18 goals were scored this weekend, the lest number this season. And still, we cannot say this was a dull week. 4 red cards, 3 missed penalties (equal to the number of penalties missed during the first 10 weeks), several referees' "performances" (I mean, mistakes too harsh not to be refereed to), the great "Game Of The Empires" and an unbelievable surprise happening in Teddy - this is the story to be told now.
Beitar Jerusalem, the team to threaten the League at all its games, suddenly lost at home to a clear underdog, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. A great battle between Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv ended in a draw, in a truly European game with nothing to lack. Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, altogether with Rishon, won very important games on their way up; on the other hand, Beitar Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beer-Sheva proceed with going down and down. Hapoel Haifa won again, despite everything that happened on the pitch; Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa won and do stay at the top; Hapoel Tel-Aviv didn't sweat too much against the weak side of Bnei-Yehuda. By now we can say that the League has a clear differentiation to the top (first 7) and the bottom (last 9); that's a little bit surprising to see Hapoel Beer-Sheva at the bottom and the two teams of Petakh-Tikwa at the top, but so it (pretty deservedly, I'd say) goes by now. And of course, the man who made the day, except for his own team, for 2 Empires from Haifa, 2 giants from Tel-Aviv and 2 top teams from Petakh-Tikwa - Shavit Elimelekh.
Several days ago, I've got an e-mail from one of my subscribers, Eyal Kotzer, Maccabee Tel-Aviv supporter. "Let's make a deal", said the letter, "if Maccabee Tel-Aviv wins, you write explicitly that it's the best Israeli team of the 90-ies, and nobody can argue with that; in the opposite case, I'll pass you the same letter about your team, and you'll publish it on your list". "OK", I replied, "just remember the 5:0 of 1993 and the 3:0 of 1994 to Haifa". But nobody of us thought about the draw, and so the bet remained undecided. To tell the truth, I've passed a lot of scary moments, first when Haifa was down and then when they played in minority, after Alon Harazi was sent off for preventing Evgeniy Kashentsev from coming in one-to-one position against Rafi Cohen. I'd say that Tel-Aviv was the better team on the pitch; still, Haifa had several sparkles to bring it a point. Rafi Cohen in Haifa's net played a very good game, denying Kashentsev's shot in one-to-one and winning 4 duels against Itzhak Zohar (wonderful); and of course, these were Eyal Berkovich and Haim Revivo to bring us the truly exciting moments.
Tel-Aviv, as the hosts, tried to press from the very beginning, but Haifa's defence was steady. The first ball that Eyal Berkovich got from the defensive line, turned out to be a goal. Eyal got the ball in the midcircle, passed one player of the Yellows and, seeing Haim Revivo backing a little bit to exit the offside trap, sent him a wonderful ball. Revivo rushed into the box, passed Alexander Uvarov and, being unable to shoot as the keeper closed him well, made a pass back to the box center, where Berkovich touched the ball before the defenders. 1:0.
A great volley shot of Revivo just near the post, and several more counterattacks didn't change the whole impression after the goal - Tel-Aviv attacked, and Haifa was defending nearly all the time. Rafi Cohen made several nice saves, before the equalizer came. Marco Balbul lost a ball to Eli Driks, the latter passed Roman Pets with an utter elegance and bounced the ball to the box. It was headed away, and Avi Nimni tried a scissors kick from the box line; the ball slipped from his leg, but went straight to the head of Nir Klinger, who headed it to the ground and home. Rafi Cohen reacted in time and stretched perfectly, but lacked several centimeters to reach the ball. 1:1.
Just 2 minutes have passed, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv took a lead with the strangest goal of the last weeks. Alon Harazi fell on the ground, aching from a collision with Itzhak Zohar; Moshe Glam took the ball and passed 2 players on the line, before Gadi Brumer kicked the ball in order to send it away. The ball all of a sudden stayed into the pitch, and flew towards Eli Driks and Itzhak Zohar; Haifa's defence created an offside trap, but the injured Harazi went on lying close to the box! Driks took the ball, advanced to the box and shot precisely in front of Rafi Cohen, who preferred for some reason to stay in the net up to the very end. 2:1. In any other situation Maccabee Tel-Aviv should've thrown the ball away to make the treatment of Harazi possible, but here I can't accuse them of unsportiveness - everything went too quickly. And the referee Eyal Tsur could do nothing, as there was no offside if we go according to the dry rules.
