Oguchi Onyewu Signs for AC Milan

U.S. Men's National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu signed for AC Milan today, putting pen to paper on a three year contract with the storied Serie A side.

Gooch finished out his contract with Belgian champions Standard Liege and signed for Milan on a free transfer.

Everybody in MNT Camp is excited about the move, and the guys were buzzing this morning on the bus. Gooch is going to stop by the hotel later tonight, so we'll be sure to congratulate him then as well...

Celebrate A Championship with Standard Liege

Despite a 2nd consecutive Belgian League title in a row, celebrations were pretty muted in Liege last night. Or not.



Full Highlights of the Game:

Big Sunday for MNT Players Abroad

• Maurice Edu and Rangers try to sew up the SPL league title Dundee Utd. Here's a link - http://www.freedocast.com/forms/PopOut.aspx?sc=427231E3213910A1 - if you want to watch it live. A Rangers win will give them the crown.
• Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege face Anderlecht in the second leg of the playoffs in Belgium. The first leg finished 1-1.
• Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard will do battle in England, as Fulham and Everton meet to close out the season in the Premier League. Jonathan Spector will also be in action for West Ham as they take on relegation-threatened Middlesbrough.
• José Francisco Torres and Pachuca try to reach the final in Mexico as they will attempt to close out their semifinal tie with Indios.
  

Highlights: Anderlecht 1, Standard Liege 1

Highlights from yesterday's playoff in Belgium:

Honors Even after First Leg in Belgium

Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege battled to a 1-1 draw with Anderlecht in the first leg of the Belgian League playoff final. The two teams finished level on points after last weeekend, and are playing a two leg playoff to determine the league title. Liege will host the second leg on Sunday.

Dramatic Circumstances in Belgium

Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege won their game against Gent yesterday, earning a playoff with Anderlecht for the Belgian League title. What we didn't point out yesterday was the late drama in Liege's victory. Well, here it is:

As you can see in the video, Gooch gave away a penalty in injury time of the second half with Liege leading 1-0. With the season on the line, goalkeeper Sinan Bolat came up huge for Liege to stop the spot kick. Bolat, on loan from Genk, dove to his left to parry away what turned out to be a pretty weak penalty from Bryan Ruiz. Side note: Ruiz, who has had an excellent season with Gent, could feature against the U.S. MNT next month. A minute later the final whistle sends fans, players and staff into raptures. Talk about a clutch save!
Full highlights of the game:

Short Weekend Preview

• Maurice Edu and Rangers look for three points (and a Celtic slip up) on Saturday morning against Aberdeen
• In the Premier League, Everton and Tim Howard host West Ham United (tape delayed on FSC) while Clint Dempsey and Fulham travel to Newcastle United (live on Setanta from 9:40 a.m. ET)
• Everything to play for in the Bundesliga, on both ends of the table. Michael Bradley and Borussia Mönchengladbach travel to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
• Oguchi Onyewu will try to help Standard Liege past KAA Gent on the final day of the season in Belgium. For a full preview of the final day, listen to our podcast with Gooch from earlier this week.
• On Sunday, Rennes will try to keep their Europa League hopes alive with a trip to Nantes.
• Also on Sunday, José Francisco Torres and Pachuca will try to wrap up their series with Jaguares. Torres scored in the 3-1 victory in the first leg.
  

Podcast with Gooch

We caught up today with MNT defender Oguchi Onyewu, who is preparing for a title showdown in the Belgian top flight. With one game remaining Gooch's Standard Liege is tied on points with Anderlecht. If the two teams finisht the season tied, then there will be a 2 legged playoff to determine a winner. We talked with Gooch about the chase for a second consecutive title in Belgium, his recent goalscoring form, and his five years in Belgium.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Gooch Scores as Standard Liege Wins

Oguchi Onyewu got on the scoresheet in Standard Liege's 2-0 victory against Club Brugge. Onyewu...get ready for it...scored with a header in the 72nd minute.



Now, Standard Liege is tied with Anderlecht on top of the table in Belgium. Tie-breakers around the world are different, but here's what we can find about the system in Belgium: "If teams have the same amount of points and wins, a test-match can be played in two legs to determine the final order in the standings." We're not sure if this is exactly the case or not (unrecognized academic source!) but we'll do a bit more research to figure it out. Or we'll ask you guys out there: do you know how they settle a tie in the Belgian league?

