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Americans abroad

Ream surges & Scott debuts in dismal weekend for Yanks

From an American perspective, it was a terrible weekend for Yanks in England and Mexico. There was little to get excited about in terms of key goals, assists or wins. It was mostly losses, benchings, injuries, and limited minutes. Brian Sciaretta fills you in.
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
February 19, 2018
12:05 AM
THERE IS NO SUGARCOATING that this was an awful weekend abroad for Americans abroad. Injuries, losses, red cards, benchings, and limited minutes were the dominant themes.

Of course there were a few nice moments here and there, but it was overwhelmingly an ugly past few days.

How bad was it?


First the bad news – which will take up 90% of this column.

Likely national team starters John Brooks and Weston McKennie remain out injured.

In Germany, Pulisic came off the bench and played the final 15 uneventful minutes for Borussia Dormtund in a 1-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

Aron Johannsson started for Werder Bremen and went 76 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Freiburg. For Freiburg, Caleb Stanko did not play

Bobby Wood did not start for a fading Hamburg against Leverkusen but came on in the 54th minute with HSV down 2-0. After HSV cut the lead to 2-1, Wood flubbed a great chance to equalize the game and the coach singled it out afterward. Hamburg is now deep in the relegation zone – six points from safety.

In the 2.Bundesliga, Alfredo Morales and Ingolstadt are trying to claw into the promotional hunt but lost 1-0 at home to St. Pauli. The American central midfielder went 90 in the disappointing result.

On Friday, Haji Wright was scheduled to begin Sandhausen’s game against Kaiserslautern on the bench but was inserted into the starting lineup 20 minutes before kickoff due to an injury suffered by a starter in warmup. Wright was pulled at halftime with the score 0-0 but Sandhausen eventually won 1-0.

In the relegation playoff position of the 2.Bundesliga, Greuther Furth need points and it played to a 1-1 draw against Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday. Julian Green once again earned the start but did not score. He has just one goal in 1240 minutes in the 2.Bundesliga this season.

In England, there were no Premier League games on the schedule. It was simply the FA Cup and lower league games.

In the FA Cup, Huddersfield bowed out to Manchester United in the 5th round. Danny Williams went the distance in the 2-0 loss.

In the Championship, Eric Lichaj was sent off for Nottingham Forest with a first half red card in a scoreless draw against lass place Burton Albion.

Meanwhile, Lynden Gooch did not play for a likely relegation-bound Sunderland team in a 2-0 home loss to Brentford.

While on loan from Bolton, Antonee Robinson is continuing to be a consistent starter for Bolton and he has been a key part of the team’s survival hopes. But the English-American could not help his side achieve a result in a 2-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers.

Cameron Carter-Vickers has also done well on his loan and Ipswich Town seem very happy to have him. On Sunday it appeared as if Ipswich was going to post its third straight cleansheet with the U.S. international in the backline. Unfortunately Norwich found a stoppage time equalizer in a 1-1 draw.

Over in Holland, Vitesse suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Excelsior. U.S. international Matt Miazga missed the game with an illness and Shane O’Neill was an unused substitute for Excelsior. Desevio Payne also continues to comeback from surgery.

In Denmark, Nordsjaelland defeated OB 2-1 but rising American teenager Jonathan Amon was out injured and did not take part. Also, Bill Hamid did not get off the bench for FC Midtjylland in an impressive 3-1 win over Copenhagen.

Over on the Iberian Peninsula, two younger American players are back on the reserve team. In La Liga, Shaq Moore was out of the 18 for Levante in a 3-0 loss to Real Sociedad. In Portugal, Keaton Parks played for Benfica II which suffered its second straight loss by a 5-1 scoreline.

In Belgium, Kenny Saief is still searching for his first win since joining Anderlecht last month. Unfortunately for the Israeli-American, it did not come on Friday as Anderlecht lost 1-0 to Sint-Truiden. Meanwhile, Ethan Horvath hasn’t even made a matchday lineup for Club Brugge in over a month, including Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Genk.

Also in Belgium, Erik Plamer-Brown made the matchday roster for the first time for Kortrijk but did not play in a 1-0 win over Lokeren. For Lokerern, U.S. U-20 central midfielder Juan Torres did not make the bench.

Heading down to Mexico, there were a couple of positive substitute appearances. Alejandro Gudio played the final 21 minutes for Club Tijuana in a 4-1 win over Pumas to move into the playoff positions. Joe Corona came off the bench for the final five minutes for Club America as it found a stoppage time equalizer against Veracruz. Still, the top stories in the league are that Landon Donovan did not play in Club Leon’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Queretaro and Jorge Villafana went the distance for Santos Laguna in a 2-0 loss to Toluca.

Ream and Fulham continue to surge


The best news of the weekend for Americans abroad came in London as Fulham posted a 2-0 win over fellow promotion contenders Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.

Ream played very well again in another clean sheet victory. He led all players with eight clearances, six aerial duals won, as well as an 88% passing accuracy.

With the way Fulham has played as of late, it could very well return to the Premier League next season. Over its past 10 games, Fulham has acquired 26 out of a possible 30 points to move into fifth place.

Scott makes Chelsea debut

It was a weekend to remember for Kyle Scott, the English-born and raised Chelsea academy product who finally made his debut for the first team.

Scott, who holds American citizenship through his mother, is eligible to play for England, Ireland, or the United States and has actually represented all three national teams at the youth levels. His last involvement with the U.S. system was in 2015 with a U-20 call-up at the start of the 2017 cycle.

Scott, 20, has played with Chelsea since 2007 at the U-10 level and has risen up through the ranks. In the first three games of the Premier League season, he was an unused substitute for Chelsea.

But on Friday, Scott was named to the roster for a fifth round FA Cup match against Hull City. With Chelsea up 4-0, Antonio Conte had Scott replaced Cesc Fabregas for the final 28 minutes. Scott played well overall and picked up a yellow card.

It is a great sign for Scott. Even if he does not break into Chelsea’s first team on a regular basis, it should open doors elsewehere.

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