Weekend Round Up: Europe

In the Eredivisie, Heerenveen's charge for a European place took a hit with 3-2 loss at home to NEC Nijmegen. Heerenveen went up 1-0 in the 1st half before being reduced to 10 men after a red card to the Goalkeeper in the 23rd minute.


Heerenveen added another before halftime, and even had the majority of chances in the game, but eventually NEC's numerical advantage handed them the edge. Three second half goals, including an injury time winner, handed NEC the victory and condemned Heerenveen to their first defeat in 2008.

Michael Bradley played the full 90 minutes for Heerenveen, and hit the bar in the second half with a header (check out the red carded Brian Vandenbussche watching from the locker room too!)

In Portugal, Benfica tied Braga 1-1, and slipped further behind leaders Porto in the Portuguese table. Freddy Adu came on as a sub in the 83rd minute for the Eagles.



Hannover have endured a tough start to the second half of the Bundesliga season and are yet to win since the league recommenced earlier this month. This weekend was no different, as Hannover slipped into the bottom half of the table following a 2-1 loss away to VFL Bochum. Hannover's bad luck of late was epitomized by Steve Cherundolo's unlucky own goal in the game (reminiscient of Gooch's against Brazil) and hopefully the team will be able to turn their fortunes in this Saturday's home clash with Nurnberg. Sal Zizzo was on the subs bench but did not play for Hannover this weekend.


Speaking of Gooch, Standard Liege tied Gent 0-0 this weekend. The result leaves Onyewu's club in second place, two points behind Club Brugge after 23 games played.