The last minutes of the 1st half were also of Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but they didn't enlarge the margin. And in the 2nd half, Haifa, with Offer Shitrit substituting Alon Mizrahi and getting very involved, started to look far better and equalized. It started with Moshe Glam, who passed the ball to Eyal Berkovich, and the latter gave it to Sergei Kandaurov. The Russian midfielder, who was very dull in the day of his 23rd birthday, passed the ball back to Berkovich, and the latter found Alon Hazan on the right wing. Alon made a brilliant pass to the box, and Shitrit shot from 5 meters to see Uvarov stretching incredibly well to parry this shot; and the keeper could've grasped the ball tightly in his next stretching, but was denied by ... his own defender, Amir Shelakh. Kandaurov reached the ball and tried to shoot, but slipped; and here it was Haim Revivo, who made a slight move to the right and shot it from 6 meters with his right foot over the hands of Uvarov and the legs of 3 defenders standing on the line. 2:2.
Haifa could've stayed a better team, but Alon Harazi was sent off, a right decision of Eyal Tsur; Edgardo Adinolfi entered then the game instead of Offer Shitrit and helped a lot in preserving the score. 8 (!) of Haifa's players were booked, Haim Revivo and Eyal Berkovich got their cards after the goals' celebrations, which was pretty ridiculous (we'll talk about that later on). The referee also didn't book Ron Nakhman after a brutal foul on Offer Shitrit. But, after all, it was surely the game to give us a great pleasure. And I told you already about Rafi Cohen.
Beitar Jerusalem, the team running well at the top, wasn't taking its rival, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, seriously, and paid for it a dear price - a first defeat this season. Oleg Koshlyuk, who made his best year (1993) in Beitar Jerusalem, scored in the first counterattack of the guests, and let the life be hard to Beitar's coach, Eli Cohen (last year in Rishon). And here it was Shavit Elimelekh all day long, parrying in the fantastic flights 3 certain goals - the deadly dangerous shot by Istvan Salloi and 2 free kicks by Yossi Abuksis and Eli Ohana. After the game, Elimelekh was thrown in the air by his teammates, and Viko Hadad, the new coach of Rishon (after Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Hapoel Beer-Sheva swapped their coaches, Viko Hadad and Vitaliy Shevchenko), became the first and only coach in the League this year so far to take twice the points from Teddy (after a draw 1:1 of Beer-Sheva). New coach brings new luck? No, not always.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, another underdog, made a 2nd consecutive victory, this time against Hapoel Beer-Sheva with its new coach, Vitaliy Shevchenko. That's right, the goal came after an awful mistake of Beer-Sheva's keeper, Shaul Smadja; but still, Smadja prevented several more goals, and Kefar-Saba was really better, even staying in minority. This is, by the way, another story of this game - the man to be sent off was Cobi Refua, with his 2nd booking, after he got the first one for taking off his shirt after the goal he scored. I believe the referees should be more flexible in this point, because it's a real pity to spoil the day for the scorers because of such a pathetic reason.
The same story, in even a more bizarre way, happened in Beit-Shean - there, Adoram Keisi scored the goal and, being booked beforehand, climbed on the separating fence to celebrate with Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa's fans; a great joy instantly became a great disappointment, after Itzhak Ben-Itzhak booked him for the 2nd time. The decisions of Ben-Itzhak, the best Israeli referee for years, went strange in this game even earlier - he awarded 2 dubious penalties, one for each side, with an interval of 1.5 minutes! But, leaving the referee aside, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa was clearly better, and it's placed at the top deservedly; as for Beit-Shean, it should find the right way quickly before it's too late.
The awful refereeing was also the destiny of the game in Haifa, where the clearest on Earth penalty foul on Offer Mizrahi wasn't registered by Yosef Benishti; the no less clear penalty foul on Reuven Attar 50 minutes later wasn't registered as well. Leaving aside the referee, Haifa wasn't any better than the guests from Herzliya, even worse; but, this year, the team wins even when being in a bad shape. Again, just several minutes from the final whistle, and again it was Tal Banin with the free kick; this time it went just to the post, but Dani Niron was on the rebound to put it in. Haifa advanced in the table, waiting for the big Haifa derby in a fortnight.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa won again, scoring twice against Maccabee Yaffa after being down from the 32-meters bomb sent early by Yuriy Moroz. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon continued winning, this time against Beitar Tel-Aviv which sank down to the last place. And Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Bnei-Yehuda in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, for the first time in the last 8 years (!). Here, Sahar Mizrahi and the coach Yaacov Grondman were sent off for their brutal language, Bonnie Ginzburg managed to save the penalty kick and Krasimierz Muskal shot a wonderful bomb from 22 meters to score his first goal this season.
