[AMERICANS IN ENGLAND, GERMANY, BELGIUM] Days after being elected by fans as Fulham Player of the Month, Clint Dempsey scored his third EPL goal of the season in the 11th minute of Fulham's 1-1 tie at Wigan. Fulham's American defender Carlos Bocanegra hit the crossbar on a header. Blackburn, with Brad Friedel in goal, tied Chelsea, 0-0. Friedel made an acrobatic save in the 27th minute and stifled superbly a 84th minute effort by Andriy Shevchecko, who injured defender Christopher Samba on the play with a kick to the head.

Bobby Convey was a 78th minute sub and goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann went the distance in Reading's 2-1 loss at Sunderland.

In Germany, Heath Pearce returned to the Hansa Rostock starting lineup but the newly promoted team suffered its fifth straight loss in a 4-2 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld. Steve Cherunoldo and Hannover 96 squandered a two-goal led in a 2-2 tie with FC Nuremberg.

In Belgium, Oguchi Onyewu made his sixth straight start of the season for first-place Standard Liege, which lost its perfect record in 1-1 tie with Gent.