Goalkeepers Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel each earned their first victory of the young English Premier League season by posting a shutout. In Germany, Steve Cherundolo and Tony Sanneh faced each other and the latter emerged victorious. Earnie Stewart, meanwhile, saw his first action of the season in Holland and John O'Brien helped keep Ajax rolling.
ENGLAND
* Brad Friedel (Blackburn, PL) at Birmingham, 1-0
Started: 90 minutes. Friedel helped spoil Birmingham's home debut in the premiership with his second clean sheet in as many games. Soccernet reports credited the U.S. goalkeeper with deflating the host team's morale with a series of eye-popping saves. Just before halftime, Friedel superbly tipped away a Martin Grainger 22-yard free-kick. Early in the second half, Friedel grabbed Geoff Horsfield's flick header, then denied the other former Columbus Crew player in the game, Stern John, by clawing away his header at the top left corner of the goal.
Jovan Kirovski did not appear for his new club, Birmingham.
Blackburn hosts Liverpool Wednesday night. Liverpool and Leeds are the only two Premier League teams to have won their first two games this season.
* Kasey Keller (Tottenham, PL) vs. Aston Villa, 1-0.
Started: 90 minutes. Keller earned his first shutout of the season. He turned aside a toe-poke from 6-foot-7 striker Peter Crouch in the first half, while Jamie Redknapp scored for host Spurs. Clinging to the lead under heavy pressure, Keller made the ''save of the match'' by turning aside Gareth Barry's firm drive in the second half.
Keller's backup, Neil Sullivan, who started most of last season, broke his thumb during a warm-up routine Sunday and is out for at least two months.
Tottenham travels to play Charlton on Wednesday.
* Jovan Kirovski (Birmingham, PL) vs. Blackburn, 0-1.
DNP.
* Eddie Lewis (Fulham, PL) at Middlesbrough, 2-2
DNP.
* Joe-Max Moore (Everton, PL) at Sunderland, 1-0.
DNP.
* Claudio Reyna (Sunderland, PL) vs. Everton, 0-1
Started: 90 minutes. Sunderland's first home game of the season was spoiled when its top player, Kevin Phillips, failed to convert a penalty kick with about 20 minutes to play. Kevin Campbell scored the lone Everton goal. Sunderland faces the steep task of finding its first win of the season on Wednesday at Leeds. Leeds and Liverpool are the only two Premier League teams to have won their first two games this season.
* Gregg Berhalter (Crystal Palace, D1) at Coventry, 0-1
DNP.
* Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, D1) at Leicester, 1-2
DNP.
GERMANY
* Conor Casey (Hannover 96, D1) at Nuremberg, 1-3.
DNP.
* Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, D1) at Nuremberg, 1-3.
Started: 90 minutes. Cherundolo and his defensive mates all received low ratings from Kicker magazine. Cherundolo's foul on Cacau allowed Ciric to convert from the penalty spot in the 26th minute for the game's first goal. It was Cherundolo's first Bundesliga game against Tony Sanneh, the man ahead of him on the U.S. national team depth chart.
* Frank Hejduk (Bayer Leverkusen, D1) vs. Bochum, 2-4
DNP.
* Tony Sanneh (Nuremberg, D1) vs. Hannover 96, 3-1.
Started: 90 minutes. Playing centrally, Sanneh received a favorable (B-) rating from Kicker magazine, the highest among the Nuremburg defenders.
* Mike Duhaney (Mainz, B2) vs. Mannheim, 2-0.
DNP
* Cory Gibbs (St. Pauli, D2) vs. Luebeck, 0-6.
DNP.
* Grover Gibson (Mainz, B2) vs. Mannheim, 2-0.
DNP
* Jacob Thomas (Braunschweig, B2) vs. Reutlingen 1-2.
Started: 72 minutes. Scored 1 goal. Thomas scored in the fourth minute and received his team's highest rating (C) from Kicker magazine.
FRANCE
* Greg Vanney (Bastia, D1) at Lyon, 1-4
DNP. A hat trick by Sonny Anderson gave the defending champions the decisive victory. Bastia hosts Rennes on Saturday.
* Oguchi Onyewu (Metz, D2), vs. Lorient, 2-1
DNP.
* David Regis (Metz, D2), vs. Lorient, 2-1
DNP.
NETHERLANDS
* John O'Brien (Ajax, D1) at Vitesse, 2-1.
Started: 90 minutes. Ajax remains one of three teams with a perfect record thus far — rival PSV Eindhoven and RKC Waalwijk are the others. With the victory, Ajax ended Vitesse's long home unbeaten streak.
* Earnie Stewart (NAC Breda, D1) at Willem II, 1-1.
Entered as a substitute: 46th minute. Both goals had been scored by the time Stewart came on as a forward.
NORWAY
* Robbie Russell (Sogndal, D1) at Brann, 3-2.
Started: 90 minutes.
CHILE
* Jonny Walker (Universidad Catolica, D1) at Santiago Morning, 2-1.
Started: 90 minutes. Walker keyed an important road victory by stopping every shot the hosts put at him. The one shot he did not stop came in the 90th minute when Catolica's Jorge Acuna inadvertently headed a Santiago Morning corner kick into his own net.
Milovan Mirosevic opened the scoring in the sixth minute by volleying a cross from Carlos Verdugo, who later converted his own rebound to expand Catolica's lead just after halftime.
Walker's best save may have come in the 82nd minute, when he punched a strong bid by Patricio Vilchez over the crossbar.