American goalie leads English club Everton over MLS in All-Star Game

Everton beats MLS All-Stars on penalty kicks

SANDY, Utah — Landon Donovan is looking forward to playing with Tim Howard behind him again.

Facing Howard was a frustrating reminder of how good the U.S. national goaltender is.

Howard made six saves in regulation and stopped three shots on penalty kicks to lead Everton past the Major League Soccer team in the MLS All-Star game 4-3 in penalty kicks on Wednesday night. Howard kept the MLS club out of the goal time after time and forced the 1-1 game into two extra rounds of penalty kicks to decide it, before Seattle Sounders star Freddie Ljungberg was taken to hospital for a migraine headache.

“I wasn’t surprised. I’ve seen it a lot of times in training and in games,” said Donovan, who had a chip shot punched over the crossbar by Howard in the second half.

Fortunately for Donovan, he and Howard should be teammates again Sept. 5 in a World Cup qualifier when the U.S. team plays El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium, where Howard shined Wednesday night.

“He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he showed that again,” Donovan said. “Hopefully he won’t get many chances against him again, but if he plays like that we’re going to get through qualifying relatively easily and we can do big things in the World Cup.”

Howard was voted the most valuable player after stopping Ljungberg on the final penalty kick.

Seattle’s Swedish midfielder, who played the entire game, was carted off the field after the final kick due to the migraine. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to MLS.

Ljungberg has been bothered by migraines periodically during his first months with the Sounders.

Jack Rodwell opened the sixth round of penalty kicks, after the teams were tied 3-3 through the regulation five rounds, with a goal. Ljungberg, needing to score to keep the game alive, tried to fake Howard with a soft chip shot to the middle. Howard lunged in time for the winning stop.

“There’s always a bit of luck involved,” Howard said. “He had me for the most part. I was just able to get a little piece of it.”

Everton is the only international club to beat the MLS All-Stars, who had been 5-0 in this format including four wins over Premier League teams.

The Toffees were wrapping up a preseason North American tour as they prepare for the Premier League opener Aug. 15 at home against Arsenal.

Everton captain Phil Neville was happy that Howard was making the return trip to Liverpool with the rest of the English club.

“That was just a normal performance for him. He’s a top-class keeper — one of the best in the Premiership,” Neville said. “The USA have obviously got to be glad that he’s their keeper.”

Louis Saha scored the only regulation goal for Everton in the 12th minute. Brad Davis of the Houston Dynamo scored for the MLS stars, who held a 21-11 shots advantage.

Everton had only one shot in the second half, and none on goal. At the other end, the MLS players had Howard diving and leaping to keep Everton from falling behind. Donovan nearly got a chip shot over Howard in the 68th minute but the goalkeeper punched it over the crossbar.

Donovan had another great chance in the 75th minute, but bounced a shot hard off the left post. Howard got a little help in the 84th minute from teammate Jose Baxter, who corralled Connor Casey’s shot with both feet just before it reached the goal line.

The MLS club made another push during stoppage time, but Howard was there again to stop a header by Davy Arnaud.

Everton was clearly the team that had experience playing together. The Toffees controlled play for most of the opening 20 minutes and only allowed one ball to reach Howard — a botched clearing attempt that sailed high and backward.

Everton took a 1-0 lead late in the 12th minute when Houston’s Stuart Holden tried a soft crossing pass that went right to Saha 15 yards outside the net. Saha had an easy time knocking it past Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller, the veteran American who joined MLS this year after a long career in Europe.

MLS tied it in the 26th minute when Davis tapped a shot just inside the left post. Casey started the play from the other side with a pass in front to Holden, who couldn’t control it for the shot but accidentally tipped it to Davis.

The goal seemed to loosen up both sides, but especially the MLS players.

“It gave them confidence,” Neville said. “They gave us a real tough game after that. It was a good learning curve.”

Howard made four saves in the half, including two diving stops that prevented the MLS team from taking a lead.