Lescott helps City regain EPL lead

Soccer Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joleon Lescott scored the lone goal in the 63rd minute, Joe Hart capped his 11th shutout with a brilliant one-handed save in stoppage time, and Manchester City defeated Aston Villa, 1-0, at Villa Park on Sunday to regain first place in the English Premier League.

City lost its perch atop the table Saturday, as rival Manchester United downed Liverpool 2-1 to reach the summit. With just one road win in its last six away from home, City responded the way a championship contender should.

Although far from a dominant performance, Hart stayed solid in goal behind the top defense in the Premiership, and Lescott scored his second goal this season to secure a full three points on the road for City.

City climbed two points clear of United, and along with United and Tottenham, continue to pull away from the rest of the league with just 13 games left this season.

Manchester City got off to a solid start, as Sergio Aguero forced a save early and Adam Johnson drilled the right post from 24 yards inside 30 minutes.

City's breakthrough came soon after halftime, as a left-wing cross to the far side of the area was nodded back into the middle by Emile Heskey, and Lescott adjusted for a waist-high shot from 7 yards to beat Villa goalie Shave Given.

Villa had its chances late to grab a point, non better than when Bent fired a shot from about 6 yards that Hart denied on the line with a lunging stop with his right hand.

While City ended its road woes, Villa slumped to its second straight defeat as it slipped to 15th and sits just seven points above the relegation zone.

West Bromwich 5, Wolverhampton 1

Wolverhampton, England - Peter Odemwingie scored a hat trick as West Bromwich continued its impressive road form with a 5-1 win over Wolverhampton on Sunday at Molineux Stadium in the English Premier League.

West Bromwich has six of its eight wins - and 21 of 29 points - on the road so far this season, as it sits eight points clear of Wolverhampton and the bottom three in 14th place.

Odemwingie opened the scoring in the 35th, and added his last two goals after the 75th. Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews also scored for Wolves, which scored four of its goals after half.

Steven Fletcher scored his 10th goal of the season in first-half stoppage time as Wolverhampton leveled the game at 1-1, but West Bromwich's explosive second half left his squad 18th and just two points off the bottom of the table after its third loss in its last four.

Casiongames Soccer Betting News

<< Spain sweeps Kazakhstan, reaches Davis Cup quarters
Oviedo, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Spain cruised into the Davis Cup quarterfinals with a 5-0 drubbing of visiting Kazakhstan this week. The best-of-five tie came to a close Sunday, with the Spaniards winning a pair of d

<< Kerber upsets Bartoli in Paris, wins first WTA title
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - German Angelique Kerber captured her first- ever WTA title by upsetting French crowd favorite Marion Bartoli in Sunday's final at the Open GDF Suez tennis event. The ninth-seeded Kerber toppled the secon

<< Rangers and Napoli agree to deal
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers and catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli agreed to terms on a one-year contract on Sunday. Per club policy, no terms of the deal were disclosed. The 30-year-old set career highs last year

<< PSV returns to Eredivisie summit
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dries Mertens converted a penalty in the 8th minute, Ola Toivonen and Tim Matavz added goals before the half hour, and PSV Eindhoven beat De Graafschap, 4-1, to return to the Eredivisie summit Sunday.

<< Blues activate McDonald
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues activated forward Andy McDonald from injured reserve on Sunday. McDonald has been out of action since suffering a concussion at the end of the second period on October 13 in Dallas. He

Hamburg leaves it late against Cologne >>
Cologne, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paolo Guerrero scored in the 88th minute as Hamburg downed Cologne, 1-0, on Sunday at RheinEnergieStadion in the German Bundesliga. Guerrero was set up by Mladen Petric, and converted the lone goal of th

Melzer lifts Austria past Russia, into Davis Cup QFs >>
Wiener Neustadt, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer was the hero on Sunday, as he straight-setted Alex Bogomolov Jr. to propel Austria past Russian and into its first Davis Cup quarterfinal since 1995. The Austrians led b

Tipsarevic propels Serbs into Davis Cup quarters >>
Nis, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbia needed only one victory on Sunday against Sweden, and world No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic did not waste any time in the first reverse singles rubber as he helped the 2010 champions beat Sweden

Celtics' Bass to miss time with knee injury >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Brandon Bass will miss at least 10 days of action due to a knee injury. Bass, who could miss up to two weeks, is averaging 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in 25 games (five starts) th

Hertha fires Skibbe after five matches >>
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Skibbe's tenure as Hertha Berlin coach is over after just five matches. Hertha Berlin lost all five matches since Skibbe replaced Markus Babbel, and now sits in 15th place and just two points

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.