L.A. escapes Chicago with dramatic draw

Soccer Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Omar Gonzalez scored in stoppage time and the Los Angeles Galaxy escaped Toyota Park with a 1-1 draw against the 10-man Chicago Fire on Saturday, despite a missed penalty from Landon Donovan and a late goal from Collins John.

Donovan's first-half penalty was stopped by Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson, then John scored the opening goal in the 88th minute to put Chicago in position for its second win over L.A. in just over a month.

L.A. responded just seconds into stoppage time through Gonzalez, who jumped to meet a corner kick from Donovan and headed powerfully past Johnson from just a few yards out.

The Galaxy (13-5-5) avoided their fourth loss in their last five games, a span that started with a 3-2 loss to the Fire on Aug. 1.

Chicago (6-7-7) followed that win over Los Angeles with a tie against Red Bull New York and a win over New England, but then lost back-to-back matches to the Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders FC. The Fire are now winless in three.

L.A. had the best chances in the opening half, including a header over the bar by MLS leading scorer Edson Buddle in the 15th minute and another header over the bar in the 39th from Donovan.

The key play of the first half was in the 23rd minute, when Donovan failed to convert a penalty kick after Gonzalo Segares was sent off for a foul in the area. The U.S. star drove his penalty to the right but did not place it well, and Johnson dove to his left to deflect the shot.

L.A. nearly erased the frustrating first half midway through the second when a nice back-flick pass from Donovan set up Sean Franklin, who fired just wide of the left post.

Chicago notched the first goal two minutes from time off a free kick as John, who just entered the match minutes earlier, drove the ball around L.A.'s wall and into the bottom-right corner from 22 yards.

Gonzalez spoiled Chicago's celebration seconds later, as Donovan delivered the corner from the right, and the central defender soared to reach the ball near the edge of the six-yard box. His strong header left Johnson no chance.

Johnson, who finished with seven saves, was called into action one final time, and he responded with a one-handed save on Franklin two minutes into stoppage time.

Chicago continues its busy September on Wednesday, when Toronto FC visits. The Galaxy host the Columbus Crew on Sept. 11 in a battle of two of the best teams in MLS.

Soprtsbook Soccer Betting News

<< Quality Road rebounds to win Woodward Stakes
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Quality Road shook loose at the head of stretch Saturday to win the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. It was the colt's fourth win in five starts this year. The c

<< Bengals chop 22, including WR Jones, K Rayner
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Matt Jones and kicker Dave Rayner were among the players released by the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the 53-man NFL limit. Jones, a former first-round pick

<< Snedeker joins Day in Deutsche Bank lead
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandt Snedeker fired a seven-under 64 Saturday to join Jason Day in the lead after 36 holes of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four FedExCup series playoff events. Day, who shared the first-round

<< Buccaneers cut 20, including WR Clayton
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former first-round draft choice Michael Clayton was among the players released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the 53-player NFL maximum. Clayton, who posted 221 catches

<< Pickens: Gundy's done a good job at Oklahoma St.
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Prominent Oklahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens says he's pleased with the performance of football coach Mike Gundy and is predicting an eight-win season for the Cowboys.Pickens spoke Saturday before Oklahoma State hosted W

Texans release 21; officially sign RB Ward >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans released 21 players, sent three others to various reserve lists, and officially signed running back Derrick Ward as part of their roster maneuvers on Saturday. The Texans released quarterback

Hamlin edges Newman for Atlanta pole >>
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin earned his first pole of the season by topping Ryan Newman in Saturday's qualifying for the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hamlin turned in a lap of 187.380 m.p.

Ducks dominate in opener against New Mexico >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenjon Barner rushed for 146 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries as 11th-ranked Oregon used a powerful first half to dismantle New Mexico, 72-0, in the first-ever meeting between the schools

25th-ranked West Virginia opens by blanking Coastal Carolina >>
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geno Smith completed 20-of-27 passes for a career-high 216 yards and two touchdowns in his first collegiate start and Noel Devine ran for 111 yards and a score to lead West Virginia to a 31-0 drubbin

Giants make cuts, QB Bomar among them >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Rhett Bomar was among the players released by the New York Giants on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the 53-player maximum. Bomar, a fifth-round 2009 draft choice out of Sam Hous

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.