AMSTERDAM—Saturday got off to a terrific start for Americans playing across the pond, with Tim Howard and Everton tentatively climbing all the way up to third place with a 3-1 home defeat of defending Premier League champs Chelsea.
With Steven Naismith bagging the first hat trick ever scored against a Jose Mourinho side in EPL play, Howard needed just one save, one cross claim and a punch to snap both his and the Toffees' three-game losing slides against the Blues. The US star is now 5-2 in the last seven league clashes with Chelsea at Goodison Park.
One level down in the Championship, Eric Lichaj put in perhaps his best shift of the young season as 11th place Nottingham Forest pulled back to break-even with a 3-1 victory at Queens Park Rangers.
The right back helped his team carry play for most of the game, but was especially troublesome on consecutive sequences midway through the opening frame. Seconds after Lichaj's pinpoint cross ended in a blown finish, he broke in alone from good combo play to draw a big save from QPR custodian Rob Green. All tolled, the Illinois native completed eight positive passes in or into the attacking third while adding two tackles and a shot block at the defensive end.
Over in Germany's second flight, Bobby Wood hit for a highlight-reel goal as Union Berlin finally broke into the win column with a 3-0 rout of home side Karlsruhe.
The US forward netted his second of the term to double the lead four minutes out of intermission. Wood got the better of a midfield challenge and scampered all the way to the box before being knocked to the ground by Karlsruhe's Jan Mauersberger. Unlike a similar first-half sequence that saw the same defender halt him, the American would not be deterred, quickly jumping to his feet to fire home from close range.
Wood also drew a yellow card shortly before departing in the 72nd minute. Though they can still be passed by a few Sunday combatants, Union Berlin equaled Everton's table jump by rising six spots to ninth place.
