Americans On The Continent: Bad Break

After goals from Bayern Munich-owned wunderkind Toni Kroos and striker Rob Friend helped close out the first half 1-1, M’Gladbach were victims of some poor refereeing decisions just after the break.  Two non-existent offside calls as well as a curious foul judgment against Friend saw some good opportunities for the visitors pass. 

Borussia went into the lead on 54 minutes when Bayer was unable to clear from a corner, allowing Dante’s deflected shot to squirm through.  However, just six minutes later Arturo Vidal wriggled past Roel Brouwers and Bradley to find Eren Derdiyok for the equalizer.  Pushing for the win, Leverkusen finally found their opening when Stefan Kiessling found a wide-open Kroos at the top of the penalty area and the youngster coolly stroked it home to give his side the victory. 

It was a different sort of match for Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 as they gave up a 2-0 halftime lead to fall 3-2 at home.

Jan Schlaudraff celebrated his return to the Hannover starting lineup after a season fraught with injuries with two goals in the first 33 minutes, with the second provided by Steve Cherundolo’s intelligent overlapping run and cross. 

Despite Schlaudraff’s efforts, it all came unstuck for Hannover in the second half as they conceded to half-time substitute Paul Frier after seven minutes. Just three minutes later, Bochum had their equalizer as Joel Epalle seized upon a poorly cleared corner, smashing it home to make it 2-2. 

Bochum clearly had the upper hand and threatened to grab a winner multiple times before Christian Fuchs swept home a beautiful free kick in the 86th minute to complete the comeback.   

Michael Bradley, Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)

Away to Bayer Leverkusen, 2-3, 90 minutes 

See above.

Next up: Vs. VfL Bochum, Saturday, January 16  

Steve Cherundolo, Hannover 96 (Germany)

Vs. VfL Bochum, 2-3, 90 minutes, 1 Assist

See above.

Next up: Vs. Hertha Berlin, Saturday, January 16 

Carlos Bocanegra, Rennes (France)

Away to AS Monaco, 0-1, Did Not Play; Vs. Paris Saint-German, 1-0, Did Not Play

Carlos Bocanegra could only look on from the bench as Rennes lost to AS Monaco 1-0 on Wednesday and beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Saturday.

Next up: Away to Sochaux, Wednesday, December 23 

Freddy Adu, Beleneses (Portugal)

Vs. Guimaraes, 0-1, Did Not Play; Away to Uniao Leiria, 0-1, Did Not Play

Freddy Adu did not see any action as Belenenses fell 1-0 to both Guimaraes and Uniao Leiria.   

Next up: Vs. Vitoria Setubal, Sunday, January 10 

Square Passes

Schalke’s Jermaine Jones has returned to training, but did not feature in Schalke’s 1-0 win over Mainz.  Speculation is rife that he will make his comeback in Schalke’s January 17th match against Nurnberg in the first game after winter break.

Kenny Cooper was in the stands with an injury as 1860 Munich drew 1-1 with Union Berlin.

David Yelldell watched from the stands as TuS Koblenz fell 1-0 to FSV Frankfurt. Matt Taylor was an unused substitute.

Aaron West's feature "Americans On The Continent" appears every Monday on Goal.com.

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