Yanks in Europe: Rough Day for Spector

Club play doesn't stop for Easter, so neither will USSD.  Here's a holiday edition of Yanks in Europe:

Benny Feilhaber continued his impressive return from injury against Randers today, coming on as a 16th minute substitute in a 0-0 draw.  He was very active in the offensive half, playing a pivotal role in Aarhus attack.  He covered a good deal of ground and distributed well, though his teammates were unable to finish off any of the build ups.  Though the result was a little disappointing (Randers are currently in the relegation zone), USMNT fans should be happy that Benny seems to be quickly rising back to the level of form he showed in the fall.

Steve Cherundolo returned to the starting lineup for Hannover in their road match against Hamburg.  It was a solid game for Cherundolo and the Hannover defense, who preserved a clean sheet en route to a 0-0 draw despite going down to 10 men in the second half.  With Jonathan Spector's shaky performance of late (see below) and Cherundolo's return to full health and the starting lineup, the race for the starting RB spot suddenly became a lot tighter (possibly even favoring Cherundolo at this juncture).  For now, however, Steve's main concern will just be helping his long-time club avoid the drop; they have a tough schedule in the coming weeks and may need to steal a result against one of the title contenders to give them any shot of safety.

Clint Dempsey went the full 90 for Fulham in their 2-1 comeback victory over Wigan today.  Dempsey wasn't involved too much throughout, with Fulham as a whole looking pretty sluggish (which is pretty understandable given their crowded schedule this year).  He did, however, have some bright moments and should have earned at least one penalty when he was clearly taken down in the box late in the game (in addition to another sequence in the first half where he went down after some contact).  Nevertheless, his team was able to pull off the result despite their lackluster periods.  As I've said before, though, with safety essentially guaranteed and a European spot far from attainable, league play isn't where we should expect to see Fulham's greatest effort anyway.  Deuce and the rest of Roy Hodgson's side surely have their eyes on Thursday's Europa League quarterfinal second leg against Wolfsburg instead.

Timmy Howard and Jonathan Spector squared off today, as West Ham and Everton battled to a 2-2 draw.  Howard had a handful of saves on the day, including a nice diving stop on a Mido penalty kick in the first half.  While he couldn't do much about the Hammers' second goal, he may have been guilty of guessing a little on the first, as he went down early on a scramble in the box, eventually getting beat by a fairly weak shot right over him from about six yards out.  Granted, the proximity of the shooter means it wasn't exactly a gimme, but Howard will likely want that one back given how savable it was.

Spector, meanwhile, had a rough day at the office.  In the first half, his attempt at a clearing header just went straight up inside the box, with Tim Cahill heading it back towards goal where it was nodded in for Everton's first goal.  The second Everton goal came after Spector was unable to clear a ball well, with the ensuing Toffees build up leading to another headed tally.  On the left side (where he played today), Spector just didn't look too comfortable and his play reflected that, with more than a few mistakes along the way (as well as in past games).  Performances like today's may put to rest the calls for him to start at LB with the USMNT, though a lot of that still depends on if necessity will force Carlos Bocanegra to play centrally.  It's all still up in the there at this point, but Spector did little to instill any confidence that he can fill that role at the international level with his showing today.

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Tomorrow, Clarence Goodson and IK Start will be in action, while Alejandro Bedoya will likely get the start for Orebro in their game against AIK.  Watford will also be playing, though Jay DeMerit's status for that one is still in question after he missed their Saturday match due to a minor injury.

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Happy Easter, everybody.