AZ Alkmaar's unbeaten streak reaches 16 games

Soccer Betting Lines

01/18/2009 - Volendam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar got goals from Ari and David Mendes as the club extended its unbeaten streak in the league to 16 games with a 2-0 win over last-place Volendam.

Ari's goal came 11 minutes into the match, while Mendes scored in the 79th minute to secure all three points and keep AZ three points clear of second- place Ajax, which downed NEC 4-2.

Volendam has now won just once in its last six and is at the bottom of the table by four points.

After a scoreless first half, Ajax and NEC combined for six goals and one red card in an eventful second half that started with a Miralem Sulejmani goal for Ajax in the 48th minute.

NEC answered through Ramon Zomer two minutes later, but Sulejmani restored his team's lead with another goal in the 54th minute.

Again the home side had a reply as Youssef El Akchaoui scored midway through the second half, and things got even better for NEC when Dario Cvitanich was sent off in the 70th minute for Ajax.

However, an unlucky own-goal from Dani Fernandez with 12 minutes to play put NEC behind by a goal, and with the team pushing forward for an equalizer, Gabri sealed the win in stoppage time.

PSV Eindhoven fell even further back of the leaders as the defending champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Roda, which entered the day second from the bottom.

Timmy Simons put PSV ahead from the penalty spot in the 59th minute, but Roda answered less than one minute later through Willem Janssen, earning a share of the points.

PSV has now won just two of its last six games and sits 13 points off the lead in fifth place, while Groningen remains in seventh after playing to a 1-1 draw with Sparta.

Wwmozilla Soccer Betting News

<< Gretzky's Coyotes set to battle Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cup championships with the Oilers, but has found little success in Edmonton since he took over as head coach of Phoenix. Gretzky will lead his surging club into Edmonton tonight, as the Oiler

<< Thunder host Heat in Oklahoma City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder are finally showing signs of life and will aim to finish a three-game homestand in perfect fashion Sunday when they welcome the Miami Heat to the Ford Center. The Thunder improved to 2-0 on their

<< Nash, Suns aim to continue success vs. Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns kick off a grueling six-game road trip north of the border on Sunday, hoping to record their ninth straight win over the Toronto Raptors. The Suns haven't lost to the Raptors since a a 101-94 setback in th

<< Blue Jackets visit Canucks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After sweeping their two-game series versus the Canucks in Columbus, the Blue Jackets will try to find some rare success in Vancouver tonight as they visit the club and GM Place. Columbus has won four straight and six of i

<< Wildcats seek upset of 18th-ranked Golden Gophers
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers shoot for their first 5-1 start in the Big Ten since 1976-77, as they drop in on the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Gophers opened league play with a lo

Villanova is St. John's fourth straight ranked foe >>
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. John's Red Storm face their fourth straight Top-25 opponent this afternoon, as they pay a visit to the 23rd- ranked Villanova Wildcats for a Big East Conference clash at The Pavilion. St. John's has d

Diamond's double does the job for Aberdeen >>
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zander Diamond's second-half double handed Aberdeen a 4-2 win over Celtic at Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday, the Dons first win at home against Celtic since 2001. Gary McDonald put Aberdeen on top

Xavier puts perfect conference mark on line against La Salle >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Xavier Musketeers put their perfect Atlantic 10 Conference mark on the line, as they welcome the La Salle Explorers to the Cintas Center in Cincinnati this afternoon. La Salle is 9-6 on the y

Crosby returns against Rangers >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby returned to the ice for Sunday's contest against the New York Rangers. Crosby did not play in Friday's 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks due to a lower body i

Blues' Polak sidelined with fractured foot >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Blues defenseman Roman Polak will be sidelined indefinitely with a fractured right foot suffered in Saturday's overtime loss to Chicago. The Czech rearguard is minus-five with 11 points (1G,

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.