AMSTERDAM – Michael Bradley opened his AS Roma account on his Sunday return to the lineup, pouncing on a rebound for the insurance tally in a 2-0 victory over visiting Atalanta.
At the hour mark of a solid full shift, the US midfielder snuck behind the defense to clean up a spilled Mattia Destro shot. Thanks to their first home win of the young Serie A season, the Giallorossi rose to fifth place.
It was a harsh day for American netminders in the EPL, with Brad Guzan's Aston Villa suffering a 2-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur, who surprisingly snapped Brad Friedel's record consecutive-starts streak.
With the 2002 World Cup hero on 310 straight nods across time with three clubs and coming off a victory at Manchester United, manager André Villa-Boas turned heads by turning to summer signing Hugo Lloris.
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Clint Dempsey went 81 minutes for Spurs, coming off a quarter-hour after assisting on Aaron Lennon's insurance marker. The White Hart Lane crew climbed to fifth place on the strength of their fourth straight win.
Guzan, meanwhile, made four saves in a solid performance viewed from the sub's bench by Eric Lichaj. With their road win drought up to 12 games, the Villans slipped to 16th in the table.
Stoke City right back Geoff Cameron was among the standouts and Maurice Edu made a 10-minute debut as the visitors held Liverpool to a 0-0 stalemate. With their fifth draw in seven matches, the Potters nudged up to 12th place.
The Bundesliga's weekend card closed with Steve Cherundolo's Hannover 96 hitting near time to gain a 1-1 draw with holders Borussia Dortmund.
The US right back picked up a yellow in his 81 minutes, a shift that ended just before Mame Biram Diouf scored to extend fifth place Hannover's home unbeaten run to a league-best 22 games.
Across the border in the Eredivisie, Jozy Altidore was sent off with matching dissent yellow cards mere seconds apart in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 defeat at table-toppers FC Twente.
After teammate Adam Maher was shown straight red, the US striker was shown an initial yellow for what whistleblower Danny Makkelie would later tell reporters he considered "aggressive behavior" and "sarcastic clapping" at the ejection call. Much to his surprise, Altidore then quickly had walking papers shown to his back after he walked several feet away from the argument.
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Things went much better in Austria, where Rapid Vienna forward Terrence Boyd bagged the 86th-minute equalizer to rescue Rapid Vienna's 1-1 home share against Wiener Neustadt.
The youngster lashed home an excellent slip pass to notch his fifth league tally of the term. Despite his heroics, Rapid slipped to second place with an otherwise disappointing result.
In Norway, Josh Gatt set up a penalty kick goal as Tippeligaen holders Molde FK reclaimed the top spot with a 3-2 win over Sandnes.
The winger won a spot kick midway through his 45 minutes of action, which Jo Inge Berget converted to put the home side up 2-0 in the 23rd minute. Molde won their fifth straight home game to hold a two-point lead over Rosenborg with five games remaining.
Top-flight Portuguese action saw Tony Taylor work a strong second half in Estoril's 3-1 home loss to Rio Ave.
Next door in Spain, Málaga defender Oguchi Onyewu remains in wait of his La Liga debut after watching a last-minute 2-1 loss to Atlético Madrid from the away dugout.
Likewise, Sacha Kljestan remained a spectator as defending champs Anderlecht missed a chance to regain the Jupiler League summit in a 2-1 derby loss at Standard Liège.
Finally, in nearby Denmark, Charlie Davies went unused as Randers FC climbed to fifth place with a 2-1 win over FC Midtjylland.
