Donovan Gets First Taste of Soccer in England

Unusually cold weather and snow in England had its impact on the weekend fixtures with many being cancelled.
Donovan Gets First Taste of Soccer in England
Landon Donovan (right) played his first English Premier League game in snowy conditions on Saturday. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
1/11/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/donovan.jpg" alt="Landon Donovan (right) played his first English Premier League game in snowy conditions on Saturday. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)" title="Landon Donovan (right) played his first English Premier League game in snowy conditions on Saturday. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1824079"/></a>
Landon Donovan (right) played his first English Premier League game in snowy conditions on Saturday. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Unusually cold weather and snow in England had its impact on the weekend fixtures with many being cancelled. The only three Premier League matches played were Arsenal–Everton and Birmingham–Manchester United on Saturday and Manchester City–Blackburn on Monday.

Arsenal 2, Everton 2

Arsenal substitute Tomas Rosicky scored an injury time equalizer after a nice pass from Abou Diaby as Arsenal missed an opportunity to ascend into second place behind Chelsea.

Little Leon Osman put Everton ahead when he headed in Landon Donovan’s corner early in the first half.

Donovan had just signed a loan deal with Everton and traded in sunny southern California for the cold and snow in England. The American is getting valuable experience in England in the build-up to the World Cup where the U.S. will face England in their opening game on June 12.

Arsenal were lucky to get back on level terms when Denilson’s shot took a deflection off Osman to find the back of the net just 15 minutes later.

But this game was all about Everton not giving Arsenal any space and trying to work the counterattack.

Steven Pienaar showed composure when he went in on a breakaway to face Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia one-on-one. He neatly chipped the ball over the oncoming keeper for a 2–1 advantage with less than 10 minutes of regulation time to play.

Even though Everton had got the better of a thrilling match, they had the win taken out of their hands when Rosicky squeezed in a last minute deflected shot.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the BBC, “The game was closer to 3–1 than 2–2.” Almunia saved a glorious scoring chance from Everton’s James Vaughan late in the game.

“I thought we played really well today and deserved a victory. I think that after the first game of the season where they beat us 6–1, I felt we were due to show that that was not really us,” said Everton manager David Moyes.

About Donovan’s debut Moyes added, “I thought he did really well. In fact I hoped I could have kept him on longer. The 65 minutes we got from him were really good.” Donovan was substituted after about an hour of play presumably due to this being his first game and the need to regain additional stamina.

Birmingham 1, Manchester United 1

Manchester United failed to top the English Premier League after scrapping to a draw at Birmingham.

A bad clearance from United defender Jonathan Evans allowed Birmingham’s Cameron Jerome to blast one in just before the break.

Just after the hour mark, Birmingham’s Scott Dann directed the ball into his own net and a tense few moments passed as the referee’s assistant was flagging for offside only for the referee Mark Clattenburg to overrule him and allow the goal.

United is now just one point behind Chelsea, having played one more game. They are one point ahead of Arsenal, who sits in third place.

In England’s version of Monday Night Football, Carlos Tevez scored a hat trick as Manchester City ripped Blackburn Rovers 4–1. City moved into fourth place, the lucrative Champions League qualification spot, with the win.