23 goals, 3 red cards and 3 penalties, all scored - this was the summary of yesterday games, the 1st week of Round 2. Some teams seemed fresh and improved after the rest of 4 weeks, and some, on the contrary, had their momentum vanishing. A very disappointing performance of Zoltan Veg caused, amongst the rest, the changes in the top 4; moreover, now we can clearly see the League is divided into 4 best, 4 acceptable and 8 surviving teams, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva belongs surprisingly to the last group, losing this time to Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home. What else? Another piece of fantastic skill from Reuven Attar, another hat-trick of Haim Revivo (who seems to be able to break the legendary record of Nissim Almaliakh from 1954-55: 30 goals a season), another series of nice saves from Itzhak Korenfein and Jaroslav Baku. A pretty good debute for some of the new foreigners - Zlatko Leikovic in Beer-Sheva, Sergei Pogodin in Tel-Aviv, Marian Paneh in Hapoel Haifa, Jaroslav Kintus in Maccabee Haifa; a great debute for Roman Pets, passing from Maccabee Haifa to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. And the news I'm especially glad to tell: Vladimir Greshnev, one of the best foreigners Israel has ever seen (with 2 fantastic seasons in Beitar Jerusalem), is back, leaving Torpedo Moscow for Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and inspiring his team in the very first game of his, up to the victory.
The best game of the round was undoubtedly in Haifa, where 6 goals were scored, and the pressure was preserved up to the very end. Two superb teams met each other, and though Hapoel was better (seeing Itzhak Korenfein again to "spoil" most of its opportunities), Beitar had the courage not to break up to the very end and to equalize during the dying seconds (and here Zoltan Veg, who played awfully, can be blamed for all the 3 goals). It started with Korenfein, who denied Ran Ben-Shimon superbly in one-to-one (5). But then came the true masterpiece of a curly maestro. 23: Demir Lajec passed the ball into the box, and Arik Benado, trying to deny Attar, could just deflect it with a head in a back flight. Attar, being with a back to the net at the edge of the keeper's box, stopped it with his left in the air, turned around and shot with his right a bicycle kick to the far low corner of Korenfein, who closed his near one. A goal to remember for weeks.
Tal Banin shot a dead ball (27), and Korenfein in a fantastic flight sent it to a corner from under the crossbar. Banin himself performed a corner, and Demir Lajec headed it in, after the deflection from Sergei Tretyak. Beitar didn't give up, and scored a beautiful reducer, though an arguable one. Eli Ohana sent the ball to Shmuel Levi inside the box, the latter passed it in a beautiful way to Istvan Pisont (and this is the point, as I personally saw the ball passing the line before Levi reached it), and Pisont shot it precisely between the legs of Veg. 2:1. Veg still denied a good shot of Ronen Harazi to his near corner (a sort of shot with which Petrescu scored against Meola in WC'94), and here came the break.
Beitar started the second half better, and finally equalized, after Arik Benado found the resultive header of Eli Ohana; Veg could've denied it. The following minutes were played in a fantastic speed, with the goal smell passing through our nostrils, though we couldn't tell who'd score. And finally, these were the hosts: Banin passed the ball to Offer Talker into the box, the latter was sent down by Korenfein, and Attar converted the penalty into a goal.
Both sides continued to attack, and Hapoel seemed better, but lacked a finishing accord, as Amir Turgeman was denied superbly three times, once by Benado and twice by Korenfein. A good opportunity was given to Assif Ben-Ishai, who shot well from within the box (85) and saw Korenfein parrying it in a superb flight. And here came the dying minute and the equalizer. Levi sent a ball 50 meters forward to Eli Ohana, the latter headed it to Ronen Harazi, and our International scorer, in his second positive deed during the game, bounced it in an acrobatic flight above the undecisive Veg, 3:3. Both teams showed a fantastic football, but one was disappointed, and one glad.
Maccabee Haifa, the team that defeated Ajax Amsterdam during the recess, had no problems against Maccabee Yaffa, and if Kandaurov can't play and score because of the red card, there always are Offer Shitrit and Haim Revivo, scoring 5 goals (!), while Eyal Berkovich created most of these. The start of Haifa was amazing, but it seemed to be difficult for a moment, after Avivi Zohar reduced the score with a great free kick just before the break. Nevertheless, Yaffa couldn't stand in Haifa's way during the 2nd half; Boris Beloshapka, Yaffa's keeper, got a mark of 5.5 conceding 5 goals, and the meaning is obvious - he is the only one from the drowning ship to be able to stay in the National League for another year, by finding another team when the season ends. Yaffa doesn't seem to make it as a team.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv conquered the top again, but if Beitar Jerusalem and the 2 Haifa rivals were quite impressive, the Yelows definitely weren't. Indeed, they were better, but the outsider, Beitar Tel-Aviv, had the opportunities to equalize, and Maccabee, after a great goal of Noam Shoham with a shot from 30 meters under the crossbar, couldn't beat the cool Menahem Koretski. Only the last minute brought the leaders another goal, this time with a bomb of Itzhak Zohar from 25 meters.
