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List of Americans Abroad
Reading finally scores, but Hahnemann concedes lead in 2-2 draw with Blackpool.
Dempsey scores twice, adds assist to spark Fulham past Manchester City.
Edu scores first goal, Beasley injures rib in Rangers victory.
Friedel is sent off from Villa's 5-0 rout at hands of Liverpool.
Howard, Everton are on the upswing in English Premier League.
Bradley helps Gladbach mount effort to escape relegation.
Donovan to wrap up Munich tenure and rejoin Galaxy in MLS.
Healthy after long recovery, Spector is recording playing time with West Ham.
Foul tackle leaves Beasley bruised, but apparently not sidelined.
Bradley scores tying goal in Gladbach's 1-1 draw at Bremen.
McBride, Beasley stay put as transfer window closes.
McBride could return to Fulham of EPL, Altidore moves.
Friedel posts two shutouts for Aston Villa which defeats Portsmouth, ties Doncaster.
Beasley, Edu struggle for playing time for Glasgow Rangers.
Donovan scores, looks strong in pair of Bayern Munich exhibition wins.
Altidore's effort at Villareal has Everton eyeing a loan deal.
Rovers' loss is gain for Aston Villa as Friedel leads upward EPL surge.
Onyewu's future with Standard is up in the air as club ponders transfer.
Dempsey finds net twice, late header for Fulham stuns Chelsea in 2-2 draw.
U.S. under-20s Bernardo, Nazzani refine their trade in Italy.
Adu gets first start for Monaco in Cup loss to PSG.
With Friedel in net, Aston Villa couples UEFA Cup advancement with EPL success.
Howard, Onyewu face off: Standard, Everton draw in UEFA Cup.
U.S. players have seen their numbers dwindle in English Premier League.
Beasley helps Rangers get off to good start.
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Americans Abroad
Howard saves in tiebreaker lead Everton past Manchester United in FA Cup semifinals.
By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
SoccerTimes
(Monday, April 20, 2009) -- United States goalkeeper Tim Howard made a pair of difficult saves in a penalty-kicks shootout to lead Everton to a 4-2 triumph in the tiebreaker after a 0-0 draw with Manchester United before 88,141 who witnessed an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Stadium in London yesterday
Everton was immediately in trouble in penalty kicks when its first shooter, Tim Cahill, skied his shot over the crossbar. Howard, however, immediately saved the day when he stopped Dimitar Berbatov. As Berbatov approached the ball, Howard dove to his right. Berbatov tried to shoot down the middle behind Howard, but the American saved it with his trailing leg.
After Leighton Baines scored for Everton, Howard again dove to his right to deny Rio Ferdinand at the post. From that point, neither team missed and Everton prevailed.
During regulation and the 30 minutes of overtime, neither team mustered much of an attack. United, in the midst of a busy schedule with European Champions League games as well as English Premier League matches on the slate, left some of its better players at home.
Most of the 120 minutes were played in the midfield. Howard made three saves during match action, the same number as Man. U.'s Ben Howard.
Howard experienced a measure of redemption after starting his Premier League career at United, where manager Alex Ferguson proclaimed Howard his goalkeeper of the future before letting him go to Everton.
Another U.S. keeper, Brad Friedel had a strong match, making five difficult saves, but Aston Villa managed only a 1-1 draw with visiting West Ham United Villa Park, ending its slim hopes of qualifying for Champions League play next season.
Early, Friedel stopped Junior Stanislas, whose darting run had taken him through the heart of the Villa defense. Friedel managed to deflect his shot just past a post. A few minutes later, Friedel blocked an effort from David Di Michele and forced James Tomkins to fire the rebound over the crossbar.
In the second half, Friedel denied Luis Boa Morte from close range, but with six minutes left, he could do little when Diego Tristán headed a deflected ball into the net to pull West Ham level.
American defender Jonathan Spector again was not dressed for West Ham after suffering a concussion two weeks ago.
U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey went 90 minutes for Fulham in a 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough in Riverside Stadium.
:The hero was Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer, whose six saves kept his team in the defensive match. Schwarzer was Middlesbrough's keeper for 11 seasons to the regret of the the home fans.
Hahnemann, Reading play another scoreless draw
In the second-tier English League Championship, American keeper Marcus Hahnemann made eight saves for host Reading, which played a 0-0 draw with Barnsley at Madejski Stadium. It was Reading's third scoreless draw in its last five outings for a club which has scored three goals in its last seven league contests. The Royals have not found net in six of their last seven home games.
Reading, which once was in contention for the two automatic promotion spots, is now in jeopardy of falling out of the four-team playoff for the third berth in the Premier League. At 19-10-14 with 71 points, the Royals have slipped to sixth place, three points ahead of Swansea City (16-8-20). Reading has three matches remaining, while Swansea only has two, while the Royals are also 14 better than Swansea in goal differential should there be a tie.
U.S. striker Eddie Johnson played the final quarter hour for Cardiff City, which was humiliated by Preston North End 6-0. Cardiff still is in fourth place at 19-8-16 with 73 points, beyond the reach of automatic promotion, but able to clinch a spot in the promotion playoff with a victory in any of its three remaining outings.
American defender Jay DeMerit went the distance for host Watford (14-20-10, 52 points), which suffered another loss, 1-0 at the hands of promotion-bound Birmingham City at Vicarage Road Stadium.
Watford's defense played well, allowing only a late goal when DeMerit forced attacker Cameron Jerome well wide only to see his cross into the box come hit a defender's leg and fly into the goal..
American defender Frank Simek was dressed, but did not play in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-0 home win over Southampton.
Robert Wagman is SoccerTimes senior correspondent.
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