AMSTERDAM – Americans made a widespread impact overseas on Saturday, highlighted by AZ Alkmaar top gun Jozy Altidore's wonder equalizer in a 2-2 draw at ADO Den Haag.
Not long after nodding his side's best chance of the game just wide, the US striker acrobatically performed a left-footed volley from a sharp angle to gain the visitors a share. Despite Altidore's ninth goal of the Eredivisie season, the Cheese Farmers slipped two spots to 13th.
Next door in the Bundesliga, Jermaine Jones set up the late winner as second place Schalke fought back for a 2-1 home win over Werder Bremen.
The midfielder staged his own personal rally, having failed to track scorer Aaron Hunt on the game's opener. Jones atoned on 69 minutes, dribbling toward the right side of the area to draw the defense before cutting back to tee up Julian Draxler for the deciding strike. The Miners, still seven points shy of leaders Bayern Munich, have won four straight league matches at home.
Fabian Johnson and Daniel Williams each worked a solid shift as Hoffenheim posted a 1-1 draw at Fortuna Düsseldorf. With just one loss in their last four, the visitors nudged up to 13th place.
Over in the English Premier League, Tim Howard backstopped Everton's 2-1 comeback win over Sunderland with US boss Jurgen Klinsmann in the stands.
The backstop registered a pair of saves, the best coming to deny Stéphane Sessègnon early. Now unbeaten in right EPL matches and in the last 10 at Goodison overall, the Toffees moved up to fourth place.
Aston Villa goaltender Brad Guzan saw his defense disappear along with a two-goal lead in their 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United.
Led by killer sub Javier Hernández, the Red Devils hit three times in the final 32 minutes to flip the result. Guzan will probably rue the Mexico star's first of two goals getting under him, but was purely a victim on the fatal pair that quickly followed.
Geoff Cameron switched from right to left back as injury cover near intermission of Stoke City's 1-0 victory against visiting Queens Park Rangers. The win, the Potters' first in five games, lifted them to 12th place.
A leagu e below inthe Championship, Leicester City defender Zak Whitbread was charged with the highly questionable penalty call that facilitated away side Nottingham Forest's 2-2 equalizer.
Television replays appeared to show that the center back's 67th minute challenge on Reds forward Billy Sharp went cleanly through the ball, a point stressed by Foxes manager Nigel Pearson after the match left them winless in four.
Jonathan Spector went the distance at right back as Birmingham City battled to a 1-1 share at Blackburn. The result kept the roller coaster Brums docked in 18th place.
Bolton defender Tim Ream went unused as the visitors settled for a 2-2 derby draw with Blackpool.
Turning to La Liga, Oguchi Onyewu suffered a specifically harsh outing in his first league start for Málaga, a 2-1 home loss to Real Sociedad.
Though solid for most of the night, the US defender was caught out by a teammate's bad turnover in their end on Carlos Vela's opener and had the misfortune of blocking an entry pass directly into the path of Xabi Prieto on his 59th minute winner. With consecutive league losses for the first time since May, Málaga dipped to fifth place.
Finally, in Denmark, Michael Parkhurst rose to the top of the Superliga assist chart by setting up his side's first goal in a 2-2 draw with Randers FC.
With Charlie Davies seated in the away dugout, the former New England Revolution defender notched his seventh helper in 13 league games after four minutes and picked up a yellow card midway through the second frame. The champs remained second, while Randers extended their unbeaten run to eight games to hold firm in fifth place.
