Soccer betting

Olympiakos routed visiting Iraklis 5-0 Sunday in the Greek league, scoring five second-half goals to move the defending champions closer to yet another title.

Vassilis Torossidis gave Olympiakos the lead, followed by two goals each from Argentine midfielder Oscar and Matt Derbyshire.

The defending champions, who won 11 of the last 12 league titles, have 62 points from 26 games, nine ahead of Panathinaikos, which beat host Thrassivoulos 1-0.

Olympiakos controlled play from kickoff, nearly scoring in the fourth minute when a shot by Fernando Belluschi from inside the area sailed over Giorgos Bantis crossbar.

Iraklis, which is close to the relegation zone, had its scoring opportunity in the 16th when a low drive by Fernando Marques forced Antonis Nikopolidis to make a fingertip save.

Nikopolidis stole the ball from Iraklis striker Miguel Garcia, who was ready to score before Torossidis gave Olympiakos the lead with a header off a free kick from Belluschi in the 60th.

Four minutes later, Oscar, who replaced Giannis Papadopoulos in the 56th, made it 2-0 off a through ball, again from Belluschi.

Oscar stretched it to 3-0 in the 79th before Derbyshire - on loan from Blackburn - scored in the 82nd and 87th minutes.

Also Sunday, it was: Ergotelis 0, Asteras 1; Levadiakos 1, Panionios 1; and Panthrakikos 2, Panserraikos 1.

Results from the 28th round of the French first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturday’s Games

Monaco 3, Toulouse 2

Le Mans 2, Rennes 2

Caen 0, Lille 1

Nantes 1, Lorient 1

Sochaux 2, Nancy 1

Valenciennes 3, Le Havre 2

Bordeaux 2, Nice 1

Sunday’s Games

Lyon vs. Auxerre

Grenoble vs. Saint-Etienne

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Marseille

Saturday, March 21

Le Havre vs. Bordeaux

Nancy vs. Monaco

Auxerre vs. Le Mans

Nice vs. Caen

Lille vs. Grenoble

Rennes vs. Valenciennes

Marseille vs. Nantes

Sunday, March 22

Lyon vs. Sochaux

Lorient vs. Saint-Etienne

Toulouse vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Results Saturday in English football (home teams listed first).

Premier League

Manchester United 1, Liverpool 4

Arsenal 4, Blackburn 0

Bolton 1, Fulham 3

Everton 3, Stoke 1

Hull 1, Newcastle 1

Middlesbrough 1, Portsmouth 1

Sunderland 1, Wigan 2

League Championship

Barnsley 0, Blackpool 1

Burnley 5, Nottingham Forest 0

Doncaster 0, Birmingham 2

Norwich 1, Plymouth 0

Preston 2, Coventry 1

Reading 0, Ipswich 1

Sheffield United 4, Derby 2

Southampton 0, Queens Park Rangers 0

Swansea 1, Crystal Palace 3

Watford 2, Sheffield Wednesday 2

Wolverhampton 2, Charlton 1

League One

Brighton 5, Yeovil 0

Carlisle 1, Scunthorpe 1

Cheltenham 2, Hartlepool 0

Colchester 0, Crewe 1

Hereford 0, Southend 1

Leeds 1, Swindon 0

Milton Keynes Dons 6, Oldham 2

Millwall 0, Leicester 1

Peterborough 1, Northampton 0

Stockport 0, Leyton Orient 1

Tranmere 3, Huddersfield 1

Walsall 0, Bristol Rovers 5

League Two

Aldershot 2, Luton 1

Brentford 3, Wycombe 3

Chester 1, Grimsby 1

Chesterfield 1, Dagenham & Redbridge 1

Exeter 1, Bradford 0

Gillingham 2, Shrewsbury 2

Lincoln 1, Bury 1

Macclesfield 0, Bournemouth 2

Morecambe 2, Barnet 1

Notts County 1, Accrington 1

Port Vale 3, Darlington 1

Rochdale 1, Rotherham 2

Results from the 27th round of the Eredivisie, the Dutch first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Friday’s Game

FC Groningen 2, Roda JC 0

Saturday, March 14

Vitesse Arnhem 0, NAC Breda 3

Heracles Almelo 1, FC Volendam 1

SC Heerenveen 5, Sparta Rotterdam 1

Willem II 0, FC Twente 2

Sunday, March 14

Ajax vs. De Graafschap

ADO The Hague vs. NEC Nijmegen

Feyenoord vs. PSV Eindhoven

FC Utrecht vs. AZ Alkmaar

Friday, March 20

De Graafschap vs. SC Heerenveen

Saturday, March 21

PSV Eindhoven vs. Vitesse

Sparta Rotterdam vs. Heracles Almelo

NEC Nijmegen vs. Willem II

Roda JC vs. ADO The Hague

Sunday, March 22

AZ Alkmaar vs. Feyenoord

NAC Breda vs. Ajax

FC Volendam vs. FC Utrecht

FC Twente vs. FC Groningen

Results from the 22nd round of the Portuguese first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Friday’s Game

