Michael Bradley scored a late consolation goal -- his first goal of the Bundesliga season -- in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 loss to defending champion. The American star of the weekend was Brad Friedel, who brushed aside a monumental error he made on Didier Drogba's goal for Chelsea to help Aston Villa beat the Blues, 2-1.

Bradley scored five goals last season, his first in the German First Division, in 28 appearances. His goal against Wolfsburg came in stoppage time.

Wolfsburg-Gladbach Highlights:



Friedel misread Drogba's bouncing shot 15 minutes into the game and let it skip over him into the goal, but he recovered to help preserve the win after goals by new center backs Richard Dunne and James Collins put Villa ahead.

"It took a much higher bounce off the turf and that was that -- you can't dwell on these things," Friedel said afterwards. "The important thing is not to make another mistake. You just get on with it. It is what it is and we won the match. There have been hundreds of times when keepers have made mistakes and the team has gone on to win matches. It is easier to regroup when you are more experienced. When you are younger things like that can get on top of you."

Elsewhere the Premier League, Tim Howard was in goal for Everton, which drew 1-1 with Wolves.

Besides Bradley and Howard, Steve Cherundolo was only American who started against Costa Rica in their World Cup 2010 qualifier and was in action abroad over the weekend. He played the entire game in German First Division club Hannover's 2-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt. Kenny Cooper, who came on late against the Ticos, played 11 minutes in German Second Division club 1860 Munich's 3-1 win over Duisburg.