AMSTERDAM — US goalkeeper Tim Howard made four stops, including stopping a penalty kick, but his efforts weren't enough to save 10-man Everton from a 2-0 defeat to derby visitors Liverpool on Saturday. The US No. 1 kept the match scoreless into the break with a diving rejection of Dirk Kuyt's spot kick, but he was helpless to stop close-range strikes from Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in the second half.
The Toffees have lost by an identical score three times in the last four Goodison derbies. They slip down to 11th in the EPL.
Over in the German second flight, home side Ingolstadt squandered a pair of early Edson Buddle strikes to fall 5-3 to VfL Bochum. The former LA Galaxy star capitalized on a flubbed clearance by lashing home on nine minutes and then applied a spectacular lob finish to a 20th minute diagonal long ball to take his net haul to five on the season. But die Schanzer collapsed in the second half, conceding four goals, and fell to 13th place in the table.
Finally, up in Scotland, Rangers' trio of Yanks got the start in a 1-0 win over Hibernian that moved the champs nine point clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League table. Alejandro Bedoya was forced off at the break with a foot knock, while US teammates Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu each continued their fine form with 90 strong minutes.