Pacos Ferreira 4, Leixoes 0

Saturday’s Games

Benfica 0, Guimaraes 1

Sporting 2, Rio Ave 0

Sunday’s Games

Belenenses vs. Amadora

Trofense vs. Setubal

Braga vs. Academica

FC Porto vs. Naval

Monday’s Game

Nacional vs. Maritimo

—-

Spanish Football Results

Results from the 27th round of Spain’s first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturday’s Games

Valencia 1, Recreativo Huelva 1

Athletic Bilbao 2, Real Madrid 5

Sunday’s Games

Valladolid vs. Getafe

Malaga vs. Sevilla

Almeria vs. Barcelona

Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal

Espanyol vs. Mallorca

Real Betis vs. Osasuna

Sporting Gijon vs. Deportivo La Coruna

Racing Santander vs. Numancia

Saturday, March 21

Villarreal vs. Athletic Bilbao

Sevilla vs. Valladolid

Sunday, March 22

Getafe vs. Recreativo Huelva

Real Madrid vs. Almeria

Osasuna vs. Espanyol

Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Betis

Numancia vs. Sporting Gijon

Racing Santander vs. Valencia

Barcelona vs. Malaga

Mallorca vs. Atletico Madrid

—-
Italian Football Results

Results in the Serie A, the Italian first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturday’s games

Cagliari 0, Genoa 1

Juventus 4, Bologna 1

Sunday’s games

Lazio vs. Chievo Verona

Palermo vs. Lecce

Siena vs. AC Milan

Sampdoria vs. AS Roma

Reggina vs. Napoli

Atalanta vs. Torino

Udinese vs. Catania

Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina

Saturday, March 21

Catania vs. Lazio

AS Roma vs. Juventus

Sunday, March 22

Bologna vs. Cagliari

Chievo Verona vs. Palermo

Fiorentina vs. Siena

Genoa vs. Udinese

Inter Milan vs. Reggina

Lecce vs. Atalanta

Napoli vs. AC Milan

Torino vs. Sampdoria

Roger Federer took the first step toward another possible final against Rafael Nadal by beating Marc Gicquel 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.

Federer, who announced earlier this week that he and girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec are expecting their first child this summer, is the No. 2 seed in the 96-player field. Nadal, who will play his second round match Sunday afternoon, is No. 1. Those two could meet for the 20th time in the March 22 final.

A more immediate concern for Federer, however, is working his way through a bracket that is set up for possible semifinal round meeting between him and No. 4 seed Andy Murray of Great Britain, who wasn’t at his best but still beat Albert Montanes of Spain, 7-5, 6-3, in their second round match.

Federer, who was playing for the first time since withdrawing from a tournament in Dubai and the first round of Davis Cup due to back problems, said he felt OK.

“I was happy,” he said. “A bit rusty maybe, coming back from not having played. But it was OK. I’m happy I’ve won. That’s always most important.”

Murray said essentially the same thing after his win while complaining of being tired due to a heavy early season schedule.

“I saw that I wasn’t going to play my best tennis and it would be dumb to think like that,” Murray said. “I thought I moved great, the best I had moved in quite a while. I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well, but I moved well.”

On the women’s side, No. 3 seed Elena Dementieva also complained of being tired. But unlike Murray, she didn’t move well and lost, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, to 24-year-old Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, in another second-round match.

Reigning champion and No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia began her quest for a second straight title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus and men’s No. 11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia, 7-5, 6-3.

No. 7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Samantha Stosur of Australia, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to join younger sister Urszula Radwanka in the third round. Urszula Radwanka, ranked No. 107 to her sister’s No. 10, had advanced by overcoming a sprained ankle on the second match point to upset No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a match that ended shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Dementieva, who was playing in her seventh event of the young season, said she will take a couple of much-needed days off and then get ready for the next tournament, at Miami.

“I just feel like I probably shouldn’t (have) come here because … I just needed to take some time off and get ready and recover. I just needed a much longer break to get ready to play at my best,” she said. “It was a very short period of time (off) after Dubai. When it was time to start practice again I was just too tired. That probably was the worst match for a long time for me.”

It was the best match ever for Cetkovska, a pro since 2000 with a career-best ranking of No. 49 in June, 2008. She had a win over then-No. 11 Marion Bartoli last year, but said “I didn’t expect” to beat Dementieva.

“The key I think is that I was still playing and still trying to believe that I can do it and to play every point and we’ll see what will happen,” said Cetkovska, who lives in Paris.

