AMSTERDAM – Geoff Cameron made his first Stoke City start of the season on Saturday afternoon, going the distance in central midfield as the visitors dropped a 1-0 decision at Southampton.
The US international put in a decent day's work, amassing a game-best five tackles and three pass interceptions. However, the 68-32 possession disadvantage suffered by the Potters was too much to overcome, dropping them to 11th place.
Around the English Premier League, Jozy Altidore came on for the final 14 minutes of Sunderland's blundering 2-0 home loss to Arsenal.
The striker managed a pair of unsuccessful shot attempts in just a half-dozen touches. Sunderland stand just a point above the danger line, with arch nemesis Newcastle potentially dunking them below it on Sunday.
One flight down in the Championship, Tim Ream starred on his return to the Bolton lineup, setting up the late opener in a sorely-needed 3-1 victory over visiting Brentford.
Working from left back, Ream fired the cross for Neil Danns to break the ice on 61 minutes. The former Red Bulls man also pitched in five clearances as Wanderers won only their second home game of the season to slide up to 22nd place.
Elsewhere, Derby County center back Zak Whitbread notched a helper in a losing cause as the table-topping hosts fell to Wigan in a 2-1 collapse.
The USMNT hopeful's knockdown header allowed John Eustace to start the scoring just before halftime. However, Whitbread was beaten by the crosser on Wigan's equalizer and the Rams would concede again in the waning moments to suffer their first defeat in 13 games.
Meanwhile, another trio of Americans avoided the indignity of troubling home defeats. Both Will Packwood and Brek Shea watched from the bench as relegation bait Birmingham City were embarrassed 8-0 by Bournemouth, while Eric Lichaj went unused as promotion chasers Nottingham Forest saw their win drought hit six league games in a 3-1 failure against Blackburn.
Turning to the Bundesliga, Hertha Berlin defender John Anthony Brooks and Hamburg loan winger Julian Green squared off as late subs in the former side's 3-0 home win.
Green had the longer outing, replacing HSV skipper Rafael van der Vaart in the 66th minute. In his first appearance since suffering a rib injury last month, the teenager passed well but failed to rev the engine as his side missed a chance to jump out of the drop zone. Brooks, meanwhile, entered with six minutes left to help keep 13th place Hertha's first shutout in a month.
Finally, next door in Austria, Conor O'Brien was removed after a tough first half in Wiener Neustadt's 2-0 loss at Austria Vienna. The result kept the cellar-dwelling visitors winless in six league games.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans based in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
