Ljungberg's miss forces Fire to settle for draw with TFC

Soccer Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire and Toronto FC played to a 0-0 draw at Toyota Park on Wednesday, a result that does little to help the playoff chances of either team.

Chicago had the best chance of the match early in the second half when Freddie Ljungberg was played in behind the Toronto defense and left alone with just the goalkeeper to beat. However, he pushed his shot wide of the right post, leaving the Fire with just one win from its last six games.

Toronto has struggled away from home this season with just four points from its 10 previous away contests, so a point is not as bad of a result.

But it still leaves TFC five points back of Seattle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer.

The first half saw little in the way of action for either goalkeeper as Toronto's Stefan Frei made the lone save on a low 20-yard shot from Chicago's Collins John.

Toronto failed to produce a shot on goal in the first 45 minutes, but the Reds did have two decent appeals for handball inside the penalty area turned down.

The opening goal should have arrived three minutes into the second half as Nery Castillo played a through ball to Ljungberg, but he wasted the chance with Frei at his mercy.

The visitors tried to make Ljungberg pay for his miss as O'Brian White went close with a glancing header before a poor clearance by Chicago's Mike Banner handed White another chance which forced a save from goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

Chicago had one final opportunity to win the game as Castillo drew a free kick 25 yards from goal in the dying seconds, but he shot straight into the wall, failing to test Frei.

Footballgambleworld Soccer Betting News

<< Twins sweep away Royals, extend AL Central lead
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denard Span punctuated a three-run fifth inning with a two-run triple, and the Minnesota Twins held on to beat Kansas City, 4-3, to complete a three-game sweep at Target Field. J.J. Hardy had two hit

<< Rockies P Cook leaves game with injury
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies starter Aaron Cook left Wednesday's game against Cincinnati in the sixth inning after being hit in the right leg with a line drive. Cook was making his second start since a month-long stint on t

<< Rangers blast Blue Jays to halt losing streak
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Kinsler and Jeff Francoeur ignited the Texas offense, helping the American League West-leading Rangers snap a series of streaks with an 8-1 win over Toronto. Kinsler homered to begin the game and Fran

<< Bonderman solid as Tigers take down White Sox
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight brilliant innings and Alex Avila hit a key two-run double, as the Detroit Tigers topped the Chicago White Sox, 5-1, in the continuation of a four-game series. Bonderman (

<< Wozniacki, Zvonareva advance to U.S. Open semis
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki overcame windy conditions and beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets Wednesday night to reach the semifinals at the U.S. Open. The No. 1 seed from Denmark won he

Braun, Brewers down reeling Cards >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun homered and drove in a total of four runs to back Chris Capuano's solid performance on the mound, as the Milwaukee Brewers dominated the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-1, in the rubber match of a th

Braves avoid sweep in Pittsburgh >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Prado, Derrek Lee, and Alex Gonzalez each drove in two runs to back Derek Lowe's solid performance on the mound, as the Atlanta Braves handled the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, to avoid a three-game sweep a

RSL eyes top spot in league against Seattle >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake entered this season as defending Major League Soccer champions, and according to midfielder Andy Williams, they also had a few goals in mind. "At the beginning of the year, we had our goals wher

Myers, Astros shut down Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Myers struck out eight in seven shutout innings to continue his dominance of the Cubs and lead the Astros to a 4-0 win over Chicago in the rubber match of a three-game series. Myers (11-7) allowed just

Phillies build big lead, top Marlins to keep hold of first place >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard finished 3-for-5 with a three- run homer and tied a season-high with six RBI as Philadelphia built a double- digit lead but held on to top Florida, 10-6, in the finale of a four-game set. Chas

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook that aims to keep betting fun. The company sees itself as a premier provider of a top-shelf gambling entertainment experience. MySportsbook knows that this can not be accomplished if gamblers are struggling through the betting process, so the emphasis is put on simplicity and ease of use.

Established in 1997, MySportsbook was the first sportsbook to offer the Instant eCheck method, and has since continued on to be one of the most innovate and fastest growing internet sportsbooks the industry has seen. A player doesn’t have to look very far before coming across one of the many sportsbooks that have cloned MySportsbook’s written policies, web pages and advertising campaign, hoping to bottle some of MySportsbook’s magic.

Although MySportsbook’s growth is largely attributed to their talented in-house marketing team, every successful bookmaker will agree that bringing the players in is only half of the battle. In a time when most internet sportsbook were nickel-and-diming players, MySportsbook was creating ways to make bonuses automatic and absent of fine print, while offering all payouts free of charge. This sportsbook also accepts Visa & Mastercard sportsbook.

Almost everything on the online sportsbook site is set in the model of simplicity, making the CS clerk’s job easy as well. Each account action made online results in an automated email sent to the client. When calling MySportsbook, the player feels as if his call is in the united states as no accents can be heard through a state of the art telecommunications system. Few online sportsbooks can compete with My Sportsbook when it comes to offering a fun and hassle-free experience to the small to moderate sized gambler.

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

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.