Borini's brace powers Roma past Inter

Soccer Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Fabio Borini helped Roma to a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Juan put Roma in front after 13 minutes when he headed home Francesco Totti's corner kick, while Borini added a second goal shortly before the break after being set up by Miralem Pjanic.

The lead was stretched to 3-0 early in the second half when Juan's long ball was tracked down by Borini, who got into the penalty area and slotted his shot past goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

The visitors had no answer for Roma's attack and the hosts grabbed a fourth goal in the final minutes as Bojan Krkic beat three defenders before firing his shot past Cesar to cap the emphatic win.

Roma remains in sixth with the victory but closes to within two points of Inter, which has claimed just one point from its last three matches following a seven-game winning streak.

AC Milan 0, Napoli 0

Milan, Italy - AC Milan was held to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro by Napoli on Sunday in a match that saw Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off midway through the second half.

The result leaves the Rossoneri one point back of leaders Juventus, which also finished in a 0-0 draw on Sunday against Siena. Napoli is now winless in its last five games and stays in seventh place in Serie A.

Chances were at a premium on Sunday and Milan had the best one in the 51st minute when Robinho was played in on goal by Ibrahimovic but failed to beat goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis.

The Napoli 'keeper did well to deny Ibrahimovic in the 63rd minute and the Swede soon received his marching orders for slapping Napoli's Salvatore Aronica.

Despite being up a man Napoli was unable to find the net and the club's winless streak was extended for another week.

Genoa 3, Lazio 2

Genoa, Italy - Bosko Jankovic netted two goals and Genoa held off a late charge from Lazio to secure a 3-2 win at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Sunday.

Rodrigo Palacio tallied the opener in the 10th minute and Jankovic doubled the lead midway through the first half with his first goal of the match.

Jankovic added to Lazio's misery when he scored in the opening seconds after the break to make it 3-0.

But Lazio pulled a goal back in the 54th minute from the penalty spot courtesy of Cristian Ledesma before the capital side was reduced to 10 men with Mobido Diakite being sent off eight minutes from time.

A goal from Alvaro Gonzalez in the 90th minute made it a one-goal game, but there wasn't enough time left for Lazio to muster a third goal, snapping a run of three wins in four games for the visitors.

Parma 2, Chievo 1

Verona, Italy - Parma moved further away from the relegation zone on Sunday after Siqueira Luciano's own goal handed the club a 2-1 win at Chievo.

Sebastian Giovinco's ninth goal of the season just after halftime gave Parma the lead, but his opener was canceled out four minutes later by Cyril Thereau.

Parma pressed hard for a second goal and was rewarded with a bit of good fortune in the 69th minute when Giovinco's shot took a deflection off of Luciano and found its way inside the right post.

The visitors move 10 points clear of the drop zone with the win and ahead of Chievo on goal difference.

Fiorentina 3, Udinese 2

Florence, Italy - Udinese failed to close the gap on the top two teams in Serie A on Sunday after sustaining a 3-2 defeat at Fiorentina.

Juventus and AC Milan were both held to 0-0 draws on Sunday, meaning that Udinese could close to within a point of the top spot with a win.

And things started well for the visitors who took the lead inside 15 minutes with a goal from Antonio Di Natale.

However, things turned around in the 39th minute when Stevan Jovetic converted a penalty kick to level the match at halftime before Mattia Cassani tallied his first goal of the season to put the Viola in front.

Jovetic then netted another goal from the penalty spot six minutes from time before Gabriel Torje pulled one back in the 89th for Udinese, which sits four points back of leaders Juventus.

Fiorentina is in the midst of its best run of the season having claimed 10 points from its last five games.

Juventus 0, Siena 0

Turin, Italy - Juventus remained on top of Serie A on Sunday despite being held to a 0-0 draw by a stubborn Siena team.

A 0-0 draw by AC Milan with Napoli keeps Juve one point clear at the top of the league. Siena moves three points above the drop zone with Sunday's result.

Juventus dominated possession but failed to generate many decent scoring chances, and it was Siena that nearly stole all three points in the final minutes of the match.

A shot from Pablo Gonzalez was saved by Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but the rebound was left for Alessandro Gazzi, who fired over the net from close range.

Lecce 0, Bologna 0

Lecce, Italy - Lecce and Bologna battled to a 0-0 draw at the Via del Mare on Sunday as both sides continue their relegation struggle.

Bologna entered the day five points above the drop zone and unbeaten in its last four games, while Lecce had collected seven points from its last four games to greatly improve its chances of survival.

However, neither side was able to pick up three valuable points, although Lecce had the best chance eight minutes after halftime.

Luis Muriel rounded Bologna goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet, but fired his shot over the empty net, while Lecce's chances were greatly reduced in the 74th minute when Morris Carrozzieri was sent off.

Novara 0, Cagliari 0

Novara, Italy - Novara snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday but still had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home against Cagliari, which does little to enhance its chances of survival.

Novara remains on the bottom of the league and seven points from safety with the result, although it took some good goalkeeping from Cagliari's Michael Agazzi to keep them out.

Novara had two good chances to claim all three points but both times Agazzi was up to the task as he first denied a powerful shot from Santiago Garcia before making a stop on Simone Pesce at full stretch.

Palermo 2, Atalanta 1

Palermo, Italy - Palermo's unbeaten streak reached four games on Sunday as the club recorded a 2-1 win over 10-man Atalanta at the Renzo Barbera.

The match took a major turn in the 25th minute when Atalanta goalkeeper Andrea Consigli was sent off for bringing down Palermo striker Fabrizio Miccoli inside the penalty area.

Miccoli picked himself up and converted the spot kick before Igor Budan made it 2-0 early in the second half.

Maximiliano Moralez pulled a goal back for Atalanta in the 56th minute, but didn't have enough left for an equalizer, which leaves the visitors with four losses from their last five games.

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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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