Ajax held by Excelsior, trail PSV by five

Soccer Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Amsterdam, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just when Ajax had climbed to within three points of league-leaders PSV, the Amsterdam club lost two points over the weekend to fall five off the pace. PSV recorded a 2-0 over Heracles on Saturday, and Ajax followed with a 2-2 draw against Excelsior at Amsterdam Arena on Sunday.

Things started off well for the home side as Edgar Davids put Ajax ahead after 19 minutes with his first goal for the club, but Excelsior responded with a pair of goals in a five-minute span to move in front on the half-hour mark. Andwele Slory and Eldridge Rojer tallied for the visitors, but Ajax sniper Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had his team on level terms heading into the half with a goal in the 38th minute. After a torrid pace in the first half, things slowed considerably in the second half, and the teams were left to split the points.

After a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup during the week, Ajax came out firing and went ahead 19 minutes into the match. Huntelaar was taken down by Excelsior's Henrico Drost, setting up a dangerous free-kick chance. Tom De Mul then rolled the ball to Davids, who slammed a shot into the top corner of the net, giving keeper Theo Zwarthoed no chance.

A poor pass from Johnny Heitinga led to the visitors climbing back into the game six minutes later. His errant pass allowed Slory to carry the ball into the penalty area before beating keeper Maarten Stekelenburg with a low shot into the left corner.

Five minutes later, Excelsior went in front on a brilliant individual play from Rojer. After making room on the left flank for himself, Rojer carried the ball into the box and beat Stekelenburg to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

Another set piece allowed Ajax to equalize in the 38th minute. De Mul's corner was swung into the area and met by the head of Huntelaar, who banged home a powerful header to even the score at 2-2.

An exciting first half was followed by a lackluster second half, with the best chance of breaking the deadlock falling to Ajax's Leonardo, who failed to hit the net from close range.

In other Eredivisie play on Sunday, AZ squandered a chance to move into second place with a 1-1 draw at Groningen, Twente scored twice in the first half and held off Heerenveen for a 2-1 win and Feyenoord got a pair of goals in the opening 20 minutes to get past Utrecht 2-0.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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