Yanks in Europe: Jozy, Landon, 'Dolo, and Plenty More

Jozy Altidore got the start for Hull City in their match against Arsenal this afternoon.  He played 83 minutes, exiting with the score still level at 1-1 to a nice round of applause from the Tigers fans.  Jozy had a solid game, even with a 45th minute red card reducing Hull down to 10 men.  He created a couple of chances for himself and battled up top as the target option.  He even saw some time out on the wing in the second half, as Phil Brown looked to reorganize his side.  Without much in the way of service or support, Jozy still managed to be a handful for the Arsenal defense, a promising sign for the 20 year old.  He nearly helped his side to a great result, as well, but a stoppage time goal from Nicklas Bendtner gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory and robbed Hull of a point.  Jozy can at least take solace in the fact that his strong showing should earn him another start next week over Amr Zaki, who has been unimpressive in his time with Hull to date.

Landon Donovan closed out his loan spell with Everton (we think) with another solid substitute appearance in what finished as a 2-2 draw with Birmingham.  He came on in the 67th minute with the match level, replacing Ayegbeni Yakubu up top.  He was very active up top and made some good runs into space in the attacking half.  He had a couple of quick passing sequences along the wing, as well, but he and his teammates could not find the go-ahead goal in the final minutes, settling for a point after leading by two goals early in the match.  All in all, another good performance from Donovan to cap off what has been a superb loan with the Toffees.

Tim Howard, meanwhile, made four saves in the match but couldn't do much about either of the Birmingham goals.  The first came off of a subtle deflection by Cameron Jerome at the edge of the six that bounced inside the far post, while the second came off of a good shot from 20 yards out that found the lower corner. 

Marcus Hahnemann turned in a strong performance in a pivotal six-pointer against Burnley.  He had six saves in the 2-1 road victory, a game in which Burnley outshot Wolves 20 (7 on goal) to 7 (3).  With the hosts trailing by one in the final 15 minutes, they pressed forward with wave after wave of attack, but they couldn't find the equalizer.  The win pushes Wolves three points clear of the drop zone with a game in hand on Burnley and a goal differential that's 10 better than that of Hull City (who are also three points behind Wolves).  Safety is looking more and more attainable as the season draws to a close, and Hahnemann has played a big role in that.  I'm sure Bob Bradley has taken notice.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover earned a 2-1 win over Frankfurt, pushing them to within a point of safety.  Cherundolo came on in the 55th minute and registered an assist two minutes later on the eventual game winner:




Okay, maybe it was just a mishit that bounced the right way, but it's an assist nonetheless!  It was a very good performance for Cherundolo (whose form hit a rough patch prior to his shoulder injury), as he added width and support on the flank in the attack while also contributing on the defensive end to preserve the lead.  He picked up a yellow card in the 90th minute, as well.

While Ricardo Clark once again rode the pine for Frankfurt, there was some positive developments in Rico Debut Watch 2010.  Frankfurt midfielder Selim Teber picked up a red card in the match, and depending on how his manager handles that absence, we could very well see Rico make his debut next week at home against league leaders Bayern Munich.  That certainly wouldn't be a bad way to get introduced to the Bundesliga.

Michael Bradley had a very disappointing game for Borussia Monchengladbach this morning, as they dropped a 4-0 decision to Wolfsburg at home.  On the first Wolfsburg goal, Bradley moved out of the center towards the edge of the box to meet Edin Dzeko, but his tackle was very poor, allowing the ball to eventually work its way to the top of the box (the area that Bradley had vacated in the first place) where Zvjezdan Misimovic hit it home.  On the other side of halftime, Bradley was once again involved in a goal, as he handled the ball inside the area, with Dzeko burying the ensuing PK.  It looked as if Bradley instinctively stuck his hand out on a close volley to protect himself, and the ref spotted it easily. 

Besides those two moments, Bradley just didn't look very sharp or involved in the midfield.  Only towards the end of the match did he start playing with some vigor.  Overall, though, it was just an all-around rough day for Bradley and BMG.

Jonathan Spector played 90 minutes at RB for West Ham in their 4-1 loss to Chelsea.  Spector had a lot of problems keeping up with Florent Malouda on the wing, as he was often tucked in centrally and giving the Chelsea midfielder a good deal of space.  To be fair, Spector really didn't get much help from his midfield (which seems to be the norm), but regardless, it wasn't one of his better games. 

Jay DeMerit went 90 minutes for Watford in a disappointing 1-0 home loss to last place Peterborough United.  He did not pick up any cards along the way, and he was not involved in the lone goal, which came off of a shot from well outside the box.
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Injured/Did Not Play

Stuart Holden (broken leg)
Ricardo Clark (unused substitute)
Frank Simek (unused substitute)
Charlie Davies (multiple injuries)

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