Aston Villa @ Wigan Athletic (3-16-2010)
The Villans picked up a 2-1 win on the road. Friedel made a pair of saves as Wigan got off 13 shots, three of which were on goal. This week Martin O’Neill, Villa’s head man, did his best to smash Friedel’s lifelong dream of entering the coaching ranks. James McCarthy of Wigan led off the scoring with a goal against his own team. James Milner scored the second goal for Aston, but took note of McCarthy’s own goal and vowed to duplicate the feat later in the week.
Fulham v. Juventus (3-18-2010)
Fulham pulled off the 4-1 victory to advance in the UEFA Europa League. Dempsey came on in the 71st minute and scored a ridiculous goal in the 82nd minute to propel Fulham past Juventus 5-4 on aggregate. With this goal, Dempsey secured his place in the folklore of the London club. Deuce’s hometown of Nacogdoches, Texas is the sister city of Natchitoches, Louisiana. They do sound related.
Borussia M’gladbach @ FC Cologne (3-19-2010)
M’gladbach and Michael Bradley went to Cologne and left with a 1-1 draw. Bradley started, played the full time, and picked up a yellow in the 81st minute. FC Cologne’s nickname is the billy goats, and they are currently on their eighth live goat mascot. Mascot number seven is still missing in action after a trip to Chicago to take in a Cubs game.
Aston Villa v. Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-20-2010)
Wolves put three shots on goal and Friedel saved two of them. Unfortunately, James Milner was not satisfied with the score at 2-1 so he netted one for the away side. It was Milner’s second time putting a goal on the board in as many games, except this one was into his own net.
Bolton @ Everton (3-20-2010)
Everton picked up the 2-0 win. Tim Howard recorded his first clean slate since February 25th. Howard had the save of the match when he prevented Everton from falling behind. In addition, Tim recorded a Q & A piece for CNN.
Hull City v. Portsmouth (3-20-2010)
Hull suffered a 3-2 loss at home against Portsmouth. Jozy Altidore did not play in the match, but he was named to the All Time XI of the New York Red Bulls along with fellow US international, Tim Howard. Hull City will next face Clint Dempsey and Fulham.
West Ham United @ Arsenal (3-20-2010)
Arsenal netted a pair for a 2-0 win at Emirates Stadium. Jonathan Spector started, played the full 90 minutes, and committed three fouls for the visitors. Jonathan’s grandfather, Art Spector was the first player to be signed by the Boston Celtics and scored 852 points in his four year NBA career. His grandmother, Beatrice Spector makes excellent chocolate chip cookies.
Sochaux @ Lens (3-20-2010)
Despite a combined 35 shots this match ended in a 0-0 draw. USA Today caught up with Charlie Davies, Benny Feilhaber, and Stuart Holden to check their progress as they return from injury and prepare for the World Cup.
Fulham v. Man City (3-21-2010)
Fulham suffered a 2-1 loss. Dempsey came on the pitch in the 52nd minute and managed to fire off three shots, but he was unable to find the net. However, over the past three seasons Dempsey has scored more goals than any other Fulham player.
Rangers v. St. Mirren (3-21-2010)
Despite finishing the match with only nine men on the pitch, Rangers won 1-0 on an 84th minute goal. The win gave Rangers the Co-Operative Insurance Cup final over St. Mirren. Mo Edu came on at the half, but Beasley did not play. However, Rangers supporters are more concerned with the club’s £30m debt and the potential collapse of a bid by Andrew Ellis to take over as the majority shareholder.
AC Milan v. Napoli (3-21-2010)
AC Milan battled Napoli to a 1-1 draw. Oguchi Onyewu continues to work his way back, and may be set to begin training later this week.
Aris Saloniki @ Panionios (3-21-2010)
Aris Saloniki’s lone result of the week was a 1-1 draw. Eddie Johnson scored the only goal for Aris in the 11th minute. Freddy Adu did not play. Aris is sitting in 5th place, five points behind AEK. The full name of the club is Aris Thessaloniki FC and they are named after Ares, the god of war. The team is owned by the Aris Friends’ Club, which is basically a collective of fans who have bought into the team, literally. This is similar to the ownership structure of the Green Bay Packers, minus the awkward shareholder meetings.
Dru Boyer is a contributing writer for The Yanks Are Coming. He can be reached at dboyer1122@gmail.com.