NEXT WEEK: The best game will be, as it seems, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (7) vs Hapoel Haifa (3). Also to watch: Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (10) vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1), Maccabee Haifa (2) vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13), Beitar Jerusalem (4) vs Hapoel Beit-Shean (14-15). Nothing extraordinary is going to be registered.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Maccabee Haifa 2:2 (2:1).
-----------------------------------------------
Hosts: Nir Klinger (34), Eli Driks (37).
Guests: Eyal Berkovich (8), Haim Revivo (55).
RED: Alon Harazi, defender, Maccabee Haifa, 71.
THE BEST: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Maccabee Herzliya 1:0 (0:0).
---------------------------------------------
Hosts: Dani Niron (86).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Felix Halfon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
Beitar Jerusalem - HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION 0:1 (0:1).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Oleg Koshluk (4).
THE BEST: Shavit Elimelekh, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Maccabee Yaffa 2:1 (2:1).
---------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Noam Keisi (16), Guy Itzhak (40).
Guests: Yuriy Moroz (2).
THE BEST: Eyal Beglyabter, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 0:2 (0:1).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Moti Kakun (14), Adoram Keisi (52).
RED: Adoram Keisi, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 52.
THE BEST: Shai Hess, keeper, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
On the 14th minute Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty kick -
Meir Cohen saved. Kakun was the first on the rebound to put it in.
On the 16th minute Tibor Shallai (Hapoel Beit-Shean) missed a penalty
kick - the ball went to the bar.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 1:2 (0:1).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Nir Sevilla (66).
Guests: Krasimierz Muskal (26), OG (Moshe Amsalem, 81).
RED: Sahar Mizrahi, midfielder, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 85.
THE BEST: Yossi Ballas, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
On the 85th minute Yossi Madar (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) missed a penalty kick -
Bonnie Ginzburg saved.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1:0 (0:0).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Cobi Refua (49).
Guests: -.
RED: Cobi Refua, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 65.
THE BEST: Andrei Lazovskiy, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Beitar Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON 1:2 (0:1).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Shlomi Amar (90).
Guests: Avi Pass (2 pen), Shai Holtzman (76).
THE BEST: Haim Goldberg, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
THE ROUND'S TEAM:
-----------------
Shavit Elimelekh
(Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Felix Halfon Haim Goldberg Andrei Lazovskiy Yaacov Hillel
(Hapoel Haifa) (Tsafririm Holon) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Haim Revivo Eyal Beglyabter Eyal Berkovich Yossi Ballas
(Maccabee Haifa) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Eli Driks Dudu Heffer
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 2.
Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Hapoel Tel-Aviv,
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 11 9 1 1 26- 9 28
2 (2) Maccabee Haifa 11 7 4 0 32-14 25
3 (4) Hapoel Haifa 11 8 1 2 24- 8 25
4 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 11 7 3 1 22-13 24
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 11 7 1 3 23-19 22
6 (6) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 11 5 5 1 18-10 20
7 (7) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 11 6 2 3 15-12 20
8 (8) Maccabee Herzliya 11 4 1 6 9-11 13
9 (9) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 11 3 3 5 16-14 12
10 (13) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 11 3 1 7 14-20 10
11 (14) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 11 3 1 7 9-16 10
12 (10) Maccabee Yaffa 11 3 0 8 10-24 9
13 (11) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 11 2 2 7 11-21 8
14 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 11 2 2 7 10-22 8
-- (16) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 11 2 2 7 10-22 8
16 (15) Beitar Tel-Aviv 11 2 1 8 15-29 7
BEST PLAYER: Shavit Elimelekh, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 10(0) 1
******************************************************
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 9(2)
******************************************************
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 8(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(2) 1
******************************************************
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 7(0) 1
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 7(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 7(3)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (10) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Maccabee Haifa (2) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (7) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (4) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (14-15) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (9) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (8) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (14-15) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) | Maccabee Yaffa (12) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Previous, Week 10 | Main Page | Soccer Page | 1995-96, History | Next, Week 12 |