By
Matthew BraineAfter starting the season on the bench, Clint Dempsey has
become nearly indispensable in a matter of weeks, as he continues to carry the
Cottagers on the attack.
This past week against
Wigan, the former New England Revolution star
continued his great run when he netted his third goal in four games, putting
one past goalkeeper Chris Kirkland in the 11th minute in the 1-1 draw.
Diomansy Kamara crossed the ball into the box
and Dempsey snuck through the defense to touch it into goal.
Fulham have made a habit of allowing late goals, but their
recent play against Tottenham and even Wigan
until late was encouraging for a side that has been a bit disappointing so far
this season. The Cottagers will no doubt
take away several good things from their play so far, including Dempsey's quick
rise and Kamara's increasingly impressive play up front. The U.S. international has been
especially impressive this season, as only Nicholas Anelka (four goals) has
notched more goals in league play than the feisty American.
Who Played?
Carlos Bocanegra, Fulham
Vs. Wigan (90 minutes,
0 goals)
Captaining
the squad until the injured Brian McBride returns, Bocanegra got his squad
going early on against Wigan when Dempsey’s
short flick on after a Kamara cross gave the Cottagers a valuable away
lead. Unfortunately for Fulham, a late
penalty kick from Jason Koumas equalized and took away two points from the away
side. Despite the bitter draw, Bocanegra
was solid in the back and had a few chances on goal as well. Also, Saturday marked a milestone for
Bocanegra, as he notched his 100th Premier League appearance for Fulham.
Clint Dempsey, Fulham
Vs. Wigan (90 minutes,
1 goal)
Dempsey's
play in the last four games has been stellar and should continue to be as he
gets adjusted to English football.
Marcus Hahnemann, Reading
Vs. Sunderland (90
minutes, 8 saves, 2 goals conceded)
Although
Hahnemann conceded two goals on the day, in all fairness they were nearly
unstoppable shots. Kenwyne Jones' low
strike into the corner was pure class, as was his cross that set up Ross
Wallace's goal just two minutes into the second half. Hahnemann has been allowing a large number of
goals recently, but the back line shares much of this blame.
Brad Friedel, Blackburn
Vs. Chelsea
(90 minutes, 13 saves, 0 goals conceded)
Friedel stifled Chelsea
with some fantastic efforts in goal as Blackburn came away with a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. A Salomon Kalou goal was disallowed on a
questionable call by referee Howard Webb that had Jose Mourinho in knots, but Chelsea could not
penetrate the wall that was Brad Friedel.
The former U.S.
international’s performance was his finest of the season thus far.
Bobby Convey, Reading
Vs. Sunderland (12
minutes, 0 goals)
It
was encouraging to see Convey get on late in the game for the Royals, but he
still remains on the bench at the start and is rarely the first substitute
in. Convey was on the field for Dave
Kitson's strike late that gave Reading
hope. But for the most part, the U.S. winger played a rather
uneventful 12 minutes.
Who Didn't?
Tim Howard, Everton
Vs. Manchester
United
The rugged goalkeeper was 50/50 on whether he would play
or not against his former club. To avoid further damage to his finger, Stefan
Wessels got the start in goal and performed admirably. Howard's inactivity should be temporary. And
with two matches this week -- one in the UEFA Cup -- he should be in goal for
at least one of them. Another no-show
for Howard could be cause for concern at Goodison.
Jonathan Spector, West Ham
Vs. Middlesborough
Despite
West Ham's resounding 3-0 victory over Middlesborough on Saturday, Spector
still remains out of the starting eleven and was not among the five substitutes
available for the game. It remains to be
seen where Spector's place is on a consistent basis.
Kasey Keller, Fulham
Vs. Wigan
Keller appears to be the number two man for the time being
as Antti Niemi's performance was quality enough against Wigan. Keller was on the bench and could get a start
in the next few weeks when their Carling Cup fixture approaches.
Eddie Lewis & Benny Feilhaber, Derby County
It
is unknown whether the American duo will play tonight against Newcastle, but it couldn't hurt since the
Rams have looked overmatched so far in the Premiership. The two sides are in polar positions with Derby yet to win a game and Newcastle yet to suffer a defeat this
season.
Meanwhile up in Scotland:
DaMarcus Beasley, Rangers
Vs. Hearts (90 minutes, 1 goal)
Beasley was back in the starting lineup on Saturday
against Hearts. Rangers were down two goals early and 4-1 in the second half before
Beasley pulled one back in the 74th minute.
His left-footed strike was impressive, yet Rangers went on to suffer
their first defeat of the season, moving them one point behind Celtic who now
sits at the top of the table. Beasley
continues to do his part, as he has provided at will in this year’s domestic
campaign.
Coming up this week:
This
week will be a busy one for most clubs as UEFA competitions get going while the
league matches keep on coming. Everton
will host FC Metalist Kharkiv in an opening round UEFA Cup tie on Thursday and
then travel away to play Aston Villa on Sunday.
After last year's disappointing Europe
result, they'll be looking to make an impression early on with or without Tim
Howard. Blackburn will travel to face
Greek side Larissa in their UEFA Cup match before hosting Portsmouth on Sunday. West Ham only has one game this week (Newcastle), while Reading host Wigan
on Saturday. Hahnemann and company will
hope to get all three points after a series of poor performances. Dempsey’s Cottagers will host Manchester City
on Saturday, while Derby County have to travel to London to take on Arsenal, where it could get
ugly for the Rams. Up north, Rangers
will host VfB Stuggart on Wednesday in their first match of the Champions
League group stage. They remain home on
Sunday to play struggling Aberdeen.
Pub Talk:
New Jersey
native, Jemal Johnson scored his first goal for League Two side Milton Keynes
Dons on Sunday against Brentford.
Johnson came on in the 77th minute and scored in the 90th minute when he
curled in a great shot into the top right corner. Johnson's signed a new contract with MKD
after coming over from Leeds United in late August. The club is currently in the top half of the
table, sitting in sixth place after their 3-0 victory.
-- In his New York
Times blog, Jozy Altidore talks about some of his favorites. His favorite player is Thierry Henry,
favorite sport other than soccer is basketball, and then, he tosses in Busan of
South Korea as his favorite Asian city.
That Jozy is just wacky.
Matthew Braine is a regular contributor to Goal.com USA. His
"Americans in the EPL" articles appear every Monday.