Real Madrid avoids Zaragoza scare to extend lead atop La Liga

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01/28/2012 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid surrendered an early lead but battled back to avoid an embarrassing defeat to last-place Real Zaragoza as the Galacticos earned a 3-1 win at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

With Villarreal holding Barcelona to a scoreless draw Saturday, Real Madrid's fifth-straight league win sees its lead atop the Spanish top flight extend to seven points.

Angel Lafita put Zaragoza in front after 11 minutes, but Madrid responded through Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mesut Ozil to claim a vital home victory.

The Bernabeu faithful were left stunned early on when Lafita redirected a square pass into the back of the net to give Zaragoza the lead.

Madrid applied pressure throughout the rest of the first half, but the equalizer did not come until the 32nd minute when Kaka latched onto a through ball before slotting a curling shot just inside the far post.

Ronaldo grabbed his league-leading 24th goal of the season just four minutes into the second half, narrowly beating the offside trap to stuff a square pass from Ozil into the back of the net.

Ozil then wrapped up the scoring seven minutes later, threading the needle on the left side of the box with a powerful shot to the near post.

Real Madrid improves to 52 points on the year while Real Zaragoza remains bottom with just 12 points.

Villarreal 0, Barcelona 0

Villarreal, Spain - Villarreal held the reigning European champions scoreless at El Madrigal on Saturday as it played to a 0-0 draw with Barcelona.

The Catalans now sit seven points adrift of La Liga leaders Real Madrid after its 3-1 win over Real Zaragoza earlier on Saturday. Barcelona's sixth draw of the season brings its point total to 45 through 20 games.

Villarreal improves to 20 points on the year, but remains in a tight battle against relegation as it sits just one point above the drop zone.

Athletic Bilbao 3, Rayo Vallecano 2

Madrid, Spain - Fernando Llorente scored a hat trick to help Athletic Bilbao claim a 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Teresa Rivero on Saturday.

Michu put Rayo Vallecano in front in the 10th minute, but Llorente quickly overturned the deficit with goals in the 17th and 23rd minutes. Alejandro Arribas equalized for the home side in the 27th minute to ensure the two teams went into halftime deadlocked on two goals apiece, but Llorente grabbed the game-winner in the 68th minute to give Bilbao all three points.

Bilbao improves to 29 points on the year, while Rayo Vallecano suffers its second-straight defeat to remain on 22 points.

Espanyol 1, Mallorca 0

Barcelona, Spain - Vladimir Weiss scored in the 19th minute to help Espanyol defeat 10-man Mallorca, 1-0, at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat on Saturday.

Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate was sent off in the 46th minute for bringing down Rui Fonte just outside the area. Mallorca failed to rebound from the sending off, as the match ended in favor of Espanyol with Weiss's strike holding up as the winner.

Espanyol, unbeaten in its last six league games, sits fifth in the table on 31 points, while Mallorca sits three points above the relegation zone with 22 points.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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