AMSTERDAM -- USMNT forward Terrence Boyd bagged a pair of goals for the second game in a row, including the late winner in Rapid Vienna's 2-1 defeat of runaway champs Red Bull Salzburg.
The US forward got the upset started with a well-placed corner kick header on the quarter hour. After having a decent handball penalty shout ignored late in the first half, Boyd got revenge by picking the top corner from a good feed to win the game with five minutes left.
The double took Boyd's team-high totals to 13 league goals and 18 across all competitions, a new career high. The 23-year-old also became just the fourth American after Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey and Aron Jóhannsson to hit as many as a dozen goals in consecutive top flight seasons.
The win pushed Rapid three points clear of city rivals Austria Vienna for second place while also extending their overall home unbeaten streak to 15 games.
Turning to Israel, Bryan Gerzicich dropped back into central defense to help Hapoel Tel Aviv boost their Europa League chances with a stunning 3-1 upset of league leaders Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Los Angeles-born midfielder ably pulled off cover duty as the defending champs were held scoreless until near the hour, a good while after Hapoel had finished doing their damage for the day. Now 3-0-3 in the Ligat Ha'al championship hexagonal, the Red Demons are four points shy of the last Europa League place holding a favorable goal differential.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans based in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
