Bradley Makes Debut For Aston Villa; Holden Continues to Play Well for Bolton
US International Michael Bradley made his season debut for Aston Villa this weekend in their 1-1 draw with Blackpool. Bradley started on the bench but eventually came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute for Gabriel Agbonlahor. After Aston Villa midfielder Jean Makoun received a red card for a reckless challenge on Blackpool forward DJ Campbell, Bradley was soon after brought in to help play more of a defensive role for Villa, who were down to 10 men.
Although he only played about 20 minutes, it was good to see Bradley in the first team, coming off the bench. It’s hard to judge someone based on such little playing time, but he played solid defense and didn’t make any mistakes. Hopefully we’ll be able to see him get some starts in the near future as he tries to better his game in the Premier League.
In other Premier League News, US midfielder Stuart Holden had an assist and a disallowed goal in Bolton Wanderers 2-0 victory against Everton. He once again played the full ninety minutes, furthering his status as a workhorse in the midfield for a Bolton side that currently sits eighth in the Premier League.
He provided the free kick that Gary Cahill headed on goal off of Everton’s Johnny Heitinga and into the net past American keeper Tim Howard. Then in the second half, Holden thought he had scored Bolton’s third goal but the ball was ruled out of play before Daniel Sturridge crossed to Holden and scored. None the less, another great showing for Holden, who is likely to feature in the USA’s first team for years to come.
Meanwhile in the French League, USA defender Carlos Bocanegra, who captained the United States at this past World Cup in South Africa, scored Saint Etienne’s only goal in their 4-1 loss to Lyon.
