AMSTERDAM — Several US internationals went back to their European day jobs on Saturday, headlined by Oguchi Onyewu's winning Sporting CP debut in their 3-2 fightback at Paços Ferreira.
The defender worked a tidy 90 minutes as the Lions bagged three goals in the final quarter hour to post their first win of the season.
Over in the Scottish Premier League, Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu each pitched in strong outings as the injury-hit league leaders scraped out a 1-0 victory at 10-man Dundee United.
Next door in the EPL, Brad Friedel posted his first shutout and victory for his new club in Tottenham's 2-0 success at Wolverhampton. The former US star made six saves look easy to help Spurs seven spots out of the league cellar on a duck-breaker.
Elsewhere, Tim Howard was beaten by fine efforts twice over the final half hour as Everton wasted a two-goal lead to settle for a 2-2 share with visiting Aston Villa. As is customary when he's on campus, Brad Guzan served as the guests' backup netminder.
Eredivisie action saw Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar enjoy first place for about an hour thanks to a 4-0 cruise past Heracles Almelo. Four first half goals allowed Kaasboeren manager Gertjan Verbeek to give the returning US striker a short shift by bringing on the recovered Ruud Boymans at halftime.
Nearby in the Bundesliga, Fabian Johnson worked 70 minutes at right wing as fifth place Hoffenheim steamrolled home side Mainz 05 by a 4-0 count.
Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 were sentenced to their first loss of the young season with a 3-0 spanking at Stuttgart. The skipper flubbed a chance to clear on Shinji Okazaki's 11th-minute opener.
Down a flight in the 2.Bundesliga, Ricardo Clark went unused in Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-3 draw at Energie Cottbus and Luis Robles did likewise in Karlsruhe's 4-2 loss at Fortuna Düsseldorf.