Dinara Safina’s quest for the world’s No 1 ranking looked in danger as she fought off three set points before beating Tina Pironkova 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Friday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Safina can replace Serena Williams atop the WTA Tour rankings by reaching the final of this 12-day event. Williams, who beat the Russian in the Australian Open final six weeks ago, is not playing here.

Bulgarian Pironkova had three set points in the first-set tiebreaker before Safina asserted herself in the second set.

“I’m just going to focus on myself at this tournament,” Safina said, “but that (No. 2) is the reward for the success that I’ve had this year. I’ve played in three tournaments and been in two finals.There is only one person in front of me and this is something big.”

Safina, who lost in the third round here the past two years, will face No. 28 seed Shuai Peng of China in the third round and will potentially have a semifinal against No. 4 seed Vera Zvonareva, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei.

In a late match, Urszula Radwanska of Poland oustedt No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Radwanska, ranked No. 107, twisted her right ankle and fell trying to return a Kuznetsova forehand on the second match point and required medical attention. The 18-year-old was limping noticeably when she returned to the court but won the final two points when Kuznetsova hit a forehand volley into the net and another forehand long.

Amelie Mauresmo, coming back from yet another of the injuries that have plagued her in recent years, advanced to the third round with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Mauresmo, No. 1 on the WTA Tour for a total of 39 weeks but out of the top 20 last season for the first time in 10 years, got her first tournament victory in two years by beating No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 4 Elena Dementieva at the Paris Indoors. Her match against Groenefeld, of Germany, was her first since then.

The Frenchwoman, the No. 17 seed here, said the Paris win had an “unbelievable” effect on her confidence, even though it wasn’t reflected in Friday’s match, because “I was doubting my play, mostly physically, because I was really feeling either injured or not being able to really move the way I wanted.”

In 2007 Mauresmo missed four months of the season due to an emergency appendectomy and a groin strain and last year she was bothered by injuries to both thighs and her right rib cage.

Asked why she kept pushing herself at this stage of her career, she laughed and said “I probably didn’t find the answer to this question. I found the answer to the other question, which was do I want to stop, which was no. It was already quite a challenge when it happened in the summer of 2007, where I really asked myself whether I want to keep going or not. I didn’t find the answer quickly. It took me a few months to really feel that for some reason, I don’t have enough.”

The seeded players in the women’s field began play after first-round byes. Also advancing were No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka and No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki. But No. 10 Marion Bartoli of France lost to Shahar Peer of Israel, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, and No. 13 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland bowed to Na Li of China, 7-5, 6-2.

None of the seeds in the men’s draw were in action, with all receiving first-round byes.

It was a good day for the locals, with eight American men winning through to the second round, including Sam Querrey and Taylor Dent.

Germany’s Michael Berrer beat South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against world’s No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello also beat a South African opponent, edging Rik de Voest 7-5, 7-6 (3) and will next face defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, seeded third.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, the No. 5 seed, announced his withdrawal due to a left heel injury, putting his scheduled opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany directly into the third round.

Results Saturday from the BNP Paribas Open, a $4,5 million ATP Tour and $4,5 million WTA Tour event on hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (seedings in parentheses).

Singles

Men

Second Round

Tommy Robredo (15), Spain, def. Igor Kunitsyn, Russia, 6-1, 6-4.

Igor Andreev (22), Russia, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 6-4, 6-4.

Andy Murray (4), Britain, def. Albert Montanes, Spain, 7-5, 6-3.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, def. Olivier Patience, France, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Paul-Henri Mathieu (32), France, def. Potito Starace, Italy, 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-4.

Marin Cilic (19), Croatia, def. Steve Darcis, Belgium, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1.

Richard Gasquet (23), France, def. Michael Llodra, France, 6-4, 6-0.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (11), France, def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia, 7-5, 6-3.

Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, def. Robin Soderling (25), Sweden, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia, def. Mario Ancic (28), Croatia, 3-3, retired.

Fernando Verdasco (10), Spain, def. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 7-5, 6-1.

Ivo Karlovic (27), Croatia, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-4, 6-2.

Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, def. Marc Gicquel, France, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Women

Second Round

Agnes Szavay (22), Hungary, def. Edina Gallovits, Romania, 6-2, 6-2.

Karin Knapp, Italy, def. Sara Errani (27), Italy, 6-2, 3-2, retired.

Agnieszka Radwanska (7), Poland, def. Samantha Stosur, Australia, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Petra Cetkovska, Czech Republic, def. Elena Dementieva (3), Russia, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1.

Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, def. Dominika Cibulkova (14), Slovakia, 7-6 (6), 6-0.

Kristina Barrois, Germany, def. Alize Cornet (11), France, 6-2, 6-2.

