Chievo hands struggling Novara another loss

Soccer Betting Lines

02/02/2012 - Novara, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Pellissier and Cyril Thereau scored on each side of halftime as Chievo downed struggling Novara, 2-1, on Thursday in Serie A.

Pellissier opened the scoring on 33 minutes and Thereau added a second goal in the 78th, which turned out to be the match-winner when Giuseppe Mascara scored Novara's lone goal in the 79th.

Chievo won for just the second time on the road this season to move into 10th. Novara remained buried at the foot of the table with just 12 points as its run without a win reached nine matches, and its losing streak reached five.

Pellissier gave Chievo the lead when he reached Boukary Drame's cross and sent a shot into the bottom-right corner after the half-hour mark.

Chievo doubled its lead in the 78th, as Thereau finished a nice passing build- after Paolo Sammarco put the ball on a platter in the middle of the box for an easy finish.

Novara responded seconds after the kick off when Marco Rigoni's cross was sent into the goal with a leaping attempt at the far post by Mascara, but the hosts were unable to turn the goal into any momentum over the closing stages.

Through 21 matches, Novara has just two wins and is seven points from safety.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.