Americans Abroad

Beasley sparks PSV with pair of relief appearances.

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

(Wednesday, October 27, 2004) -- United States midfielder DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench for a pair of valuable substitute performances for PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands the past week.

Beasley didn't play for long, but long enough to provide a spark to the Eindhoven which defeated Norway's Rosenborg 2-1 on the road last Wednesday and took the lead in the European Champions League Group E.

American defender Robbie Russell turned in a strong performance over 90 minutes for Rosenborg (0-2-1, 1 point) which fell into last place with three matches remaining. Eindhoven is 2-1 with six points, followed by Arsenal of England at 1-0-2 with five points and Panathinaikos of Greece at 1-1-1 with four points

Beasley entered for PSV in the 83rd minute and, three minutes later, brought a ball into the penalty area. After losing it, several players touched it before it went to an unmarked John de Jong who scored the game-winner.

PSV had gone ahead in the 26th minute when Peruvian midfielder\striker Jeffersen Farfan, who has taken Beasley's place on the starting team, outpaced three defenders and shot past keeper Frode Johnsen. Oyvind Storflor equalized for Rosenborg in the 41st minute.

In a hugely important match in the Netherlands Sunday, Eindhoven maintained its lead in the Eredivisie with a 2-0 home win over Ajax Amsterdam. Eindhoven (7-0-1, 22) is tied with Feyenoord Rotterdam (7-1-1) for points, but PSV has played one less match. Ajax (4-2-3, 15) fell to an unaccustomed sixth place.

Shortly after de Jong made it 2-0 in the 49th minute, he came off in favor of Beasley who did well the rest of the way, focusing on defense and protecting the lead. He also worked free on a couple of long runs to create scoring chances.

U.S. defender\midfielder John O'Brien did not dress for Ajax Sunday or in the club's 3-0 Champions League midweek triumph over Maccabi Tel-Aviv of Israel in a week that saw Louis van Gaal resign as Ajax's technical director.

In Norway's first-division Tippeligaen, Russell went the distance for Rosenborg which rebounded from its Champions League setback for a 1-0 decision over Bodø/Glimt (7-12-6, 27), a team battling relegation. With one game left, Rosenborg (13-6-6, 45) remains tied for first with Vålerenga (12-4-9) with the league champion earning a place in the Champions League next season. Both teams have a plus-15 goal differential, but Rosenborg has scored 48 goals to 37 for Vålerenga.

Also in the Tippeligaen, Fredrikstad (9-11-5, 32) eliminated any danger of being demoted with a 1-0 home win over Tromsø. American Wade Barrett went the distance and helped lead FFK's fine defensive effort. Striker Brian West started, but had to come out in the 10th minute with a leg injury. His replacement, Dag Frode Hornseth, scored the winning goal.

On Saturday, things went from bad to worse for Blackburn (1-6-3, 6) which fell into a three-way tie for the basement after a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of high-flying Chelsea. Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen scored three times for Chelsea.

U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel helped keep the match scoreless for Rovers through most of the first half with several good saves, the best one on Frank Lampard. Then, two complete defensive breakdowns a minute apart allowed Gudjohnsen to come in alone and beat a stranded Friedel to make it 2-0 after 38 minutes. A penalty kick in the 51st minute gave Gudjohnsen his third goal and Damien Duff finished the scoring in the 74th minute for Chelsea which is in second place at 7-1-2 with 23 points, two behind Arsenal.

Fulham's Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar did not have a good day Saturday, allowing Aston Villa to prevail 2-0. American Carlos Bocanegra did well for Fulham, playing defense, but also ranging far forward into attack.

Bocanegra recorded another solid outing today, helping Fulham defeat Birmingham City 1-0 in the Carling Cup. The match was played in a cold, driving rain and neither side could muster much offense.

The only goal came on a stunning 30-yard drive by Mark Pembridge against the run of play. McBride came on in the 87th minute.

Against Villa, van der Sar pushed Nolberto Solano's free kick into his own net to put Villa ahead 1-0 after 29 minutes and Lee Hendrie scored on a magnificent curving shot in the 75th minute.

U.S. striker Brian McBride made a token appearance in the final two minutes for Fulham (2-6-2, 8) which is in 17th place, one above the drop zone.

U.S. keeper Kasey Keller received a rare start for Tottenham Hotspur which defeated Bolton 4-3 today in a Carling Cup match that saw three goals scored in overtime.

Keller was a lot better than his conceding three goals might indicate, making four good saves in the first half - two on Henrik Peterson and one each on Fernando Hierro and El-Hadji Diouf. Bolton went ahead 1-0 on Ledley King's own goal and after Jermain Defoe tied matters for Spurs, Bolton went ahead again 2-1 on Jay-Jay Okocha's penalty kick.

Goran Bunjevcevic pulled Tottenham even at 2-2 in the 84th minute, forcing extra time. After Keller stretched out fully to deny Okocha's angled drive early in overtime, Michael Brown scored in the 95th minute and Defoe netted his second eight minutes later for a 4-2 Spurs advantage before Wanderers rallied.

