After an exciting Saturday a week ago, this one was pretty dull, I should admit. Only 20,000 spectators in 8 stadiums (the negative record of this season), just 15 goals (also a negative record by now), 1 red card, 1 own goal and 1 missed penalty - this was the whole story. And it was the week of Maccabee Tel-Aviv, since 2 of its top rivals lost points, and the 3rd, meeting the leaders in a week from now, won this time, but didn't convince.
A very interesting game in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, where Bnei-Yehuda hosted Maccabee Tel-Aviv, was all decided in the 1st half. The hosts surprisingly took the lead, after Alexander Uvarov didn't close Nir Sevilla well. But this was the counterattacking move, and this was the question of several minutes for the leaders to equalize - Haim Hageage bounced a ball to the rival's box, and Moshe Amsalem headed it home, a good header except for that was the own goal! Maccabee continued to press, and finally started another attack, with Zohar sending the ball to the box and Klinger touching it lightly to change the direction, 2:1. The hosts managed to equalize temporarily, through Alon Mizrahi, but then came Itzhak Zohar, with a header Guy Nakhshon could just touch but not parry, 3:2. Bonnie Ginzburg, the National keeper, was extremely frustrated, sitting on the bench for the 2nd consecutive game and not being able to prevent the 3 goals his team conceded. His teammates were very frustrated on the pitch, being not bad at all and still meeting Alexander Uvarov several times at the right place. Nakhshon made several good saves on the other side. Bnei-Yehuda showed nice pieces of football after all, and this team is definitely improving; and as for Maccabee, it showed a pretty good skill, but if not for Itzhak Zohar in a wonderful game of his, I doubt if they could have won.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv enjoyed this week not just a victory, but also the disappointments of its top rivals, Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabee Haifa. The Greens lost 2 points in Herzliya, where the atmosphere was celebrational, as the new tribune was opened after reconstruction. I wondered the last week where the team of Gili Landau we loved had disappeared, and yesterday I've got the answer - it hadn't disappeared at all, being back after a short crisis and not falling from arguably the best Israeli team. Despite the vigorous attacks of Haifa in the 1st half (and here the ball of Revivo was cleared from the goal-line by Shmuel Koretski, and another curved beauty of his was met by the left hand fingertips of acrobatically flying Shuli Gilardi, sending it to a corner from under the crossbar), Herzliya scored an opener - Oleg Naduda, former Spartak Moscow, got a ball in the box, passed Alon Harazi and shot it strongly and precisely past Rafi Cohen, 1:0 after 53 minutes of play. Haifa continued to possess the ball, but the attacks were fruitless, and I began to smell the humiliation; however, during the last weeks there is a great player in Green to strike on time... Haim Revivo did it once again, touching a ball lightly before Shuli Gilardi after a brilliant goal pass of Alon Hazan. 1:1, and both teams were met by equal applauses while leaving the pitch after the game. They were equal, and this is a great compliment to Maccabee Herzliya, as Haifa wasn't bad at all.
Beitar Jerusalem of the last weeks isn't sparkling, but if it was enough a week ago against Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, it gave the Jerusalemites just a nil draw this week away, vs the surprising for good squad of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. The hosts created the two best chances in the first 10 minutes, first after a bright free kick (6) by Yossi Shoshani to the bar of Itzhak Korenfein and to the goal line, when the keeper was able to hold the rebound. The 2nd (8) opportunity came after a very bad referee decision: Morad Abu-Kishak dived after an impact with Itzhak Korenfein, who neatly denied him a ball, and all of a sudden a penalty was awarded - Korenfein, however, made the justice, parrying the centered bomb sent by Najouan Grayib. From that moment on, Korenfein was resting most of the time, and the job fell on the shoulders of his counterpart, Golan Malul, who parried a shot by Pisont, and then denied several times Ronen Harazi and Eli Ohana. After 94 minutes of play, all the stadium applaused their hero - Harazi found Ohana at the edge of the keeper's box, and the latter shot from the air, to see Malul in a great instinct parrying it to a corner, "The Save Of The Week". Raz Rabinovich, the hosts' defender, managed later to deny the ball from Ohana just near the goal-line, and the game ended. 2 equal teams were at the pitch, and the score made a justice. For the hosts, it was the 5th consecutive draw, and the coach Avraham Marchinsky laughed: "First 6 consecutive victories, then 5 consecutive draws - hopefully, the 3rd opportunity won't be as consecutive... Talking seriously, we showed a good game, and I believe that the quality will bring all the points against Beit-Shean, in a week". And Ronen Harazi, the International striker of Beitar, summed up: "From the beginning of Round 2, we take the points just before time's up, and it's about time to realize it doesn't always work".
Petakh-Tikwa isn't bad at all, but these draws denied it the 5th place, giving it to Hapoel Tel-Aviv with its 3rd consecutive victory, this time over Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away. The winner came deep into the 2nd half - Krasimierz Muskal shot a ball from 20 meters, it was denied by Rishon's defender, and Muskal himself was on the rebound, curving it in a great way to the far high corner of Shavit Elimelekh, who had no chance at all. The 2nd consecutive winner of Muskal, and Hapoel is definitely different from the dull team to be eliminated from the Israeli Cup by Maccabee Acco. And as for Rishon, its coach Viko Hadad said: "It wasn't the victory of winners, but rather the loss of losers, and it's a pity. Hopefully, we'll improve soon".
