AMSTERDAM – Several Americans suited up for various sorts of midweek action on Wednesday night, with Borussia Dortmund winger Joseph Gyau making his first team debut as the hosts rallied from two down late for a 2-2 Bundesliga share with Stuttgart.
The recently-capped US international entered with BvB still down one in the 74th minute. It was an encouraging short shift from Gyau, whose bid for a winning assist came up empty when Lukasz Piszczek fired the American's 88th minute centering feed straight at the Stuttgart 'keeper. The result dipped Dortmund to eighth place through five matches.
Around the league, Fabian Johnson worked 19 energetic minutes on the flank to help Borussia Mönchengladbach close out a 1-0 home victory over Hamburg.
While Julian Green missed out for HSV with a sore rib suffered in Monday training, Johnson gave his side a lift off the bench. The US star drew a save on one of his two shots just after the start of added time.
Next door in Ligue 1, Alejandro Bedoya returned from illness to pitch in a solid shift as Nantes hosted a 0-0 stalemate with Bastia.
The Canaries No. 10 passed the ball around very accurately without ever having much impact around the area. The hard-working midfielder also piled up three tackles, three clearances and a pair of interceptions at the defensive end. After seven games, Nantes stand five points shy of the summit in seventh place.
Over in England's Capital One Cup, Tim Ream went unused as Bolton dropped out with a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.
Meanwhile Brad Friedel served as back-up netminder in Tottenham's 3-1 win over visiting Nottingham Forest. Spurs will host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Round of 16 during the last week of October.
Elsewhere in the draw, Emerson Hyndman and Fulham will host Zak Whitbread's Derby County, while Geoff Cameron's Stoke City will welcome Southampton.
The Beker van België Round of 32 also went down on Wednesday, with Sacha Kljestan playing all 120 minutes in Anderlecht's 5-3 overtime win away to mites Patro Eisden. The former Chivas USA man set up a pair of quality scoring chances during extras, only to have teammates denied by the home netminder each time.
In Norway, Andrew Jacobson went the distance and Michael Stephens 63 minutes as Bob Bradley's Stabæk dropped a tough 1-0 decision to NM Cupen semifinal visitors Molde FK.
Both American midfielders both took part in a fine Stabæk build that ended with Stephens missing the target. Jacobson also had a good chance blocked by a defender near the break. Molde scored the only goal of the game in the 88th minute, ending Bradley's quest for a first-year trophy with the Blue Ones in heartbreaking fashion.
Turning to Serbian Cup play, Freddy Adu made his FK Jagodina debut with 20 substitute minutes as the home side strolled to a 4-0 first round win against second flight guests BSK Borča. The result marked the club's first win of any kind in five games.
Finally, in Austria's ÖFB-Samsung-Cup, late second half sub Conor O'Brien started off penalties with a successful conversion as Wiener Neustadt advanced following a 2-2 home draw with FC Admira Wacker Mödling.
