Hearts hands Rangers first defeat of season

Soccer Betting Lines

09/15/2007 - Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hearts entered its contest with Rangers on Saturday having won just one of its first five games this season. However, the Edinburgh club stunned the previously unbeaten Glasgow side 4-2 at Tynecastle Stadium.

Rangers had gone a perfect 5-0 to start the campaign, but were not prepared for the effort that the home team put forward. Andrew Driver and Ibrahim Tall had the home side ahead 2-0 after 27 minutes, and after Daniel Cousin converted from the penalty spot for Rangers shortly after the break, Hearts answered back with two goals of its own.

Michael Stewart made the most of his spot kick, and Kestutis Ivaskevicius scored four minutes later to give Hearts a commanding 4-1 lead.

DaMarcus Beasley scored in the 74th minute to bring Rangers to within two goals, but another win was never in the cards for Rangers on this day, and they dropped their first points all season.

Marius Zaliukas tried to find Andrius Ksanavicius with a pass inside the box. However, defender Carlos Cuellar poked the ball away. It ended up on the foot of Driver, and he cracked a shot towards goal that took a deflection off Alan Hutton and found the net.

Tall then doubled the lead for Hearts when he picked up a loose ball 20 yards from goal and smashed it past keeper Allan McGregor.

Barry Ferguson earned a penalty kick for Rangers shortly after halftime, and Cousin converted to tighten things up.

However, Hutton's day got worse as he was whistled for a foul inside the area on Ivaskevicius. Stewart then struck the penalty low into the right corner to restore the two-goal edge for Hearts.

Ivaskevicius put it out of reach four minutes later, and Beasley continued his good start to the season by pulling one back for Rangers in the 74th.

In other action in Scotland on Saturday, Celtic took over the top spot in Scotland with a 5-0 pounding of Inverness, Motherwell stopped Aberdeen 2-1 at Pittodrie Stadium, Kilmarnock held off Gretna 2-1 and Falkirk and Hibernian split the points in 1-1 fashion.

The league will finish up on Sunday as St Mirren will try to move to .500 with a victory over fourth-place Dundee United.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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