De Jong spot kick helps PSV quell Estoril
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Article summary
PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Estoril Praia
Luuk de Jong's penalty settled the Group E game, visiting goalkeeper Paweł Kieszek doing well to keep the scoreline down.
Article top media content
Article body
• Luuk de Jong scores only goal from the penalty spot
• PSV dominant throughout; visitors fail to register an attempt on target
• Estoril keeper Paweł Kieszek makes several crucial saves
• Next games: Dinamo Moskva v PSV, Estoril v Panathinaikos (2 October)
PSV Eindhoven recorded a straightforward 1-0 victory against Estoril Praia in UEFA Europa League Group E thanks to a first-half Luuk de Jong penalty.
De Jong almost scored inside the first minute, but Paweł Kieszek parried his close-range effort. PSV relentlessly piled on the pressure, and the Estoril goal survived several close calls before the deadlock was finally broken on 26 minutes. Adam Maher was tripped in the box by Mano and the PSV No9 calmly stroked home the resulting penalty.
The hosts continued to dominate and Jeffrey Bruma thought he had doubled his side's advantage, only for Kieszek to athletically tip his header onto the post. The keeper then blocked a Georginio Wijnaldum flick with his legs, and was to frustrate the PSV captain again seconds after the restart. De Jong headed Jetro Willems' cross centimetres past as Phillip Cocu's men kept advancing, and when the visitors did find their way up the park they rarely troubled Jeroen Zoet.
However, as the match wore on the Eredivisie sides's creativity seemed to wane, and even the introduction of Marcel Ritzmaier and Florian Jozefzoon failed to inject more zip into their attack. Wijnaldum did have another attempt that sailed over and, in a rare foray into enemy territory, Diogo Amado did likewise, but PSV – playing in European competition for the 41st consecutive season – held on comfortably.