2 interesting games were between the disappointed Hapoels from the Cup a week ago. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa was better against Kefar-Saba away, and scored an early goal, preserving the lead up to the very end; Kefar-Saba had 2 opportunities to equalize, both denied superbly by Shai Hess. And Hapoel Beer-Sheva, pressing Hapoel Tel-Aviv all over the way, met a wonderful Jaroslav Baku in the guests' net, and conceded a goal in one of the very rare counter-attacks. The ball of Sergei Pogodin, the new foreigner of Hapoel Tel-Aviv (quite good), played to the hand of Shlomo Iluz, and Pogodin himself scored from a penalty spot, a precise ball to the right corner under the hand of desperately flying Shaul Smadja.
Bnei-Yehuda scored before the break through Nir Sevilla, and then saw Dani Malkin of Hapoel Beit-Shean sent off. What can be better? Nevertheless, Hapoel Beit-Shean managed to score away twice, through the header of Hannah Farhoud and a wonderful free kick of David Perets; Bonnie Ginzburg could've denied at least one of the goals, but again, he seems to play far better in the National team. Alon Mizrahi equalized from the penalty spot, bringing both teams a point. Fair enough.
And Vladimir Greshnev, called "Gershon" by the fans of Beitar Jerusalem, returned to Israel and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. His new team registered a certain surprise, defeating Maccabee Herzliya of Gili Landau. Nissim Cohen reduced the score with a wonderful free kick from 18 meters, but it was too late.
NEXT WEEK: Two interesting games for two Maccabee teams at home, Tel-Aviv vs Rishon le-Zion and Maccabee Haifa vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva. 2 cool mid-table games, Petakh-Tikwa's derby and Hapoel Tel-Aviv hosting Maccabee Herzliya. And the bottom struggles - Beitar Tel-Aviv vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon vs Maccabee Yaffa.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Beitar Tel-Aviv 2:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Noam Shoham (7), Itzhak Zohar (90).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Victor Moroz, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Haifa - Beitar Jerusalem 3:3 (2:1).
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Hosts: Reuven Attar (23, 70 pen), Demir Lajec (28).
Guests: Istvan Pisont (35), Eli Ohana (57), Ronen Harazi (92).
THE BEST: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
Maccabee Yaffa - MACCABEE HAIFA 1:5 (0:2).
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Hosts: Avivi Zohar (45).
Guests: Offer Shitrit (4, 70), Haim Revivo (9, 67, 84).
THE BEST: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Uzi Ohayon, defender, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 64.
THE BEST: Roman Pets, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Moti Kakun (11).
THE BEST: Tomacz Czibola, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Sergei Pogodin (80 pen).
THE BEST: Jaroslav Baku, keeper, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Maccabee Herzliya 2:1 (2:0).
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Hosts: Oleg Koshlyuk (18), Nir Shikwa (45).
Guests: Nissim Cohen (90).
THE BEST: Assaf Dagai, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:2 (1:0).
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Hosts: Nir Sevilla (43), Alon Mizrahi (80 pen).
Guests: Hanna Farhoud (58), David Perets (77).
RED: Dani Malkin, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean, 44.
THE BEST: Nini Assor, defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Jaroslav Baku
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Avishai Zhano Roman Pets Morad Abu-Kishak David Pizanti
(Maccabee Haifa) (Tsafririm Holon) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Tsafririm Holon)
Eyal Berkovich Reuven Attar Tal Banin Assaf Dagai
(Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Eli Ohana Haim Revivo
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Haifa)
Maccabee Haifa - 3.
Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa,
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 16 12 2 2 36-11 38
2 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 16 11 4 1 39-17 37
3 (4) Maccabee Haifa 16 10 5 1 45-20 35
4 (3) Hapoel Haifa 16 10 4 2 37-17 34
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 16 8 4 4 27-23 28
6 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 16 6 7 3 22-17 25
7 (8) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 16 7 4 5 18-18 25
8 (6) Maccabee Herzliya 16 7 2 7 17-17 23
9 (9) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 16 4 5 7 19-18 17
10 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 16 5 2 9 14-22 17
11 (12) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 16 4 3 9 20-33 15
12 (11) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 16 4 2 10 15-27 14
13 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 16 3 5 8 15-30 14
14 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 16 3 3 10 19-34 12
15 (14) Beitar Tel-Aviv 16 3 3 10 18-36 12
16 (16) Maccabee Yaffa 16 3 1 12 14-35 10
BEST PLAYER: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 17(0) 3
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Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 13(4) 2(1)
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Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
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Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 9(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(2) 1
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(2) 1
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Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 8(0) 2
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 8(0)
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0) 1
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 8(3)
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Yaniv Avvargeal (Beitar Tel-Aviv) 7(0) 2
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(1)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(1) 1
Offer Mizrahi (Maccabee Herzliya) 7(2) 1
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 |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (10) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (12) |
| Maccabee Haifa (3) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (9) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) | Hapoel Haifa (4) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (7) | Maccabee Herzliya (8) |
| Beitar tel-Aviv (15) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (11) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) | Maccabee Yaffa (16) |
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