Highlights: Zulte v. Standard Liege

Highlights from Standard Liege's 0-0 draw with Zulte Waregem

Weekend Results

• Fulham fell 3-1 to Chelsea in a London derby. Clint Dempsey played the full 90 minutes for Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
• Michael Bradley and Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich. Bradley played the full 90 minutes, but 'Gladbach could not get a point in their relegation battle.
• Standard Liege's title defense took a hit on Saturday. Oguchi Onyewu's team could only muster a 0-0 draw with Zulte-Waregem. Liege went top of the table with the point, but rivals Anderlecht have a game in hand.
  
• Marcus Hahnemann and Reading are headed for the promotion playoffs in the Championship, after a 2-1 home defeat to Birmingham.
• Eddie Johnson and Cardiff City were robbed of the playoffs after losing 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday.
• Maurice Edu continued his extended run in the Rangers team, playing 90 minutes in a 2-0 win against Hearts.
• In Denmark, Danny Califf's FC Midtjylland beat Michael Parkhurst's FC Nordsjaelland 2-0.
• Pachuca hammered Chiapas 5-1 to add to their league-best points total. José Francisco Torres came on in the 60th minute.
  

Gooch Goals

Oguchi Onyewu scored two goals during Standard Liege's 3-0 win over Mouscron yesterday. Gooch snatched the first and third goals of the game as Liege remained three points ahead of Anderlecht at the top of the Belgian league table.

Highlights from Belgium and France

Standard Liege's 1-0 win over Lokeren:

Rennes' 1-0 win over St. Etienne:

Highlights from Sunday

José Francisco Torres played 45 minutes of Pachuca's 2-2 draw with Santos:

Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes' loss to Sochaux:

Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege's 3-1 win over G. Beerschot:

Borussia Mönchengladbach's 0-0 draw with Karlsruhe:

Everton's easy victory over Wigan (not too much to do for Tim Howard):

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Standard Move into First Place

Standard Liege capped a great weekend by beating Genk 2-0 on Sunday. Friday the 13th was unkind to Anderlecht, as the challengers to Liege's title went down 2-1 to KV Mechelen. Oguchi Onyewu and company took the field on Sunday knowing that a win could take them top of the table, even on games played with their rivals. Liege did just that, claiming all three points to put themselves one point ahead of Anderlecht.

Standard Liege Wins, Still in Second

On Friday, Standard Liege won, moving to the top of the table ahead of Anderlecht. However, on Monday morning Liege are back in second place, with Anderlecht victorious in their game last night. Regardless, here are highlights from Friday's win for Liege:

Liege Trim the Gap

A 4-0 win by Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege cut the gap at the top of the Belgian Jupiler League to just two points. Liege beat Cercle Brugge easily while Anderlecht slipped up with a 1-1 draw to Mouscron. Liege face Mons on Friday and a win could take them top of the table...

MNT Players Sent Packing

A tough night for MNT players in the UEFA Cup, as both Aston Villa and Standard Liege were eliminated from European competition. Brad Guzan and Aston Villa went down 2-0 to CSKA Moscow (3-1 on aggregate) while Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege bowed out meekly with a 1-1 draw to Braga (4-1 on aggregate).

Standard Setback

Standard Liege's title hopes took a shot on Sunday, when Oguchi Onyewu's team was defeated 4-2 by rivals Anderlecht. The victory lifts Anderlecht four points above Liege, with both teams having played the same number of games. The loss capped a tough week for Liege in which the reigning Belgian champs also lost 3-0 to Braga in the UEFA Cup. Gooch and Co. will try to turn things around in the second leg of that playoff later this week...

UEFA Cup Results

Aston Villa fought back from one goal down to get a 1-1 draw with CSKA Moscow at Villa Park last night. Brad Guzan played the full 90 minutes for Villa in the net, making four saves. The tie heads back to Russia next week, with Villa taking the field at the Luzhniki Stadium with a mind to overturn CSKA's away goals advantage.


Elswhere in the UEFA Cup, Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege crashed to a disappointing 3-0 loss away to Braga. The Belgian champs will have to overturn that large deficit in next week's return leg if they want to have a hope of advancing to the next round.