Chelsea edges Cluj to advance in Champions League
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12/09/2008 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Substitute Didier Drogba scored the winning goal in the 71st minute and Chelsea defeated CFR Cluj 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to secure a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Salomon Kalou also scored for Chelsea, which needed a win to secure one of the final three spots up for grabs in groups A-D. Roma and Panathinaikos earned the other spots in the knockout stage with wins on Tuesday.
Chelsea settled for second place in Group A behind Roma, possibly setting up a showdown with Barcelona in the first knockout stage. The draw is Dec. 19.
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Sporting already wrapped up spots in the knockout stage prior to Tuesday's final matchday in groups A-D. Inter is in the same situation as Chelsea after slipping to second in Group B.
Bordeaux, Marseille and Werder Bremen secured the final three spots in the UEFA Cup, joining Shakhtar Donetsk - which ended Barcelona's 20-match winning streak with a 3-2 win Tuesday - as third-place group finishers.
Kalou put Chelsea in control late in the first half, moving into empty space in the box when two Cluj defenders collapsed on John Terry to open the scoring. He settled the ball at the six-yard box line, then tapped it into the net.
CFR Cluj, which beat Roma and tied Chelsea in its first two group matches, put the pressure back on Chelsea early in the second half when Yssouf Kone scored in the 55th.
Emmanuel Culio and Kone worked a quick one-two passing combo, and Kone finished the play with a header into the top corner.
Chelsea wasn't guaranteed a spot in the next round with a draw, but Drogba made sure the Blues didn't have to scoreboard watch.
Drogba, who replaced Kalou, settled a cross from Joe Cole deep in the area and then poked the ball into the net for the winning goal.
As it turned out, Chelsea didn't even need a single point because Roma defeated Bordeaux 2-0 to clinch the group. Bordeaux would have advanced in the Champions League with a win and a Chelsea tie or loss.
Matteo Brighi and Francesco Totti scored in the second half for Roma, which won the group by one point over Chelsea.
In Group B, Greece's Panathinaikos beat Cyprus' Anorthosis 1-0 to move into the top spot, while Werder Bremen won at Inter Milan 2-1 to make the UEFA Cup.
In Athens, Giorgios Karagounis scored the lone goal in the 69th minute to help the Greek club emerge as surprise winners of the group. Anorthosis could have won the group with a victory, but was eliminated despite totaling six points - the highest for a fourth-place finisher.
In Milan, Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg scored to hand Bremen a 2-0 lead and the German club held on for its first win of the stage. Bremen climbed one point ahead of Anorthosis to make the UEFA Cup, while Inter slipped to second.
In Group C, Shakhtar Donetsk topped Barcelona 3-2 but the Spanish giants rested the majority of their top players and Sporting defeated Switzerland's Basel 1-0 with nothing left to be decided on the final matchday.
In Barcelona, Olexandr Gladkiy scored twice and Shakhtar edged Barca's second team by scoring on all three of its shots on goal. Sylvinho and Sergi Busquets scored for Barcelona.
In Basel, Yannick scored in the 19th minute to help Sporting win its fourth in the group stage. Sporting's two losses were to Barcelona.
In Group D, Liverpool beat PSV 3-1 to finish first and Atletico Madrid settled for second after a 0-0 draw against Marseille.
In Eindhoven, Ryan Babel, Alberto Riera and David Ngog scored as Liverpool dug out of an early deficit to post the easy win.
In Marseille, the French club unleashed 20 shots while Atletico Madrid managed just one in the scoreless draw. Madrid still wouldn't have won the group with a win and Marseille would have advanced to the UEFA Cup even with a loss.
On Wednesday, groups E-H wrap up the stage with all eight spots in the knockout stage already decided but with the top spot up for grabs in each.
Manchester United and Villarreal are level in Group E, Lyon hosts Bayern Munich to decide Group F, Arsenal visits FC Porto to decide the winner of Group G and Juventus and Real Madrid, which will debut new boss Juande Ramos, are battling for the top spot in Group H.
Manchester United hosts AaB and Villarreal hosts Celtic in Group E, while Real Madrid hosts Zenit St. Petersburg and Juventus hosts BATE Borisov in Group H.
AaB and Zenit St Petersburg have two of the UEFA Cup spots secured, and Steaua Bucharest hosts Fiorentina to decide the third-place finisher from Group F and Dynamo Kyiv hosts Fenerbahce to decide the representative from Group G.
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Colts give the ‘D’ its due
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
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