AMSTERDAM – A trio of Americans found the back of the net in German action on Wednesday night, with Fabian Johnson headlining by marking his Bundesliga return with the opening goal in Borussia Monchengladbach's 4-2 home win over Augsburg.
The left winger broke the ice just five minutes in, when he slammed home a loose ball from 14 yards out. It was Johnson's first league strike since last March.
Johnson, who was removed at the hour mark, completed 15 of 19 passes while adding three interceptions. The result was ‘Gladbach’s first win of the season, moving the club out of the Bundesliga basement.
One level down in the 2. Bundesliga, both Americans scored as Shawn Barry and FSV Frankfurt posted a 3-2 home win over Bobby Wood and Union Berlin.
Wood came out flying, drawing two saves and a deflection from three shot attempts in the first 22 minutes. The US international continued threatening until he finally broke through six minutes before the break, latching onto a Damir Kreilach pass to fire in his third goal of the season.
FSV Frankfurt leveled in the 52nd minute and Barry gave them the lead three minutes later. The right winger buried a cross at the back post to net his first goal for the club. He would eventually be removed in the 74th minute.
Ten minutes from time, Wood marred a great chance to break a 2-2 deadlock when he saw yellow for handling a cross. His gaffe would come back to haunt Berlin in second half stoppage time, when Frankfurt bagged a late winner to notch their fourth win in five games and move into seventh place in the 2. Bundesliga standings.
Over in Norway, Bob Bradley's Stabaek suffered their second tough defeat at Rosenborg in the last 10 days, this time in the NM Cupen semifinals. Cole Grossman returned from a suspension to work all 120 minutes for the Blue Ones, who lost a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes left in regulation before falling 3-2 after extra time.
Meanwhile, in Tippeligaen action, Ethan Horvath and Molde FK fell 1-0 at Stromsgodset.
The young goalkeeper logged five saves, including a big stop on Marcus Pedersen near the break, and plucked four crosses out of the air. Nevertheless, Horvath and Molde saw a three-game win streak snapped as they missed a chance to significantly cut their Europa League deficit from seven points.
