Americans Abroad

Friedel's shutout drops Newcastle 1-0, might seal Souness sacking.

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

Brad Fridel made two saves, both difficult, to blank Newcastle. -- Blackburn web site photo --

(Saturday, January 21, 2006) -- American goalkeeper Brad Friedel needed only to make a pair of saves, but it was enough to earn another clean sheet for Blackburn Rovers who defeated host Newcastle United on a controversial goal Saturday in the English Premier League.

Before a crowd of 51,323 at St James' Park, the Newcastle faithful arrived demanding a victory or the head of manager Graeme Souness. The home side played well enough to have won, but could not translate possession into good scoring opportunities.

Friedel kept the match scoreless when he made a brilliant save on a blast from newly arrived multi-million-dollar transfer Albert Luque. Alan Shearer was forced to shoot wide when Friedel raced out to cut down the angle on a 35th-minute shot, and he stopped a hard header from Shearer in the 61st.

In the 75th minute, Morten Gamst Pedersen scored the match's only goal with what appeared to be his hand and not his head, but it was allowed to stand, possibly ending Souness' Newcastle career.

Souness coached Friedel in Turkey and England. Souness was manager of Galatasaray when the Turkish club signed Friedel in 1995. When Souness, a one-time Liverpool legend, moved to Rovers in March 2001, Friedel has already been in Blackburn for four months. Souness coached Friedel until he resigned to fill a vacancy at Newcastle in September 2004.

U.S. defender Jonathan Spector went the distance today for Charlton Athletic which saw a three-game winning streak end with a 2-0 loss at Southampton.

At 9-10-2 with 29 points, Charlton is tied with Everton (9-12-2) for 11th place.

Marcus Hahnemann (left), here making a save on Jonathan Macken, was sharp in Reading's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace -- Reading FC web site photo --.

Reading's remarkable season continued with a extraordinary comeback for an FA Cup victory Wednesday and extension of its English League Championship undefeated streak Friday.

On Wednesday, Reading erased a two-goal deficit, using three goals from Lero Lita to defeat West Bromwich Albion of the Premier League 3-2 in stoppage time of the third-round FA Cup replay.

Both of Reading's Americans sat out the FA Cup game. Graham Stack started in place of American Marcus Hahnemann in goal and saw West Brom's Richard Chaplow score twice against the run of play in the opening half hour.

Lita's tallies came in the 50th, 65th and 93rd minutes. Both sides used a number of reserves in the match and U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey did not dress for Reading.

On Friday, Hahnemann was at the top of his game as the visiting Royals used a goal by James Harper in the 81st minute to offset a penalty kick by Crystal Palace striker Andrew Johnson two minutes earlier for a 1-1 draw in the League Championship at Selhurst Park.

In the fourth minute, an errant backpass by Harper allowed Johnson, an England international, to go in alone on Hahnemann who smothered Johnson's shot. In the 25th minute, Johnson was put cleanly through by Jobi McAnuff, but Hahnemann again came up big.

Early in the second half, McAnuff deflected shot seemed headed for net, but Hahnemann was able to handle it. In the 79th, however, Johnson was again put through and this time Hahnemann was forced to take him down to set up Johnson's penalty kick.

Reading quickly responded with Lita laying a ball off to Harber, who drilled a shot into the right corner of the net.

Convey went the distance for Reading, often dropping back in a defensive role. Early in the second half, however, he found himself the recipient of a pass in the Palace box, but he shot inches high.

Reading (22-1-7, 73 points), which has not lost since the season's first match, is in first place, seven points ahead of Sheffield United (20-4-6). Palace (14-8-6, 48) is in fifth place.

Leeds United ended Sheffield Wednesday's three-match winning streak Saturday with a 3-0 triumph with all three goals coming in the 70th minute and after.

U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis went the distance for Leeds and was on target with both corners and free kicks. In the fourth minute, a redirection of his corner was barely cleared off the line by a Wednesday defender. Late in the first half, Lewis scuffed a wide-open attempt from the left side of the box.

The Wednesday defense, with American Frank Simek, held fast until Paul Butler put Leeds ahead 1-0 in the 70th minute.

Richard Cresswell added tallies in the 82nd and 90th minute.

Simek was issued a yellow card in the 90th minute for unsportsmanlike behavior.

Leeds (16-7-6, 54) held onto third place, with a game in hand on Watford (14-6-10), which is two points behind. Wednesday (7-14-9, 30) stands 20th among 24 teams, four points above the relegation zone.

American defender Jay DeMerit, having signed a two-year contract extension, started for Watford Saturday, but left in the 66th minute, well before the stoppage-time goal that defeated Norwich 3-2.

Paul Thorne put Norwich ahead 2-1 in the 62nd minute with a header that the Watford defense should have prevented. DeMerit came out soon after.

Watford won with forward Darius Henderson's second goal, coming in the 82nd minute, and midfielder Matthew Spring's winner in extra time.

American Zak Whitbread has had a positive effect on the Millwall defense and it showed again Saturday in a hard-fought 0-0 draw with promotion-minded Wolverhampton.

Robert Wagman is SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. Gary Davidson is SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Gary Davidson.