Americans Abroad: Maurice Edu Scores for Rangers

The U.S. national team's central midfield depth chart seems to get more and more crowded by the week.

Presumed starters Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley recently left less-than-enviable club situations for new homes in the English Premier League, with Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa (still to be finalized), respectively.

Stuart Holden has been starring at Bolton, Sacha Kljestan has been contributing at Anderlecht, and despite playing different positions for much of their careers, Jonathan Spector and Jonathan Bornstein are getting minutes in the middle for their clubs.

Then there's Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber and Jos� Torres, who went to the World Cup, and up-and-comers like Mikkel Diskerud and Dax McCarty.

Amid it all, Maurice Edu is doing his best to avoid getting lost in the shuffle.

Making his second start for Ranters since returning from a two-month injury layoff, Edu scored the opener in Saturday's 2-1 win over Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup semifinals.

In the 20th minute, Edu collected the ball 30 yards from goal, took a dribble to his left and cranked a left-footed drive that sailed into the far side netting. It was the third goal of the campaign and second of the month for Edu, who went the full 90 minutes against Motherwell.

Rangers will face Celtic (surprise!) in the League Cup decider on March 20.

Here's the goal:

NOTABLE OUTINGS

Although Edu was the only American abroad to find net this weekend, Clint Dempsey was an attacking force in his own right during Fulham's 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round.

Dempsey drew the penalty that put the Cottagers ahead in the 11th minute and hit the crossbar a few moments later.

Fulham will host Holden's Bolton or Wigan Athletic in the fifth round next month.

Also in the FA Cup, Marcus Hahnemann got a rare start for Wolverhampton Wanderers, making nine saves during his side's 1-0 loss to visiting Stoke City.

In Germany, U.S. U-20 national team forward Bobby Wood made his debut with second-tier 1860 Munich, logging eight minutes off the bench as his squad played to a 1-1 stalemate with visiting MSV Duisburg. The Lions are 8-5-7 in league play.

And Timothy Chandler, a 20-year-old eligible to represent the U.S. and Germany, played his second Bundesliga match for FC Nuremburg, entering in the 60th minute of a 2-0 win at Hamburg SV. The result improved Nuremburg to 7-8-5.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Stuart Holden came off the bench for Bolton, playing 16 minutes of a scoreless FA Cup draw with Wigan.

Tim Howard made four saves but couldn't stop Salomon Kalou's 75th-minute equalizer as Everton drew Chelsea, 1-1, at Goodison Park. They'll replay the tie on Feb. 19.

Brad Friedel was in goal for Aston Villa's 3-1 win over his former club, Blackburn, earning a fifth-round date with Manchester City or third-division Notts County.

Meanwhile, Friedel's on-loan understudy, Brad Guzan, pitched his second shutout in three games for second-tier Hull City, which picked up a 0-0 league draw with first-place Queens Park Rangers. Hull is 9-8-11 in the Championship.

In France, Carlos Bocanegra took his accustomed place in the starting lineup for Saint-�tienne, which improved its Ligue 1 record to 8-5-8 with a 2-1 triumph over Toulouse.

Steve Cherundolo went all 90 minutes of Hannover 96's 2-0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Hannover has cooled off after a hot start, dropping to fifth in the Bundesliga at 11-8-1.

Recovering from a minor injury, Edson Buddle entered in the 61st minute of FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-1 draw with RW Oberhausen. The relegation-threatened club is 3-12-5 in the German second division.

Herculez Gomez played the second half of Pachuca's 4-0 loss at home to Cruz Azul, while Jos� Torres was an unused sub. Pachuca is 1-1-2 in the Mexican Clausura.

DISAPPOINTING DEVELOPMENTS

Nilmar returned from a knee injury to dress for Villarreal for the first time in more than a month, pushing Jozy Altidore off the gameday roster for the Yellow Submarine's 1-0 win at Espanyol. Villarreal is 14-4-3 in La Liga.

After breaking into their respective starting lineups during recent fixtures, Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente) and Jonathan Spector (West Ham) all sat out matches while recuperating from injuries.

Clark, who is projected to miss a month after suffering a fractured cheekbone in midweek training, faces the longest recovery time of the three.

Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2011/01/31/americans-abroad-maurice-edu-scores-for-rangers/

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