Americans Abroad

Beasley scores as PSV dumps Arnhem 2-0, remains unbeaten.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
and Chris Courtney (in Brussels)
SoccerTimes

(Monday, November 23, 2004) -- United States midfielder DaMarcus Beasley scored an insurance goal in stoppage time, helping host PSV Eindhoven defeat Vitesse Arnhem 2-0 yesterday in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Peruvian Jefferson Farfan remained in South America after a World Cup qualifier, so Beasley got the start. It was a very physical match with the fan response nearly getting out of hand. Gerald Sibon put PSV ahead 1-0 in the 56th minute with the match nearly abandoned soon after. Arnhem's Michael Dingsdag was sent off six minutes later and the crowd got ugly, throwing things from the stands, leading the game officials and PSV to leave the field.

The match eventually resumed and Beasley had several good chances over the final 20 minutes, twice getting pulled down when he had run free. Finally, three minutes into stoppage time, he was sent through and calmly slotted the ball under keeper Dragoslav Jevric.

On November 13, PSV looked sluggish, but still defeated Willem II Tilburg 1-0. Beasley came off the bench, replacing Farfan in the 53rd minute, but could not give his team much of a lift.

Eindhoven, which has won three straight, has yet to lose this season and, with an 11-0-2 record with 35 points, is in first place by five points.

Preston defeated Cardiff 1-0 Friday with only inspired play of Cardiff keeper Tony Warner keeping matters close as North End peppered his goal.

On November 13, Lewis scored in the 15th minute for a one-goal lead in an eventual 1-1 draw at Millwall. Lewis received the ball from Omar Daley and faked around defender Kevin Muscat before ramming home a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Millwall frustrated the North End fans with Barry Hayles' 87th-minute goal.

American keeper Marcus Hahnemann gave up only a single goal on Saturday, but it was one too many for Reading which lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.

Early, Hahnemann stopped a Gareth Taylor header and then a long shot from Ross Gardner. In the 26th minute, he blocked a booming shot from Paul Evans, but the rebound came off the crossbar to Taylor who scored.

Later, Hahnemann stopped Jamaican international Marlon King with his feet and then denied Taylor to keep the match close. U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey did not leave the bench for Reading.

On November 13, Hahnemann made several fine saves in Reading's 2-1 defeat of Cardiff. He held an early blast from Joe Ledley and, just after halftime, he dove to deny Graham Kavanagh. Late, Hahnemann stopped a drive from Lee Bullock and then denied Ledley again.

Convey came on in the 80th minute with Reading up 2-0, a lead that was halved when Cameron Jerome found net in the 87th minute.

Arsenal's emergency loan of American defender Frankie Simek to Queens Park Rangers has ended. Simek had played well and it became immediately apparent that QPR might have needed him when the it was crushed 6-1 by Leeds United which received four goals by Brian Deane.

On November 13, Simek never left the bench when QPR defeated Wigan 1-0.

A week earlier, however, Vanney was limited to a reserve-team match when Bastia coach Francois Ciccolini decided to stick with the same team that defeated Metz in a midweek French Cup match. Vanney did not play in that match because he was serving a suspension for accumulated yellow cards

Without Vanney, Bastia's defense looked awful in a 3-0 home loss to St. Etienne November 13. Bastia has not won since September 11, going 0-7-3 since. At 3-7-5 with 14 points, Bastia is tied for 17th among 20 teams in Ligue 1.

Standard now faces its most important match of the season, a Thursday UEFA Cup group encounter with Parma of Italy. With one loss already, Standard needs a victory ahead of a road trip to Turkish power Besiktas.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. Chris Courtney is a SoccerTimes correspondent now based in Brussels. E-mail Chris Courtney.