Friedel, who joined Aston Villa from Blackburn in July, equaled goalkeeper David James' record. He made several key saves on Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in the first half and forced Wayne Rooney to volley over the goal on United's best chance in the second half.
Clint Dempsey's stock at Fulham continues to rise, as evidenced by his start for Fulham in its 0-0 tie at Liverpool. He played the first 84 minutes at Anfield to help his team pick up a valuable road point.
AUSTRIA. Two days after celebrating his 20th birthday, Preston Zimmerman scored his first goal for Austria Bundesliga club KSV Superfund in a 5-2 upset win at leader Red Bull Salzburg. The win moved the Kapfenberg club up one spot to eighth place in the 10-team league.
BELGIUM. Amid reports that French giants Marseille and Paris St. Germain are interested in buying him during the January transfer window, Oguchi Onyewu helped defending champion Standard Liege beat Mouscron Excelsior, 3-1, and remain one point behind Club Brugge. The Brussels daily La Derniere Heure quoted Gooch as saying, "All options remain open." Onyewu will be a free agent at the end of the season, so Standard will have to make a move in January if it hopes to get a transfer fee for Onyewu.
FRANCE. Carlos Bocanegra had another strong game on defense for Rennes, which earned a 1-1 tie at Bordeaux and is tied for fourth in Ligue 1. Three days after scoring his first goal for the USA in a World Cup qualifier, Freddy Adu came on the 90th minute of Monaco's 3-0 win over Le Mans that further eased the concern of a "crise" at Monaco.
GERMANY. Three Americans started in the First Division. Neven Subotic started for Dortmund in its 1-0 win at lowly Karlsruhe that kept the Ruhr team in sixth place. Michael Bradley also played 90 minutes for Borussia Moenchengladbach, which fell, 3-1, at Schalke. And Steve Cherundolo's Hannover lost 4-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt. In the Second Division, Luis Robles started his fifth straight game in goal for Kaiserslautern in a 1-0 loss at Augsburg.
MEXICO. Americans Edgar Castillo and Michael Orozco were both in the starting lineup as the Apertura playoffs kicked off with the first leg of the quarterfinals. With MLS star Cuauhtemoc Blanco impressive in a cameo appearance, Castillo's Santos got the better of Orozco and his San Luis teammates winning, 3-1, in Laguna.
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