New York riding high heading into Chivas USA fixture

Soccer Betting Lines

06/04/2010 - Harrison, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York hosts Chivas USA on Saturday in Major League Soccer action, three days after one of the best results of the season.

With the score tied a one against the Houston Dynamo deep into stoppage time, Red Bull was awarded a free kick from about 30 yards out. Striker Juan Pablo Angel stepped up and fired a perfect shot off the left post to give his team the much-needed home result, while snapping a four-game losing streak.

"Normally you expect it," New York coach Hans Backe said of Angel's dramatic winner. "He's a very, very sharp finisher so normally he scores. In a way, we would have been happy to get the tie to cut these four losses in a row to start all over again, because it's rough to lose four games in a row. I think with his background, of course that someone has to be the boss and to step up. We struggled on our set plays on our corners and our wide free kicks. But someone has to step and just organize us on those plays."

Now, New York (6-5-0) will be aiming to head into the World Cup break on a winning streak, with Saturday's match its next until June 26.

"We needed to stop the losing streak," Angel said. "It was important for us to do it. I felt right from the beginning of the game, we were the better team, we were playing well, and we were creating chances. But there was that feeling of, 'Come on,' as we missed one, we missed two, we missed three, and they can always come back on us.

"So when they scored a goal, you could feel that we were so disappointed. But we reacted well. We kept creating chances and attacking, and it was an even game at the end. I'm delighted that we managed to break that streak and win [on Wednesday]. It was important to win, hopefully we get a good result on Saturday, and then we have the break to just regroup and start all over again."

On Saturday, New York will be facing a Chivas USA team that has lost four straight MLS fixtures of its own, the last three of which on last-minute goals.

"Obviously, it's very disappointing," Chivas USA striker Justin Braun told mlssoccer.com. "It stinks giving up those late goals. It's three weeks in a row now. That's something we can't keep allowing. You can't win games if you keep allowing late goals. We need to do whatever we can to stop this."

The latest loss was a the Hans of a D.C. United squad that had won just one game previous to beating the Western Conference's last-placed team.

"We have to stay focused," Chivas coach Martin Vasquez said. "Don't lose our concentration. I feel that maybe [we] also [lacked] a little bit of confidence [at D.C.]. At times we weren't good with the ball. There's lots of work to do."

The Goats will be without starting goalkeeper Zach Thornton because of a red card he received vs. United. Further complicating matters is the fact that backup goalkeeper Dan Kennedy is questionable with a hip strain. Defender Ante Jazic will miss the match with a knee strain.

New York will be without a host of players, including defender Kevin Goldthwaite, midfielders Giorgi Chirgadze, Austin da Luz, Carl Robinson and Brian Nielsen, and forward Macoumba Kandji, all with injuries.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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