Vera Dushevina, Russia, def. Zheng Jie (15), China, 6-2, 6-2.

Gisela Dulko (31), Argentina, def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, 6-1, 6-3.

Alisa Kleybanova (21), Russia, def. Tamira Paszek, Austria, 6-3, 6-2.

Ana Ivanovic (5), Serbia, def. Anastasia Yakimova, Belarus, 6-4, 6-3.

Sybille Bammer (23), Austria, def. Roberta Vinci, Italy, 6-2, 6-3.

Flavia Pennetta (12), Italy, def. Sania Mirza, India, 6-3, 6-4.

Aleksandra Wozniak (25), Canada, def. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3.

Daniela Hantuchova (30), Slovakia, def. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Doubles

Men

First Round

Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander Paes (4), India, def. Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer, Austria, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 tiebreak.

Travis Parrott, United States, and Filip Polask, Slovakia, def. Bruno Soares, Brazil, and Kevin Ullyett (6), Zimbabwe, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian, Argentina, def. Simon Aspelin, Sweden, and Jamie Murray, Britain, 7-5, 6-4.

Lukas Kubot, Poland, and Oliver Marach, Austria, def. Gael Monfils, France, and Mischa Zverev, Germany, 7-6 (2), 6-0.

Women

Second Round

Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova, Russia, def. Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 tiebreak.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mashona Washington, United States, def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, and Amelie Mauresmo, France, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 tiebreak.

Grafite scored a hat trick and his forward partner Edin Dzeko also struck as Wolfsburg continued its march up the Bundesliga standings with a 4-3 victory over Schalke at home on Friday.

Wolfsburg extended its winning streak to six games and has won 10 straight contests at home. Felix Magath’s team has jumped to provisional second place with 45 points through 24 rounds, one point behind leader Hertha Berlin, which plays on Saturday.

Magath refused to say his team was ready to contend for the Bundesliga championship.

“You can see that we are not title contenders,” he said. “We twice gave up goals and left ourselves in dangerous situations. Of course we all want to be champions, but we are still missing something to be at the top at the end of the season.”

The game in Wolfsburg was a showdown of the Bundesliga’s top defense in Schalke (21 goals allowed) against the third-best offense in Wolfsburg (46 goals scored).

Wolfsburg fell behind after nine minutes but Grafite equalized and Dzeko scored his 13th of the season for the lead. Grafite notched his second only to see Jermaine Jones make it 3-2 for Schalke.

Grafite answered with goal No. 17 of the season in the final minutes but Kevin Kuranyi’s score in the 90th minute made things interesting.

Schalke played without regular goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was out with a stomach problem and was replaced by Mathias Schober.

The guests jumped ahead in the ninth minute on a fine goal by Heiko Westermann, who ran onto a long ball over the defense on the right side and one-timed a long looping volley to the far upper left corner.

Grafite scored in the 26th, converting a penalty which he drew himself as Mladen Krstijic fouled him down in the area. Schober chose the correct corner but Grafite’s shot went off the keeper’s hand and off the post and in.

A minute before halftime, Dzeko made it 2-1 with his eighth goal as he volleyed home Grafite’s cross.

On a counterattack in the 74th, Grafite collected a pass, dribbled toward the middle and chipped past Schober.

Jones cut the deficit to one goal with 13 minutes left after a mistake by the Wolfsburg defense.

Grafite struck yet again with six minutes remaining after a fine pass by Ashkan Dejagah.

But Wolfsburg again allowed Schalke to pull within one goal with Kuranyi scoring a minute into injury time.

Alex Ferguson doesn’t take Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez’s verbal tirades against him too seriously.

“I would need to read more of (Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund) Freud before I could really understand all that,” the Manchester United manager said on Friday.

In January, Benitez launched a scripted attack against Ferguson’s damaging influence on English football in an attempt to gain an upper hand in the title race.

Benitez said Ferguson, who has been in charge at United since 1986, frequently intimidated referees and claimed the Scot was dealt with too leniently by the English Football Association.

“I don’t know where it came from and I’m not really interested,” Ferguson said. “It never bothered me and it doesn’t bother me now.”

Since the outbursts, though, Liverpool has been replaced at the top of the English Premier League standings by the Red Devils, who have a seven-point lead going into Saturday’s clash between the sides.

Benitez responded to Ferguson’s reference to Freud by joking: “My English is not the best, it can improve.”

But the Spaniard still defends his decision to catalog the grievances - he repeatedly calls “facts” - against Ferguson.

“I have not spoken to him since, I do not expect any response from him and I do have great respect for him as a manager,” Benitez said. “I do not believe that my remarks, facts not comments, has had any effect on the title race.

“They have won games in hand but I do not believe what I said had any impact on the situation at the top of the league.”