Tello, Messi lead Barcelona past Real Sociedad

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02/04/2012 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristian Tello and Lionel Messi scored a goal apiece as Barcelona edged Real Sociedad, 2-1, at Camp Nou on Saturday to keep pace with Real Madrid in the chase for the La Liga title.

Tello put Barcelona in front nine minutes into the match while Messi and Carlos Vela traded second-half goals in the 72nd and 74th minutes, respectively.

The contest was quite open from the start as the two sides traded clear-cut scoring opportunities inside the opening five minutes.

Messi came close first as he found himself one-on-one with Claudio Bravo, but the Argentine was unable to convert the chance as the Chilean 'keeper produced a fine save.

Real Sociedad responded immediately as Antoine Griezmann found himself through on goal, but it was Victor Valdes's turn to save the day, thwarting the French attacker's attempt to put the visitors in front.

It did not take Barcelona long to finally break through, as Messi turned provider for youngster Tello. The 20-year-old, making his first La Liga start, latched on to a through ball and slipped a shot past Bravo for his first career La Liga goal.

Barcelona nearly grabbed a second goal in the 69th minute when Tello lashed a shot toward goal, but Dani Alves redirected the ball over the goal line from an offside position and the goal was disallowed.

The second goal came just two minutes later as Messi latched on to a curling ball played in behind the Real Sociedad defense and volleyed his effort past an on-rushing Bravo.

Real Sociedad quickly pulled one back, as Thiago Alcantara was caught in possession by Vela, and the Mexican striker slotted a shot past Valdes in the 74th minute.

It proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal for the striker on loan from Arsenal, as the match ended in favor of the reigning European champions.

Barcelona extends its unbeaten run in La Liga play to eight games, but its six draws this season have seen the Catalans fall behind its main title threat. They remain seven points off the pace set by Real Madrid after the Galacticos edged Getafe, 1-0, on Saturday to improve to 55 points on the year.

Real Sociedad falls for the ninth time this season as it occupies 13th place in the table on 24 points.

Real Madrid 1, Getafe 0

Getafe, Spain - Real Madrid narrowly defeated Getafe with a 1-0 win at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Saturday to maintain its lead at the top of the La Liga table.

Sergio Ramos provided the lone goal of the game in the 18th minute, helping the visitors claim their fifth-straight victory.

Real Madrid preserves its seven-point lead over Barcelona as it sets the pace in Spain with 55 points through 21 games, while Getafe suffers its first league loss in six matches, remaining tied with Osasuna on 27 points.

Athletic Bilbao 3, Espanyol 3

Bilbao, Spain - Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol played to a back-and-forth 3-3 draw at San Mames on Saturday with all six goals coming from different scorers.

Oscar de Marcos, Fernando Llorente, and Javi Martinez of Athletic Bilbao alternated goals with Romaric and Vladimir Weiss of Espanyol, but it wasn't until second-half stoppage time that the visitors claimed the ultimate equalizer. Uruguayan midfielder Juan Albin scored at the death for Espanyol to split the points.

The two sides remain separated by just two points as Espanyol occupies fifth place on 32 points while Bilbao sits in sixth with 30 points.

Levante 1, Racing 1

Valencia, Spain - Levante and Racing posted goals on opposite sides of halftime as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw at the Ciutat de Valencia on Saturday.

Arouna Kone opened the scoring for the home side in the 23rd minute, but it was canceled out by Racing's Manuel Arana in the 61st minute.

Levante remains fourth despite staying level with Espanyol on 32 points, while Racing's second-straight draw lifts the club to 22 points, two points clear of the relegation zone.

Mallorca 1, Real Betis 0

Mallorca, Spain - Mallorca claimed a 1-0 win over Real Betis in an ugly affair at the Estadio Son Moix on Saturday.

Chori Castro notched the lone goal of the game in the 24th minute, but it was overshadowed by red cards issued to Ivan Ramis and Victor of Mallorca as well as Mario of Real Betis in the second half.

Real Betis has lost three of its last four to drop to 14th place on 23 points, while Mallorca jumps to 12th place by improving to 25 points.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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