3. U.S. ABROAD: Fulham thumped; Reading starts with win

• by Soccer America , Aug 21, 2006

Newly promoted Reading won its English Premier League opener, 3-2, over Middlesbrough but American keeper Marcus Hahnemann looked shaky on both goals. Bobby Convey played 83 minutes for Reading. ... Brad Friedel saved a Nwankwo Kanu penalty kick in stoppage time but went down, 3-0, with Blackburn against Portsmouth. ... Jay DeMerit played the second half of newly promoted Watford's 2-1 loss to Everton, for which Tim Howard debuted in goal. ... Claudio Reyna played 72 minutes as Manchester City fell, 3-0, to champion Chelsea. ... For Fulham, Brian McBride played the final 26 minutes and Carlos Bocanegra stayed on the bench in a 5-1 loss to Manchester United. The score was 4-1 when McBride came on.

In Germany, Hannover 96, with Steve Cherundolo at right back, lost and gave up four goals for the second straight week, going down 4-0 to Hertha Berlin. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller was his team's highest rated player (Kicker Magazine) in a 1-0 loss to Nuremberg. ... Gregg Berhalter received a B rating from Kicker Magazine for his play in German Second Division Munich 1860's 3-0 win over Offenbach.

In the Netherlands Eredivisie, neither DaMarcus Beasley nor Lee Nguyen saw action in PSV Eindhoven's season-opening 3-1 win over NEC. Michael Bradley stayed on Heerenveen's bench during its 3-2 win over ADO Den Haag.