Tim Howard endures rough evening

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Oct 23, 2009

[AMERICAN ABROAD] With Tim Howard in goal, Everton suffered its worst defeat ever in a European competition when it fell, 5-0, at Benfica in the Europa League. Howard could do little in the face of the Benfica onslaught. The Merseysiders were decimated by injuries and were no match for the likes of Argentines Angel Di Maria and Pablo Aimar. Clint Dempsey was the only other American to suit up Thursday but did not play in Fulham's 1-1 with Roma.

Europa League Results:
Group A
Ajax (Neth.) 2 Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 1
FC Timisoara (Romania) 0 Anderlecht (Belgium) 0
Group B
Lille (France) 3 Genoa (Italy) 0
Valencia (Spain) 1 Slavia Prague (Czech Rep.) 1
Group C
Celtic (Scotland) 0 Hamburg (Germany) 1
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) 5 Rapid Vienna (Austria) 1
Group D
FK Ventspils (Latvia) 1 Sporting (Portugal) 2
Hertha Berlin (Germany) 0 Heerenveen (Netherlands) 1
Group E
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 0 Basel (Switzerland) 2
Fulham (England) 1 Roma (Italy) 1
Group F
Galatasaray (Turkey) 4 Dinamo Buch.(Romania) 1
Panathinaikos (Greece) 1 Sturm Graz (Austria) 0
Group G
Lazio (Italy) 2 Villarreal (Spain) 1
Salzburg (Austria) 1 Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) 0
Group H
Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) 2 Twente (Neth.) 0
Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 0 Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1
Group I
BATE Borisov (Belarus) 2 AEK Athens (Greece) 1
Benfica (Portugal) 5 Everton (England) 0
Group J
Club Bruges (Belgium) 2 Partizan (Serbia) 0
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 4 Toulouse (France) 0
Group K
PSV (Netherlands) 1 FC Copenhagen (Denmark) 0
Sparta Prague (Czech Rep.) 2 CFR Cluj (Romania) 0
Group L
Athletic Bilbao (Spain) 2 Nacional Madeira (Portugal) 1 Austria Vienna (Austria) 2 Werder Bremen (Germany) 2