AMSTERDAM – Cesar Romero notched a goal to become the first American to win a European top flight Golden Boot honor on Sunday, then set up the 83rd-minute Armenian Premier League winner in FC Pyunik's 3-2 closing day decision over derby guests Mika.
On 33 minutes, the former Chivas USA forward got loose from a long, splitting pass through the left channel and made no mistake to quickly cancel out a Mika opener. It was Romero's 21st strike of the league campaign and second in as many games, as the 25-year-old California native rallied late to finish one tally ahead of Shirak striker Jean-Jacques Bougouhi.
With seven minutes left in a 2-2 game, Romero accepted a long ball to race down the left flank before calmly centering for Zaven Badoyan to decide the contest. Romero's ninth assist of the overall campaign gave him both the goals and assists crown for Americans playing in Europe during the 2014-2015 campaign. Thanks to their 10th win in the last 11 overall home matches, champs Pyunik ended with a comfy 11-point cushion over the field.
Over in England's FA Cup Final, Brad Guzan watched from a Wembley Stadium dugout as Aston Villa fell 4-0 to repeat artists Arsenal.
Turning to Norway, Alex DeJohn shook off a couple of hiccups to help IK Start get well with a 2-0 victory at FK Haugesund.
The center back had his hands full with Haugesund rookie sensation Simon Diedhiou for much of the day, but settled as the visitors hit twice in the second half to post their first win in five. The result conditionally lifted DeJohn & Co. to ninth place.
Also, Ethan Horvath returned to a back-up netminding role as champs Molde FK tentatively climbed into second place with a 6-1 rout of visiting Sandefjord.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans based in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
