Gilardino's brace leads Fiorentina past Roma

Soccer Betting Lines

04/25/2009 - Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Gilardino scored a pair of second- half goals as Fiorentina cruised to a 4-1 win over Roma at Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday.

Juan Vargas scored a wonderful goal six minutes into the game before Gilardino doubled the lead in the 47th minute.

Roma was then reduced to 10 men as David Pizarro picked up a second yellow card, and Gilardino tallied his second goal of the match before Massimo Gobbi put home a rebound in the 73rd minute and Julio Baptista pulled a goal back for Roma with four minutes to play.

The win lifts Fiorentina into fourth place, one point ahead of Genoa, while Roma falls six points back of the Viola.

The home side wasted little time in settling into the match and they found themselves ahead after just six minutes.

A turnover in midfield by Roma allowed Vargas to take a pass 40 yards from goal and dribble past a defender. He then unleashed a laser into the bottom right corner from 30 yards that gave Roma goalkeeper Artur no chance.

It was a brilliant individual effort by Vargas, but it was nearly canceled out two minutes later on a free kick from Baptista, whose shot went close but sailed just over the crossbar.

The Viola had a shout for a penalty kick in the 22nd minute when Stevan Jovetic was tripped inside the box by Roma's Daniele De Rossi, but the referee was not interested and he waived play to continue.

Roma came close again in the 23rd minute when Marco Motta got into the box on the right and fired wide of the near post, while a corner kick three minutes later was nodded past the left post by Christian Panucci.

The visitors had another good look at goal five minutes before the break when Francesco Totti drew three defenders and slipped a pass to Matteo Brighi at the top of the box, but with only the keeper to beat, Brighi fired wide.

After scoring six minutes into the first half, Fiorentina needed just two minutes to open the scoring in the second half.

Franco Semioli took the ball on the right wing and floated a cross to the top of the six-yard box for Gilardino, and he nodded it inside the far post to make it 2-0.

Roma was swift to carve out another good chance as Baptista beat goalkeeper Sebastien Frey with a low shot, but Fiorentina's Manuel Pasqual cleared the ball off the goal line.

Only the woodwork denied Roma a goal in the 58th minute as a free kick was cleared to the top of the box and volleyed off the crossbar by Marco Cassetti, but one minute later, Roma was reduced to 10 men.

Pizarro picked up a yellow card in the 56th minute for a hard challenge, but he got another in the 59th when he got involved in an altercation with Semioli.

Gilardino took advantage and he fired his side ahead by three goals in the 67th minute to seal the win.

The former AC Milan man appeared to be offsides when he took a long ball down from midfield, but the flag stayed down and Gilardino cut the ball past Cassetti inside the box and fired into the bottom corner.

Gilardino had a chance to complete his hat trick in the 73rd minute, but his header was stopped by Artur, who parried the ball into the path of Gobbi to slam home.

Baptista then spoiled Frey's clean sheet with a good strike into the bottom right corner with four minutes to play.

The other match on Saturday saw Udinese claim a 2-1 win over Chievo as Gaetano D'Agostino scored the winner in stoppage time.

24hrsportsbook Soccer Betting News

<< Beltran stays hot as Mets rout Nats
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Beltran continued his scorching start with three hits and Ryan Church drove in three runs, as the New York Mets took advantage of some poor Washington fielding to earn an 8-2 win over the Nationa

<< Hornaday Jr. on pole for Kansas truck race
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. will start on the pole for Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. Hornaday grabbed the top starting position after turning the best lap a

<< Lions make it official with Stafford
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions made Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford the No. 1 overall pick in Saturday's NFL Draft after signing him to a six-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed, bu

<< Braves power past Reds for third straight win
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar each homered and drove in four runs, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 10-2 rout of the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Jones belted a three-run homer and ad

<< Paul helps Hornets sting Nuggets in Game 3
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul posted game-highs with 32 points and 12 assists as the New Orleans Hornets escaped with a 95-93 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of a Western Conference quarterfinal series. James Posey

Yankees place Bruney, Ransom on DL among other moves >>
Boston MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees made a slew of roster moves on Saturday, which included placing pitcher Brian Bruney and third baseman Cody Ransom on the disabled list. Bruney was placed on the 15-day disabled

Stafford goes No. 1, Jets trade up to take Sanchez at No. 5 >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions made Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford the No. 1 overall pick in Saturday's NFL Draft after signing him to a six-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Detroit

Astros put Quintero on DL >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros placed catcher Humberto Quintero on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained right shoulder. Quintero suffered the injury during Friday's game in a home-plate collision with

NFL Draft Update >>
(The Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have the 9th pick, which is the 9th Round One: 1. Detroit Lions - Matthew Stafford (QB, Georgia); 2. St. Louis Rams - Jason Smith (OT, Baylor); 3. Kansas City Chiefs - Tyson Jackson (DE, L-S-U)

Jets trade up to take Sanchez at No. 5 >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets acquired the No. 5 pick in Saturday's NFL Draft from Cleveland in order to select USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. In exchange for getting the fifth pick, the Jets gave the Browns t

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Sheets

NFL Office Pool Sheets

MySportsbook.com is considered one of the finest online sportsbook according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is offering a free printable NFL football office pool sheets. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury. Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football pool sheets needs.

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

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.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.