Barca earns draw with late Henry goal

Soccer Betting Lines

04/25/2009 - Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thierry Henry's goal with five minutes to play allowed Barcelona to earn a 2-2 draw with Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday.

Barca took the lead 24 minutes into the match through Lionel Messi, but Valencia scored twice in the final three minutes of the first half to claim a 2-1 lead at the break.

However, Henry picked up a loose ball inside the box after a failed clearance attempt by Valencia goalkeeper Cesar, and his deflected effort made its way across the goal line.

The result leaves Barca seven points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, but a Real win over Sevilla on Sunday would close the gap to four points, with the two Spanish giants set to meet on May 3.

Valencia remains in fourth place, one point behind third-placed Sevilla.

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was the first to be called into action in the 18th minute when he was forced to get down and stop David Villa's free kick, but it was Cesar that was first to pick the ball out of his own goal.

Messi exchanged passes with Andres Iniesta inside the area, and after Cesar came off his line to challenge Iniesta, he slipped the ball back to Messi to slam into the empty net.

It was a neat piece of play from Barca's talented duo, but the rest of the half belonged to the home side, who had a penalty appeal turned down five minutes after Messi's goal.

Valencia looked increasingly threatening as the first half wore on, and they nearly leveled the match when Carlos Marchena floated a long ball over the top for David Silva, whose looping header forced Valdes to tip the ball over the crossbar.

It was a good save from the Barca keeper, but it was his mistake on the ensuing corner kick that handed Valencia the equalizer.

The ball was whipped into the six-yard box and Valdes attempted to claim it, but he collided with defender Carles Puyol, allowing the ball to slip through and hit off of Hedwiges Maduro and roll into the back of the net.

There was nothing Valdes could do two minutes later as Pablo and Mata worked a nice one-two outside the box, with Pablo pushing the ball between two Barca defenders and firing into the bottom right corner.

The hosts took the momentum into halftime, but the pace of the match slowed considerably in the second half.

Henry was able to get a few shots on goal, but nothing that seriously threatened the Valencia net.

The home side didn't get a good look at goal in the second half until the 74th minute, when Mata fired wide of the near post from inside the box.

However, a free kick with five minutes to play handed the visitors another chance and they made the most of it.

The ball was played into the middle of the box for Sergi Busquets and Cesar came off his line to punch it clear. The keeper nearly collided with the Barca player and didn't get enough on his clearance, and the ball ended up on the foot of Henry, whose deflected effort ended up in the back of the net.

Almeria kept Numancia on the bottom of the table with a 2-1 win while Malaga could have jumped into the top five but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Deportivo.

Albert Luque put Malaga in front in the 33rd minute but his opener was canceled out by Sergio.

Malaga was then given a penalty kick with two minutes to play, but goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia saved Apono's spot kick.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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