City brushes Porto aside in Europa League
Soccer Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City steam rolled over Porto at home on Wednesday, earning a 4-0 victory against the Portuguese side to advance to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.
Four different players got on the score sheet at the Etihad as Sergio Aguero gave the home side the lead by halftime before Edin Dzeko, David Silva, and David Pizarro all chipped in with second-half goals to seal the win.
It only took City 19 seconds to break through as the Citizens capitalized on a giveaway in midfield.
Yaya Toure intercepted a poor pass from the Porto defense and played a brilliant through ball to split the back line. Aguero latched on and slotted his effort to the far post to get the Citizens off to a dream start.
Aguero nearly grabbed a second goal in the 29th minute when he beat the offside trap, danced around Porto goalkeeper Helton, and chipped a shot over a covering defender, but the Argentine was denied by the crossbar as his effort rattled the frame and was cleared to safety.
A second goal eventually came through second-half substitute Dzeko, and it was Aguero who turned provider in the 76th minute.
The Argentine threaded a through ball at the perfect moment to find Dzeko and the lanky striker made no mistake with the finish, slipping a shot under Helton to put the nail in the coffin.
Silva added insult to injury for the visitors following another giveaway by the Porto defense. He one-timed a centering pass from Pizarro in the 84th minute into the back of the net after Helton was drawn out of position.
Pizarro quickly put an exclamation point at the end of the aggregate score, taking advantage of a failed clearance two minutes later and adding a fourth goal for City to make it a 6-1 win for the Citizens over both legs.
Manchester City will commence Europa League play on March 8 against the winner of the Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon tie. Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon are set to play their second leg matchup Thursday in Portugal, tied 2-2 on aggregate.
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Hradecka exits Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Czech Lucie Hradecka was
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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