Chelsea remains second after West Ham draw

Soccer Betting Lines

12/14/2008 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea missed out on a chance to take over the Premiership lead on Sunday as the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at Stamford Bridge.

League-leaders Liverpool entered the weekend with a one-point lead on Chelsea, but after finishing 2-2 with Hull City on Saturday, the Reds were in danger of dropping to second if Chelsea could beat the Hammers.

However, Craig Bellamy fired the visitors ahead in the 33rd minute and Chelsea could only pull level early in the second half through Nicolas Anelka.

After being the most dominant side at home in England, Chelsea has now won just three of its nine home contests this season, and dropping more points at home against a bottom-half side is more evidence that Stamford Bridge is not quite the fortress it once was.

Chelsea started brightly with Joe Cole getting into the box on the right and firing a shot towards goal from eight yards that was deflected just past the upper right corner.

However, Mark Noble won the ball near the end line from Chelsea's Jose Bosingwa, and although he appeared to use his arm to control the ball, the referee saw nothing wrong, allowing Noble to find Bellamy inside the box.

The striker took the ball down off his chest and fired a volley inside the near post, putting his team ahead.

It didn't take Chelsea long to level the match after halftime as substitute Didier Drogba dropped a pass to Frank Lampard at the top of the box and Lampard lobbed it over the top to Anelka, who fired home his 100th goal in Premiership play.

West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green made a good reaction stop on a header from Alex with 11 minutes to play, but it was West Ham that almost stole the points in stoppage time as Petr Cech did well to keep out a low shot from Carlton Cole.

Sunday's other match saw Newcastle earn three vital points as the Magpies put together a 3-0 win over Portsmouth. After a scoreless first half Newcastle fired home three goals with Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Danny Guthrie providing the tallies.

Newcastle moves up to 14th in a crowded bottom half of the table with the win, while Pompey remains in eighth place.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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