AMSTERDAM—A solid effort from Geoff Cameron went to waste as Stoke City dropped a 2-0 Premier League decision at Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
The Potters center back was not culpable on either Gunners goal, but drew notice in other ways: in addition to a handful of helpful charges out of the back, Cameron notched a game-high 8 clearances to go with a pair of area shot blocks. Yet Stoke – still winless through five games – fell into the EPL basement.
The news was much better down in the Championship, where Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City continued their fine start to the season.
In a 4-2 victory against visiting Bristol City, the veteran center back piled up 5 clearances, 4 pass interceptions and 2 tackles. With his help, the unbeaten hosts jumped to fourth place – with a game in hand on those around them.
Turning to Norway's Tippeligaen, Ethan Horvath put on a star show to help Molde post a 4-2 win over 10-man hosts Sandefjord.
The young netminder logged 4 saves, including a pair of huge stops during a tight first half. Horvath cruelly robbed Kjell Rune Sellin just 5 minutes into the contest, and then committed a second count of larceny on the Sandefjord striker's restart header near the half-hour. Thanks to their third win in four league road games, Molde pulled into seventh place, six points shy of the last Europa League slot.
Turning to the Bundesliga, Alfredo Morales worked a lukewarm full shift in Ingolstadt's solid 0-0 home draw with Wolfsburg.
The US midfielder pitched in with 3 tackles, 3 clearances and a cross block, but also went into the ref's book. With their first top-flight home point in the bank, Ingolstadt stand sixth.
Over in Bulgaria's A-PFG, Litex Lovech striker BjørnMaars Johnsen bagged his first league goal of the term to cap a 2-0 victory at Botev Plovdiv.
Not long after the North Carolina native saw two good set-ups left wanting for the right finish, Johnsen scored his third goal across all competitions by slamming home a woodwork rebound with 9 minutes to play. The win nudged Johnsen and the Oranges to the league summit, for at least a few hours.
Finally, in Scotland's Championship, Gedion Zelalam worked 74 decent minutes as Rangers stayed clear at the top following a 3-0 decision over guests Livingston. The Ibrox faithful were in an uproar after the US Olympic team candidate had a first-half penalty gripe ignored by the referee.
