05/11/2008 - Manchester, England (Soccer Betting) - Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs scored goals to help Manchester United retain the Premiership title with a 2-0 win over Wigan at The JJB Stadium on Sunday.
United entered the day level on 84 points with Chelsea, but held the edge in goal differential, meaning three points at Wigan would be enough to hold onto the title.
The Red Devils were given an opportunity to take the lead in the 31st minute when Wigan's Emmerson Boyce brought down Wayne Rooney inside the area and the referee pointed to the spot.
Ronaldo stepped up and cooly deposited his 31st goal of the season into the lower right corner, sending Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland the wrong way.
Wigan looked dangerous at times and stayed within a goal until the 80th minute, when Giggs put the title out of reach by taking a pass from Rooney at the top of the box and beating Kirkland to make it 2-0.
The Welshman came on as a substitute in the second half, giving him 758 appearances for the club, which ties him with United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.
Although the afternoon was nervy at times for Sir Alex Ferguson's men, it was Chelsea who had a tougher time dealing with the pressure, drawing 1-1 at home against Bolton.
Second-half substitute Andriy Shevchenko put the Blues on top in the 62nd minute, but Bolton stole a point in stoppage time with a goal from Kevin Davies that leaves Chelsea two points off the pace.
Chelsea captain John Terry had to be taken out of the game early in the first half after colliding with goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Englishman suffered an arm injury and was stretchered off, leaving his status for the Champions League final against United on May 21 in doubt.
Things were just as dramatic at the other end of the table as the relegation strugglers each came up with big efforts.
Birmingham came into the day trailing by one point, but they recorded an impressive 4-1 win over Blackburn with two goals from Cameron Jerome.
The club was headed down, however, when it discovered that Reading had pounded last-place Derby 4-0, leaving one relegation spot remaining.
Fulham could secure safety with a win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park, but the game entered the final 15 minutes without a goal. A draw would not be enough to keep Fulham up, but they came through with a 1-0 win as Jimmy Bullard's free kick was nodded into the back of the net by Danny Murphy in the 76th minute, completing an improbable comeback by the Cottagers to remain in the top flight.
Reading and Birmingham will now join Derby in the bottom three, while Fulham is safe after winning four of its last five games.
Everton claimed the last UEFA Cup spot with a 3-1 win over Newcastle, 10-man Manchester City was crushed 8-1 by Middlesbrough in what could be City manager Sven Goran-Eriksson's final game with the team, while Arsenal downed Sunderland 1-0, Liverpool won 2-0 against Tottenham and Aston Villa played to a 2-2 draw with West Ham.
<< Second day qualifying for Indy a washout
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to the track.
Qualifying for positions 12-33 will restart next Saturday, the thir
<< A's activate Harden from DL to start against Texas
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics activated oft-injured
pitcher Rich Harden from the 15-day disabled list Sunday, in time to start the
team's series finale with the Texas Rangers.
Harden was placed on the DL for the si
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Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic rallied to
beat Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka to win the $3.5 million Italian Masters on
Sunday.
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<< Boston takes on Minnesota at Metrodome
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League's top team, the Boston Red Sox, will
take the field this evening in hopes of winning the third test of a four-game
set against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.
Tim Wakefield will take the hill toni
O's select contract of Cintron >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles selected the
contract of infielder Alex Cintron from Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday.
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Otto holds off Wilson to win Italian Open >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hennie Otto fended off a stiff charge from
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Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan failed in its second attempt to
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Yankees-Tigers postponed due to heavy rain >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunday's scheduled series finale between the
New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers was postponed due to rain.
No make-up date for the game was announced.
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 Nick Mangold (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. 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 Reggie Williams 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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