ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Brad Guzan and Aston Villa saw their Premier League winless slide reach 15 games with a 2-0 home loss to new table-toppers Arsenal on Sunday.
The US goalkeeper recorded two saves and a cross capture, but he and his teammates were playing catch-up early following Olivier Giroud's eighth minute penalty kick. Guzan, who was also beaten on a Gunners three-on-one break near halftime, made his best stop eight minutes from time to deny Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Villa have yet to win a league contest at home this season, losing six of eight there. The result kept them in dead last in the EPL, eight points adrift from the safety zone.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Timothy Chandler came on as a halftime sub in Eintracht Frankfurt's 4-1 loss at Borussia Dortmund.
The US right back entered with the game tied and his team down a man. Chandler pitched in with three pass interceptions and a clearance, but it was nowhere near enough to keep Eintracht from slipping to their fourth straight defeat. They now hang over the relegation mire by mere goal differential.
One league below, Caleb Stanko went the distance in the first 2.Bundesliga start of his career, but hard-luck title chasers Freiburg fell 2-1 at third place FC Nürnberg.
The 22-year-old defensive midfielder was slightly at fault on FCN's 14th minute opener, as his aerial duel loss started the goal sequence. Other than that, Stanko gave a good account of himself, including a big tackle to break up a dangerous Nürnberg counter 10 minutes from time.
In the end, Freiburg would fall due to an own goal that came mere seconds after they'd bagged a 64th minute equalizer. The result cost them both their three-game win streak and a chance to regain the top spot, but they remain five points above Nürnberg in second place in Germany's second division.