An unmarked Les Ferdinand put away a cross from Nicky Hunt to pull Bolton to within 4-3 with a header in the 105th minute. In the 115th minute, Keller secured Spurs' advancement with a pair of alert plays. He elevated to punch away a dangerous cross from Tal Ben Haim. The ball fell to Ferdinand, but his wicked shot was stopped by Keller.

Finally, Keller denied Ferdinand again in the 119th minute to seal the result.

Keller was on the bench, but did not play for Hotspur in a 2-1 loss, also to Bolton in Premier League play Saturday.

U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna continues to nurse his injured groin and was unavailable for Manchester City's 4-3 loss to Newcastle United Sunday in the Premier League and today's 2-1 setback to Arsenal in the Carling Cup.

A poor backpass to Rangers keeper Chris Day allowed David Healy, being marked by Simek, to run onto the ball. He held off Simek and lifted the ball over Day for a 1-1 tie in the 11th minute.

U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis manned his usual position on the left flank for North End.

On Saturday, Simek started and played 75 minutes in QPR's 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton. In a driving rainstorm, Simek came off in favor of an additional striker with Wolves down 2-0 and reduced to 10 men because of Kenny Miller's red card in the 73rd minute. With the two losses, Rangers fell to fifth place at 8-5-2 with 26 points.

Also on Saturday, Lewis had a strong match for Preston, assisting on two of North End's three goals in a 3-2 decision over Nottingham Forest. Preston went ahead 3-0 after 57 minutes with Lewis seeing his well-placed corner kick converted by Chris Lucketti and another corner headed home by Dickson Etuhu.

When Forest had Gareth Taylor ejected in the 70th minute, Preston relaxed, allowing Nottingham to storm back with a pair of goals from Jamaica's Marlon King.

Lewis' yellow card against Forest was his fifth of the season and left him suspended for Preston's 2-0 Carling Cup loss today to Everton, which stands a surprising third in the Premier League.

American keeper Marcus Hahnemann and Reading managed a victory and draw to extend their unbeaten streak to six, good enough for second place at 9-3-3 with 30 points, three behind Wigan (9-0-6).

Hahnemann was at his best when Reading played a 1-1 draw with Leeds United Tuesday. Many had not gotten to their seats when Leeds went ahead on a first-minute goal from teen-aged midfielder Simon Walton.

Hahnemann then kept Reading in the match with good first-half saves on Brett Ormerod and Michael Ricketts. Lloyd Owusu gave Reading a 1-1 tie in the 45th minute.

The match was played end-to-end in the second half. In the waning moments, Brian Deane's snap shot, following a corner kick, was superbly saved by Hahnemann. U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey came on for Reading for the final 10 minutes, but added little.

On Saturday, Hahnemann kept a clean sheet with Reading breezing to a 4-0 decision over Crewe. Hahnemann kept the match scoreless with a fine early save on Steve Jones before goals by Steve Sidwell and Dave Kitson in a four-minute span made it 2-0 in the 25th minute.

Another fine Hahnemann save on Jones kept Crewe from climbing back into the match before Lloyd Owusu found net in the 45th minute and Ivar Ingimarsson two minutes into the second half.

Convey came on in the 71st minute for Reading.

Standard coach Dominique D'Onfofrio said GBA "played us out of our shorts." While Onyewu's performance was described in the Belgian press as "sober and efficient," star players such as Portuguese star Coneicao and Finland's Jari Niemi were criticized for their lack of commitment. Standard is in a three-way tie for fourth place at 5-3-2 with 17 points in the top-tier Jupiler League

In the UEFA Cup, Onyewu lined up at central defense and turned in a good performance, making key stops and positioning himself well against Steaua Bucuresti. He did have one questionable play late on his own goal-line when he watched a cross skip right by him. Any touch might have resulted in an own goal, but would have been a better option than watching a Bucuresti striker easily put away a shot at the back post.

Standard must dig out of its two-goal deficit in the home leg next week.

In France, U.S. defender Greg Vanney played 90 minutes for Bastia which drew at home 1-1 with Sochaux. Both goals were scored in the first half.

In Portugal, American forward Kenny Cooper entered in the 72nd minute for Academica which shut out Maritimo 1-0.

In Sweden, Bodens BK avoided relegation by defeating host Falkenberg 2-1 in the last match of the season. The deciding goal was scored in the 85th minute by Jamaican Wolde Harris, the Major League Soccer veteran who played collegiately at Clemson.

Another MLS veteran, Brian Dunseth went the distance in Bodens' back line. Friska Viljor defeated Enköping 2-1, leaving Bodens two points ahead of Enköping which wound up in the final relegation place.

In Denmark, Californian Yuri Morales witnessed a tragedy from the visiting Viborg FF bench Sunday when a fan fell about 50 feet to his death from the top level of FC Copenhagen's stadium. The match was abandoned in the 68th minute -- it was later declared a 0-0 draw -- as emergency vehicles rushed the fan to the hospital where he died in surgery.

On Saturday, Morales scored his sixth goal in six games with the Viborg reserves and added an assist in a 3-1 victory.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.