AMSTERDAM – Fabian Johnson and Borussia Mönchengladbach broke open a tight contest shortly after intermission to post their fourth consecutive Bundesliga victory with a 5-1 away rout of Timothy Chandler's Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Johnson worked a solid full shift on left wing for the victors, while Chandler returned from injury to line up opposite his US teammate in the Eintracht right back slot on 52 minutes.
Just after 'Gladbach went ahead to stay and Chandler entered the game, Johnson pinged the near post from 14 yards. It was his most dangerous moment in a match that saw him pulling plenty of possession weight. The result lifted the Foals to 10th in the table, while 13th-place Eintracht remained winless in five.
One flight below in the 2.Bundesliga, Bobby Wood's Union Berlin conceded deep into stoppage time to settle for a 3-3 home share with St. Pauli. The US international worked all 90 minutes to help the hosts nudge up to 12th place.
Over in England's Premier League, Brad Guzan had a rough day at the office in a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea.
The US netminder rang up two saves and a punch, but will make the highlights for a 34th-minute gaffe that helped the struggling champs grab the lead. A poor Guzan pass allowed Willian to steal and set up Diego Costa for the opener. He was later beaten by an unlucky own-goal deflection as Villa suffered their fifth consecutive loss.
Elsewhere, Tim Howard's three saves were not enough to prevent Everton from dropping a 3-0 home decision to Manchester United.
Howard's best stop came after the damage had been done to deny a late break-in from former Toffees teammate Wayne Rooney. Not only did ninth-place Everton see their three-game home win streak against the Red Devils fall to the wayside, but their seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions met the same fate.
DeAndre Yedlin ably went the distance at right back as Sunderland fell 1-0 in a controversial road defeat against West Bromwich Albion.
The youngster notched seven clearances, two tackles and a cross smother to help the guests put on perhaps their best defensive display of the young campaign. Yedlin also pitched in with seven positive passes in or into the attacking half, but Sunderland stayed in search for their first win of the season.
Down in the Championship, Daniel Williams shined as Reading scored their fourth win in a row, a 1-0 victory over visiting Charlton.
In addition to completing all 31 of his passes, Williams helped patrol central park as the third-place Royals notched their fourth shutout in six home matches this season.
Also, Jonathan Spector watched on as Birmingham City climbed to fourth place on the strength of a 2-1 home win over Queens Park Rangers.
Finally, in Norway, Bob Bradley saw his second-place Stabæk side all but kiss their title hopes goodbye with a galling 4-1 home loss to Aalesunds FK. Cole Grossman worked 84 minutes for the Blue Ones, who also said farewell to a three-game win streak.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans playing in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
