-1 with 22 points, one point ahead of AZ Alkmaar (7-2-0).

The Dutch media reported this week that Beasley has a criminal court date coming up this week. He must appear in front of a police judge in Eindhoven to answer charges of customs violations last year when he allegedly did not declare a number of valuable personal items when arriving back in the Netherlands from the U.S.

In the rather strange world of Belgium soccer, Onyewu played the full game despite receiving red cards in two of his last three matches. Under league rules, all red cards are reviewed by a committee before suspensions are enforced.

On the first card given three weeks ago when Onyewu stepped on an opponent, the committee voted a two-match suspension, but Onyewu appealed the decision, claiming he tried to avoid bringing his foot down as he changed direction and the resultant contact was unavoidable.

The committee has not yet ruled on the second red card, issued for a rough tackle.

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