Ethan Horvath and the defending Norwegian champions Molde got a massive away leg result in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. The 20-year-old goalkeeper earned the start and played the full 90 minutes as his club earned a 1-1 draw at 17-time Croatian champion Dinamo Zagreb.
Horvath made only one save in the match, but it was a big one in the 89th minute to keep the match level. Molde’s defense stymied the Zagreb attack for the most part except in allowing their 18th minute goal. However, Molde struck back just three minutes later and then settled in to try and earn a draw on the road. Dinamo Zagreb’s fans were none too pleased with their team’s performance and consistently made their feelings known with boos and whistles. In fact it was so bad that Paulo Machado earned himself a red card after he showed his own fans the middle finger as they hounded him after he was subbed off. Zagreb finished the match with the 11 men, though because Machado was ejected from the bench. The home leg for Molde is set for next Tuesday, August 4.
Aron Johannsson was back in the Netherlands and on the bench for AZ as they kicked off their UEFA Europa League campaign with the home leg of their third qualifying round matchup with Istanbul Basaksehir of Turkey’s Super Lig. The Dutch club earned a 2-0 victory against the 10-man Turkish side after their goalkeeper was sent off in the 14th minute. AZ picked up the opening goal on the ensuing penalty kick and earned their second tally of the night in the 63rd minute. The 24-year-old Johannsson, who is fresh off Gold Cup duty with the US, subbed on at the halftime break and put in 45 minutes of work in the second half. He had a few chances on goal, but could not put anything away in a match where AZ probably should have scored more.
In Mexico, Tijuana picked up a win in their first match of the Copa MX on Tuesday night. Three Americans were in the lineup for the Xolos in the 2-1 win over Zacatepec: Alejandro Guido, Amando Moreno, and Paul Arriola. It was Moreno and Arriola who connected to produce Tijuana’s first goal of the night in the 36th minute. The 19-year-old Moreno made a nice dribbling run through defenders into the box and left the ball for Arriola to blast into the roof of the net from close range.
Although I was unable to confirm if Alejandro Guido picked up the assist on the second goal, it was a 57th minute corner kick that put Tijuana up 2-0. Guido typically takes the corner kicks from that side of the field, but the video was too grainy and no match report made mention of the kick taker. I should also mention that John Requejo and Fernando Arce were available subs for the match, but neither featured in the win.
Other personnel notes from the first round of Copa MX action, William Yarbrough and Miguel Ibarra were both in the starting lineup for Leon in their 2-1 win over Atletico San Luis. Ibarra went 69 minutes before being subbed off, while Yarbrough played the whole match between the pipes.
Juan Ocegueda was in the lineup for Alebrijes de Oaxaca as they defeated Liga MX side Pumas UNAM 2-1 on Tuesday night. Ocegueda played the first half for Alebrijes before exiting at the halftime break in his first action of the 2015/16 season.
Necaxa fell to Toluca 4-2 on Wednesday, but U-23 midfielder Benji Joya featured for the last ten minutes in his debut for the club where he is on loan from Santos Laguna. Necaxa is in the same Copa MX group as Tijuana.
Also to be noted, but not of Copa MX origin, is the fact that Tigres UANL played out a scoreless draw with River Plate in their home leg of the Copa Libertadores final. Jose Torres did not feature for Tigres, although he was an available substitute.
In other Tigres news, it was announced that 21-year-old American forward Omar Salgado will move to the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the NASL on a loan move through the end of the 2015 fall season. I will have more of a story on Tampa Bay next week, but the Rowdies, behind the lead of former U-20 coach Thomas Rongen appear to be becoming a destination for former promising American youths to go and try to right their careers. Salgado joins Freddy Adu and 23-year-old Gale Agbossoumonde in Tampa Bay, both of whom have been capped by the US men’s national team in what seems like a different lifetime.
The Yanks Watch 