Hapoel Haifa, another team to make 4 consecutive draws before this week, had a pretty simple task of playing against the outsider Beitar Tel-Aviv in Kiryat-Eliezer; however, it turned out to be another difficult game, as Haifa lacked Tal Banin (suspended, 3 yellow cards) and Ran Ben-Shimon (suspended, 1 red card), and played at a wet pitch under the pouring rain (and God, I hated driving in this weather!). Haifa was clearly dominating, but the headers its game was built on went high, and even after Reuven Attar scored a great curved free kick, Moshe Eisenberg could equalize quickly after a certain confusion in Haifa's defence. However, Avraham Grant has a good bench, and here came the substitution of the game - Dani Niron came onto the field near the midline and ran to the rivals' box, where his head met the free kick of Reuven Attar, the first touch of Dani to become a winner. This is the 2nd game which is decided by Niron in the dying minutes - the debute was against Maccabee Herzliya, several weeks ago. But still, Haifa has to improve, as the next week they play again vs Tel-Aviv, but this time away and vs Maccabee, a leader instead of an outsider.
And now - to the pretty unexpected results. The peak was reached at Beer-Sheva, where the hosts lost to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon; Beer-Sheva is now deep at the bottom, but we still find it hard to digest, as this was the team to represent us for the last two years in the UEFA Cup. Haim Goldberg, the defender of Holon, examined the keepers: first, trying to send the ball away, he volleyed it powerfully under his own bar and saw Alexander Zhidkov sending it to a corner and cursing him in Russian, and then a free kick of the same Goldberg found Smadja well-prepared. Zhidkov parried a good header of Hisham Zoabi after the break, and then came the winner - Hezi Shirazi passed Stav Elimelekh at the left wing and made a pass into the box, where it was made by a precise jumping volley of Denecz Eszenyi. A new coach, a new luck for Holon.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba defeated Hapoel Beit-Shean at home - Meir Cohen of the guests made some beautiful saves, and the substitute Vyacheslav Melnikov (formerly in Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) equalized greatly to 1:1, but then it was another substitute, Moti Eberbaum of Kefar-Saba, who brought the hosts a deserved victory. And in Yaffa, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Maccabee Yaffa parted with a nil draw, Shai Hess of Petakh-Tikwa denying Itzhak Swissa in one-to-one, and Boris Beloshapka being very secure at the hosts' net, as usual.
NEXT WEEK: Two great top games, when Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) hosts Hapoel Haifa (4), and Maccabee Haifa (3) hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5). Another one to be seen - a bottom fight, Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba (14).
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 2:3 (2:3).
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Hosts: Nir Sevilla (12), Alon Mizrahi (32).
Guests: OG (Moshe Amsalem, 22), Nir Klinger (28), Itzhak Zohar (37).
THE BEST: Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Beitar Jerusalem 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Golan Malul, keeper, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
On the 8th minute Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty
kick - Itzhak Korenfein saved.
Maccabee Herzliya - Maccabee Haifa 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Oleg Naduda (53).
Guests: Haim Revivo (82).
THE BEST: Vassili Ivanov, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Beitar Tel-Aviv 2:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Reuven Attar (55), Dani Niron (80).
Guests: Moshe Eisenberg (60).
THE BEST: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Krasimierz Muskal (75).
THE BEST: Shalom Tikwa, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Yaffa - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Ilan Madar, defender, Maccabee Yaffa, 29.
THE BEST: Avi Pitusi, defender, Maccabee Yaffa.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Denecz Eszenyi (58).
THE BEST: Alexander Zhidkov, keeper, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Nir Yonai (18), Moti Eberbaum (83).
Guests: Vyacheslav Melnikov (60).
THE BEST: Tomer Shem-Tov, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Golan Malul
(Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa)
Felix Halfon Tomer Azulai Nir Shitrit Morad Abu-Kishak
(Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Bnei-Yehuda) (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa)
Vassili Ivanov Shalom Tikwa Reuven Attar Haim Hageage
(Mcb. Herzliya) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Alon Mizrahi Itzhak Zohar
(Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Herzliya,
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 2.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 18 14 2 2 40-13 44
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 18 12 5 1 41-18 41
3 (3) Maccabee Haifa 18 11 6 1 49-21 39
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 18 11 5 2 40-19 38
5 (6) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 18 9 4 5 20-18 31
6 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 18 8 6 4 28-24 30
7 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 18 6 9 3 23-18 27
8 (8) Maccabee Herzliya 18 7 3 8 18-19 24
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 18 5 3 10 28-37 18
10 (10) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 18 4 5 9 19-22 17
11 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 18 5 2 11 14-24 17
12 (13) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 18 5 2 11 18-30 17
13 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 18 4 3 11 20-35 15
14 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 18 3 6 9 17-33 15
15 (14) Maccabee Yaffa 18 4 2 12 15-35 14
16 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 18 3 3 12 20-44 12
BEST PLAYER: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 19(0) 1
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Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 14(4) 1
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Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 11(1) 1
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 11(3)
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 10(1)
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Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 9(0) 1
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 9(0)
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(2)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 9(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 |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Haifa (4) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Maccabee Yaffa (15) |
| Maccabee Haifa (3) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (6) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (7) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (13) | Maccabee Herzliya (8) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (12) |
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