Jozy Altidore Scores First Premier League Goal

It didn't take long into Saturday morning's Hull City/Manchester City telecast for the commentators to remark how American striker Jozy Altidore had played in 18 previous Premier League matches without scoring a goal. When strikers go that long without finding the back of the net it becomes a weight on their shoulders that gets heavier and heavier the longer the drought lasts -- something that television talking heads can't help themselves from repeating.

Roughly 31 minutes later the 20-year-old New Jersey native made sure that the ignominious statistic was a dead issue, when he finally opened up his Hull City scoring account. Altidore collected a nice one-two pass at the top of the penalty area from teammate Jan Venegoor of Hesselink and curled it past Shay Given for his first Premier League goal, helping Hull lodge an important 2-1 victory.

In a way it's a tad surprising it took so long for Altidore to find a goal. In his first game and practically his first touch he helped set up the winner in Hull City in a 1-0 win over Bolton on Aug. 22. From there, however, he seemed to fall out of favor with manager Phil Brown including being dropped from the squad for arriving late for a game and then explaining his absence via Twitter, which didn't endear him to his boss.

That dry spell was probably forgiven Saturday, though.

Altidore was active from the opening whistle. Inside of five minutes he'd drawn a yellow card on Manchester City center back Kolo Toure, setting up a free kick in a dangerous area. Fifteen minutes later Altidore was at it again, forcing City's other central defender -- Dedryck Boyata -- to pull him down for another yellow card.

So in a way, his goal was the culmination of 30 minutes and, in a larger sense, five months of toiling away at the KC Stadium. Saturday Altidore was the rare combination of speed and power that had American fans touting him as perhaps the first American superstar in Europe when he shipped off from Red Bull New York to Spain in the summer of 2008.

In short, it was the kind of performance most American fans likely dreamed about dating back to when Altidore's loan from Villareal came to fruition.

On a personal level it had to be satisfying for Altidore, who's been grappling with the earthquake in Haiti for the last few weeks. (Altidore's parents are both from Haiti.)

The night wasn't completely perfect for Altidore. He was subbed off in the 66th minute for Amr Zaky and was shown limping and/or coping with some kind of leg injury when he came off.

It might seem simple, but Altidore finally appears acclimated and comfortable in the English game. He seems settled in and confident in his role with the club. He doesn't need to look over his shoulder and wonder if Brown believes in him. The physicality remains Altidore's brightest attribute. At times the Manchester City defense didn't know how to cope with him running at them with the ball.

Of course, it is only one goal and jumping to knee-jerk reactions seems foolhardy.

However, if Altidore heats up and finishes strong it'll obviously keep him on the field and help him aid Hull City's fight from relegation. It's also coming at the right time as we inch ever closer to South Africa, and could provide the U.S. National Team a much-needed boost at the forward position.

And it doesn't take a rocket scientist -- or a even a footballing genius like Johan Cruyff -- to deduce that an in-form Altidore makes the U.S. a much more dangerous opponent at the World Cup.

(Video below, quality is not great, but gets the job done.)