American Abroad: Edu Wins Old Firm
First Star: Maurice Edu got the stoppage time winner for Rangers, 1-0 over Celtic. In case you didn't catch that, Maurice Edu got the only goal in an Old Firm Derby. In case it's still at issue, that's the kind of thing that makes a player a folk hero on the blue side of Glasgow. Celtic were playing a man down from the 66th minute when Scott Brown was sent off. Edu, who came on as a 26th minute substitute, came close to scoring just after being subbed in and again eight minutes from time. He cleaned up a loss ball in front of goal three minutes into injury time for the win.
"I didn't see anything apart from the ball going in the net," Edu said about his first goal that was disallowed. "I will need to look at it again to see why the referee chalked it off. I just hit it and I was delighted to see it go in but he called it back so I just had to get on with it. Maybe the game owed me one! It was definitely a great feeling when I scored at the end."
Second Star: Even though it was in a losing effort, Aston Villa keeper Brad Friedel did enough in the Carling Cup final to take our second slot. Villa lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Wembley, falling victim to another Wayne Rooney performance. Villa went up in the 5th through a James Milner penalty. United equalized five minutes later through Michael Owen, and that score held until Rooney found the winner in the 74th. Rooney had come in for Owen in the 42nd minute.
"I thought in the game itself we were absolutely brilliant, particularly in the first half," VIlla manager Martin O'Neill said. "We played really, really great football. There were some magnificent performances. You can't keep a team like Manchester United at bay all the time. They came roaring back in the second half and showed the great experience that befits a side who contest Champions League finals and championships galore."
Third Star: Once again Herculez Gomez makes the top three, and again it's after he scored a goal for Puebla – this time in a 3-3 draw with Indios. Gomez was a first-half substitute. With Puebla and Chiapas tied 2-2, Puebla went a man down in the 57th. Chiapas went up a goal in the 83rd. Gomez came right back for Puebla, scoring four minutes later. Puebla would lose another player to a stoppage time red card.
In the Premier League, Tim Howard started and Landon Donovan subbed in at the 63rd minute mark in Everton's 2-1 loss to Spurs. Stuart Holden started and went the distance for Bolton in their 1-0 win over Wolverhampton. Marcus Hahnemann was in goal for Wolves. A league down, Jay DeMerit went the distance for Watford, losing 2-1 to Newcastle.
Michael Bradley took his usual spot in Borussia Moenchengladbach's starting XI, drawing 1-1 with Freiburg. 'Gladbach came back with a Roel Brouwers goal in the 72nd to split the points. In Ligue 1, Carlos Bocanegra started for Rennes in their 3-1 loss to Montpellier.
Mexican Liga, and Jose Francisco Torres went the full-ninety for Pachuca in their 3-0 loss to UNAM Pumas. Edgar Castillo also went the distance for Tigers, who lost 3-0 to Morelia.
Did Not Play: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers 1 – Celtic 0), Dominic Cervi (Celtic 0 – Rangers 1), Clint Dempsey (Fulham 0 – Sunderland 0), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa 2 – Manchester United 0), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday 0 – Reading 5), Kenny Cooper (Plymouth Argyle 3 – Sheffield United 4), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt 1 – VfB Stuttgart 2), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern 3 – Karlsruhe 1), Matt Taylor (Frankfurt 0 – Energie Cottbus 0), David Yeldell (TUS Koblenz0 – Augsburg 1), Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson (Aris 2 – Larissa 0)
Injured: Charlie Davies (Sochaux 0 – Lorient 1), Oguchi Onyewu (Milan 3 – Atalanta 1), Steve Cherundolo and Sal Zizzo (Hannover 0 – Wolfsburg 1)
