I apologize for my Jonathan Spector v. Ryan Giggs like effort this week, but I’ve had too much going on. Forgive me, lets all get drunk and forget about it this weekend…deal?
Bolton @ Southampton 8/24/10
Stu Holden entered the Carling Cup match in the 66th minute for the away side and did his part to secure the 1-0 victory. With the win, Bolton have wandered their way (see what I did there) into the 3rd round of the Carling Cup. Holden should be happy to know that Grahame Jones of the L.A. Times believes he will be part of the nucleus of the 2014 USMNT squad.
West Ham v. Oxford United 8/24/10
The Hammers struggled with the lessor opponent in the Carling Cup match, and let them hang around for an hour and a half before breaking the hearts of the boys from Oxford. Scott Parker of West Ham finally found the net in the 90th minute at Upton Park to secure the victory. Jonathan Spector started and played the full 90 in his first action since the USMNT met Turkey on May 29th.
Everton v. Huddersfield Town 8/25/10
Timmy Howard got the day off as the Blues cruised into the 3rd round of the Carling Cup with a 5-1 win at Goodison Park. Moving right along…
Fulham v. Port Vale 8/25/10
Clint Dempsey entered in the 46th minute and put the sprinkles on top of the cherry which was already on top of the icing on the cake and Fulham cruised 6-0 at the Cottage. Dempsey found the back of the net in the 70th minute, and although largely meaningless it was a very nice effort from Deuce. With the victory, the Cottagers advance to the 3rd round of the Carling Cup.
Aston Villa v. Rapid Vienna 8/26/10
Brad Guzan got the start between the posts for the Villans and gave up three goals, including 2 in the final 12 minutes as Rapid Vienna pulled of a 3-2 win. To make matters worse, the final gave Rapid a 4-3 win on the aggregate to knock Villa out of the Europa league. It has been a tough start to the season for the pair of American keepers at Villa Park.
Fulham @ Blackpool 8/28/10
Dempsey came on in the 59th minute in the 2-2 draw and put a shot on goal, but was unable to repeat his performance from earlier in the week. Dempsey has appeared in all four games for Fulham, registering 11 shots, 7 of which were on goal, with one finding the net…but is yet to play a full 90 minutes. Figure that out. Or just be Mark Hughes.
West Ham @ Man U. 8/28/10
Spector started and played all 90 minutes at Old Trafford, but he probably wished he hadn’t come on until the 34th minute. Spector was toasted by the 63 year old Ryan Giggs and then committed a careless tackle in the box resulting in a 33rd minute penalty from Rooney. The Red Devils went on to pick up a 3-0 win in a match that I started watching on the couch and finished watching at the bar. I love Saturday afternoons.
Rangers v. St. Johnstone 8/28/10
Mo Edu only saw the final 7 minutes of action in the 2-1 victory at Ibrox Stadium. Mo is especially looking forward to seeing action in the Champions League this season, and to “hopefully get a few goals”. Good luck with that, holding midfielder/defensive mid guy.
St. Etienne v. Lens 8/28/10
Carlos Bocanegra played the full match for the home side in their 3-1 victory. Carlos has no plans of ending his run with the USMNT, despite the fact that he will be 35 years young at the 2014 Cup.
Schalke 04 @ Hannover 96 8/28/10
Jermaine Jones scored in the 82nd minute for the away side, but it was too little too late as Steve Cherundolo and his Hannover squad pulled out the 2-1 victory. If this match had been a week later it could have featured an additional Yank as DaMarcus Beasley has now joined Cherundolo in Hannover.
Aston Villa v. Everton 8/29/10
Villa was able to bounce back with Brad Friedel returning to goal against Tim Howard, who was also returning to the net after a rare match off for the Toffees. Villa pulled out a 1-0 win in front of 34,725 at Villa Park. Friedel made 5 saves while Timmy H. stopped four, in quite possibly the most boring 90 minutes of footy I’ve seen in quite some time. Eric Lichaj looked splendid…on the Aston Villa bench.
Bolton v. Birmingham 8/29/10
Stu Holden returned to the starting 11 and participated in the first 78 minutes of the 2-2 titanic struggle. Through 4 games this season the Wanderers have yet to concede a point, however they next travel to Emirates Stadium to meet Arsenal…good luck with that one.
Borussia M’gladbach @ Bayer Leverkusen 8/29/10
Bradley and the boys won a wild one on the road 6-3. Although he did not score one of the six goals, MB90 played the full match and managed to avoid being booked while putting a shot on goal. And uh, his dad got four more years.
Dru Boyer is a staff writer for The Yanks Are Coming. He can be reached at dru@yanksarecoming.com or found on Twitter, at @SwampJankins.