Ajax held by Excelsior, trail PSV by five

Soccer Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Amsterdam, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just when Ajax had climbed to within three points of league-leaders PSV, the Amsterdam club lost two points over the weekend to fall five off the pace. PSV recorded a 2-0 over Heracles on Saturday, and Ajax followed with a 2-2 draw against Excelsior at Amsterdam Arena on Sunday.

Things started off well for the home side as Edgar Davids put Ajax ahead after 19 minutes with his first goal for the club, but Excelsior responded with a pair of goals in a five-minute span to move in front on the half-hour mark. Andwele Slory and Eldridge Rojer tallied for the visitors, but Ajax sniper Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had his team on level terms heading into the half with a goal in the 38th minute. After a torrid pace in the first half, things slowed considerably in the second half, and the teams were left to split the points.

After a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup during the week, Ajax came out firing and went ahead 19 minutes into the match. Huntelaar was taken down by Excelsior's Henrico Drost, setting up a dangerous free-kick chance. Tom De Mul then rolled the ball to Davids, who slammed a shot into the top corner of the net, giving keeper Theo Zwarthoed no chance.

A poor pass from Johnny Heitinga led to the visitors climbing back into the game six minutes later. His errant pass allowed Slory to carry the ball into the penalty area before beating keeper Maarten Stekelenburg with a low shot into the left corner.

Five minutes later, Excelsior went in front on a brilliant individual play from Rojer. After making room on the left flank for himself, Rojer carried the ball into the box and beat Stekelenburg to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

Another set piece allowed Ajax to equalize in the 38th minute. De Mul's corner was swung into the area and met by the head of Huntelaar, who banged home a powerful header to even the score at 2-2.

An exciting first half was followed by a lackluster second half, with the best chance of breaking the deadlock falling to Ajax's Leonardo, who failed to hit the net from close range.

In other Eredivisie play on Sunday, AZ squandered a chance to move into second place with a 1-1 draw at Groningen, Twente scored twice in the first half and held off Heerenveen for a 2-1 win and Feyenoord got a pair of goals in the opening 20 minutes to get past Utrecht 2-0.

Foorball365 Soccer Betting News

<< Mauresmo spoils Belgian finale for Clijsters
Antwerp, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amelie Mauresmo of France continued her dominance at the Proximus Diamond Games tennis tournament, winning the title for the third straight year and beating Belgian native Kim Clijsters for the crown f

<< Nats bring Belliard to camp
Viera, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals signed infielder Ronnie Belliard to a minor league contract on Sunday with an invitation to spring training. The 31-year-old hit .272 with 13 homers and 67 runs batted in while spli

<< Canucks host Avs, aim for Northwest lead
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks look to continue their recent winning ways and also regain sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division when they take the ice at General Motors Place tonight against the Colorado Avalanc

<< Ducks try to crown Kings once again
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks go for a home-and-home sweep of the Los Angeles Kings when the area foes conclude their weekend series tonight at the Honda Center. The teams needed an extended shootout to decide a winner on Saturd

<< Canadiens head to Columbus seeking end to downward spiral
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens take to the road in hopes of ending their recent tailspin, as the free-falling club visits Columbus' Nationwide Arena tonight for a rare matchup with the Blue Jackets. Montreal is currently mir

Islanders acquire Bergeron from Edmonton >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders have acquired defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and a third-round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Denis Grebeshkov. Bergero

Ferguson, Rangers edge Falkirk >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers continued to play well in the Scottish Premier League, recording their fifth win in six contests on Sunday, a 2-1 triumph over Falkirk at the Ibrox Stadium. After suffering a 2-1 defeat to

Lazio moves into top five with Pandev's double >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goran Pandev scored a pair of goals to lead Lazio to a 2-0 win over Torino on Sunday at Stadio Olimpico, allowing the club to jump into fifth place in the Serie A standings. Lazio is now unbeaten in its l

Simon upsets Baghdatis for Marseille crown >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilles Simon of France thrilled the home crowd with a straight-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus to capture the Open 13 tennis title. Simon notched a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) triumph to claim his fir

Shvedova upends Santangelo for Bangalore crown >>
Bangalore, India (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia surprised defending champion Mara Santangelo in straight sets to capture the Sony Ericsson International crown. Shvedova earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the top-see

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards