Beasley victim of frightening foul

• by Soccer America , Feb 19, 2009

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Glasgow Rangers' DaMarcus Beasley came close to scoring twice before being victimized by a vicious foul in Scottish Cup play. In England, Clint Dempsey's 90-minute effort couldn't help Fulham improve on its dismal road record when it faced Manchester United. And two Americans saw UEFA Cup action.

Beasley, making his first appearance for Rangers in official competition in more than two months, rifled a volley in 30th minute that Fofar goalkeeper Ally Brown saved well. And the American winger was again foiled by Brown early in the second half in the 4-0 Rangers win in the round of 16 of the Scottish Cup.

With 20 minutes left, Forfar's Elliot Smith's lunging cleats-up tackle - described as "shocking" by Scottish media reports -- forced Beasley out of the game and earned Smith a red card.

"If I can say that it's encouraging, the good thing is that DaMarcus has only taken a kick when it might have been a lot worse," Rangers' assistant coach Ally McCoist said. "Granted, it's a nasty one and he now has a couple of rather unattractive stud marks on his left shin. But we're hopeful there's no ligament damage or anything."

American Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes for Rangers. Since arriving last summer, he has played in two other official games -- one league game and one Scottish League Cup game.

ENGLAND. Manchester United extended its EPL lead to five points with a 3-0 win over Fulham, which is winless all of its 13 road games this season. The Cottagers, for which Clint Dempsey was making 21st league appearance of the season, are in 10th place. They've lost seven and tied six while scoring just three goals in away games.

UEFA CUP. In first leg, round of 36 action, Oguchi Onyewu went the distance for Belgium's Standard Liege in a 3-0 loss at Portugal's Braga.

Keeper Brad Guzan played in starter Brad Friedel's spot in Aston Villa's 1-1 tie with CSKA Moscow. Guzan was beaten by a spectacular Vagner Love effort in the 15th minute.

Guzan was lucky not to have a penalty called when he tripped up Vagner Love later in the game; the referee instead blew for offside.

John Carew's 69th-minute goal earned the tie for Aston Villa.