Everton cruises past Hull City

Soccer Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikel Arteta scored his first two goals of the season, Landon Donovan added a goal and an assist, and Everton defeated Hull City 5-1 on Sunday at Goodison Park.

Arteta, limited to six EPL matches due to injury, scored both in the first and Donovan scored in the 82nd and assisted on Jack Rodwell's goal in the 86th.

Everton, which got its other score on an own goal, moved to eighth. Hull City, which is 0-11-4 on the road, remains in the bottom three.

Hull had a chance to open the scoring just five minutes into the match, but as Richard Garcia settled a through ball from Nick Barmby, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard charged off his line and deflected his shot attempt just as it left his boot.

Ayegbeni Yakubu should have fired Everton into the lead in the 13th, but drove a 16-yard shot off the right post.

Yakubu made up for the miss four minutes later when he sent a pass in from the right to the far post, where Arteta ran onto the ball and hit a volley inside the near post to beat Hull goalie Boaz Myhill.

Everton was handed a chance to put the match away in the 28th when Yakubu was fouled in the area, but his weak penalty attempt was easily handled by Myhill.

Hull responded with the tying goal three minutes later through 19-year-old Tom Cairney. The young midfielder chested down a pass just outside the box and hit the ball before it reached the ground to unleash a dipping shot over Howard to the far post.

Everton was back in front within 10 minutes when George Boateng settled a pass in the area, then dropped the ball to Steven Pienaar, who rolled the ball with a back pass to Arteta for an easy finish.

Richard Garcia headed an Arteta cross into his own net six minutes after half, then Donovan came off the bench to finish off the victory in what could be his last match at Goodison.

Donovan, who will rejoin the Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS soon, set up Yakubu for a chance he sent over the bar in the 74th but then added a goal and an assist.

Everton played a ball in from the left, and it slipped just by Rodwell in the center of the area and arrived to an open Donovan at the far post. Donovan hit the ball powerfully off a bounce, drilling it back inside the far post in the 82nd.

Donovan had another chance minutes later from a similar spot, but sent a pass back into the middle to Rodwell, who did well to finish just inside the right post.

The United States star joined Everton on loan in January and has two goals and three assists in just nine matches.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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