AMSTERDAM – Borussia Mönchengladbach left winger Fabian Johnson worked from start to finish on Saturday afternoon, helping the visitors climb to third place in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 victory over Stuttgart.
Making his first start since October, the US international went close just nine minutes into the game. Johnson narrowly missed with the first big chance of the day when his drive from the top of the box deflected just wide.
All tolled, Johnson completed all but two of his 25 passes and chipped in with a pair of stolen passes to start Stuttgart breaks. As for 'Gladbach, they won consecutive league games for the first time since September.
Around Germany's top flight, Timothy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt were handed a 4-1 lesson at Freiburg.
Switched to left back for this contest, Chandler managed several good long passes into attack while leading the team with both four tackles and pass interceptions. On the down side, the American was among the culpable on Freiburg's second goal and picked up a second-half yellow card that will see him suspended for next week's visit from hot hand Wolfsburg.
Over in the English Premier League, Geoff Cameron watched on from the home dugout as Stoke City pulled back to break even with 3-1 defeat of Queens Park Rangers. The ninth-place Potters are now 4-1-1 in their last six EPL matches.
One flight down in the Championship, a fine outing from Bolton left back Tim Ream ended harshly as visiting Wolverhampton rallied deep into stoppage time for a 2-2 draw.
The reigning Wanderers Player of the Season was downright dominant on his flank for much of the game, continually pushing the hosts forward into attack. Ream looked for the longest time to have earned a game-winning assist when he worked to the end line before cutting back for Bolton teen hotshot Zack Clough to bag his brace on 25 minutes.
At the defensive end, Ream won all of his aerial challenges in racking up a game-high 10 clearances in the middle to go with a pair of cross blocks out wide. However, Wolves midfielder James Henry would rifle home from 25 yards near the death to snatch victory away from 14th-place Bolton.
Elsewhere, Daniel Williams was solid in central midfield as Reading blanked guests Sheffield Wednesday 2-0.
The US midfielder completed 18 of his 20 passes in or into the attacking half while also topping the Royals with three tackles. Thanks to their first win in four, Reading moved seven points clear of the relegation fray.
Jonathan Spector and 11th-place Birmingham ran their league unbeaten streak to five games after a 0-0 home share with Norwich City.
The veteran handyman drew post-game praise from Brums captain Paul Robinson after stepping in at central defense for the first time in nearly three years. Spector led Birmingham with eight clearances, adding three pass picks and a big second-half blocked shots to help Birmingham post consecutive shutouts for the first time since November.
Also, Eric Lichaj went unused as Nottingham Forest battled visiting Millwall to a 0-0 stalemate, and Oguchi Onyewu remained a spectator for Charlton's identical home result against Rotherham.
Finally, Alejandro Bedoya came on for the final 18 minutes to help Nantes fight back for a 1-1 home draw with Lille. The playmaker set up good chances for the ninth-place Canaries both before and after their 80th-minute equalizer snapped a two-game losing skid.
