Was there any top level football action in Europe on Monday?

AC Milan missed the chance to go back to the top of Serie A with a shock home defeat against Spezia. In a controversial end to the game, referee Marco Serra missed the chance to play an advantage for Milan in stoppage time, blowing for a foul on Ante Rebic when less than two second later Junior Messias curled Rebic’s through ball into the goal, much to the frustration of the San Siro. The ref immediately put his hands up to apologise for his over eagerness to give the freekick, but the damage was done. Milan, who stay two points behind city rivals Inter, wasted the freekick and, to add insult to injury, Spezia went up the other end to grab the winner 6 minutes into added time.

Spezia Total Goal Minutes (settled at 154)

Starting the game 5^th from bottom of Serie A and as 13/2 underdogs, this may have looked like a routine home win to the untrained eye. However, having won only one game away from home all season, back in September, Spezia have shown a bit of form on the road of late, winning at both Napoli and Genoa in their past two away games. The way they made it three in a row, with an injury time winner, was perfect for Total Goal Minutes buyers, adding the maximum 90 to the total. The Spezia Total Goal Minutes spread was set at 36-44, meaning buyers made a profit of 110 times their stake.

What happened in the NFL Monday Night Football?

Matthew Stafford finally tasted playoff victory after 13 years as the LA Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-10 to make it out of the wild card round. After 12 years in Detroit, where he went 0-3 in the playoffs, Stafford was excellent as the Rams outplayed the Cards in all areas to advance. Going in at half-time 21-0 down with just 40 yards of offense summed up the slump Arizona have suffered in recent weeks, ending the season with a 1-5 run over the past six games, having started 10-2. Next up for the Rams is a trip to defending Super Bowl champs Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to fight for a place in the NFC Championship game.

LA Rams Multi-Points (settled at 273)

The Rams were just too good for a Cardinals side that has looked below their best for weeks now, and LA were dominant throughout. They scored 21 unanswered points in the first half, got 13 more in the second and probably would have added more had Arizona made a game of it. Either way, buyers of LA Rams Multi-Points enjoyed this performance – the spread was set at 155-180, meaning buyers won 93 times their bet.

How has Andy Murray started in his unlikely quest to make a 6^th Australian Open final?

Andy Murray came through an emotional five-setter to knock out 21^st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and make the 2^nd round of the Australian Open. In 2019, after defeat here against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, it looked like the five times Aussie Open runner-up would be forced into retirement through injury, but he showed there’s life in the old dog yet with a battling performance to beat Georgian Basilashvili. Murray took the 1^st set 6-1 in 23 minutes, but any thoughts of an easy day were soon put to the back of his mind, eventually coming through 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-4.

Total Points (settled at 302)

A five-set classic is perfect for buyers of total points, who of course want the players to stay on court as long as possible, adding more points to the total. These two players met last week in the Sydney Tennis Classic, the last warm up event for the Australian Open, and Murray came out on top in a close best-of-three-sets match then too, winning 7-6 6-7 6-3, which may have influenced punters to buy total points yesterday too. The spread was set at 236-243, giving buyers a profit of 59 times their bet.