AMSTERDAM – Stabæk loan midfielder Andrew Jacobson bagged his first Tippeligaen goal on Sunday evening, putting the visitors ahead to stay in a 3-2 victory at IK Start that lifted Bob Bradley's boys into the top half of the table.
With countryman Michael Stephens watching from the bench for the first time all season, Jacobson went the distance for the sixth straight time. With the game tied 1-1 in the 72nd minute, the New York City FC transplant fired a rocket into the top corner from 22 yards. Jacobson also saw yellow late as Stabæk held on to jump nine points clear of the danger zone with seven rounds to play.
In France's Ligue 1, Alejandro Bedoya worked 66 solid minutes as Nantes fell 2-0 away to new table toppers Lille.
The Canaries' No. 10 remained fairly active despite being starved for attack-end touches by the ball-hogging hosts. Bedoya did enjoy one good scoring chance near halftime, but his header was denied by Lille's Nigeria netiminder Vincent Enyeama.
Over in the Eredivisie, Rubio Rubin and FC Utrecht played out a snoozer of a 0-0 draw with nearby visitors ADO Den Haag. The striker was unable to put either of his shots on target as the hosts nudged up to 10th place.
Next door in Bundesliga action, Timothy Chandler went unused as Eintracht Frankfurt dropped a 1-0 home result to Augsburg. With an even split from their first three games, the promoted side stand 10th.
One level down, Andrew Wooten struck the winner with six minutes remaining on the clock to vault Sandhausen out of the drop zone with a 1-0 victory over guests Greuther Fürth.
Fielded as the lead striker for the first time this season, Wooten was quite troublesome during the first half. His best look at goal of the frame came in the 19th minute, when he shot just wide at the end of some good combination play.
Though held quiet for much of the second half, Wooten eventually decided the game with a bang. The US youth international capitalized on an area miscommunication between two Fürth defenders to lash home his first goal of the season for the home side's first victory of the season.
Elsewhere in Germany's second division, Bobby Wood stayed a spectator for 1860 Munich's duck-breaking 2-1 win at St. Pauli. The Lions rose from next-to-last to 11th.
Switching to the English second division, Eric Lichaj pulled left back duty as Championship leaders Nottingham Forest settled for a 1-1 home share against Derby County. Zak Whitbread was an unused sub for the Rams, who leveled matters with 10 minutes remaining.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans based in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
