18 goals, 3 red cards, 3 converted penalties - this was the harvest of the last weekend. That's interesting to pay attention to the fact that all the red cards and the fists, both at the pitch and outside, were registered in the week of so-called "Fair Game Convention", signed yesterday by captains of all the National League teams. Well, to sign and to fulfil are still two different things in Israel; hopefully, this would change. After all, it was a dull week, but with one game to be remembered for long.
Hapoel Haifa lost yesterday, and it seems like the Championship battles will be held now by 3 teams instead of 4 only a week ago; those 3 managed to achieve the minimal victories, and still stick together. A certain struggle, even though just a symbolic one, starts at the mid-table, where Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa passes Hapoel Tel-Aviv, and Maccabee Herzliya sticks to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa; the last 2 meet each other in a fortnight, but it seems like the season is over for both of them, far from the European Cups and also from the relegation zone. At the bottom, Holon and Beit-Shean are in trouble, Yaffa loses again despite a good game it presents, and Beitar Tel-Aviv fails to get all the points in an injury time; a game between Maccabee Yaffa and Hapoel Beit-Shean in a fortnight will make the intentions clear. And after yesterday, 1 game joins the club of "The Most Enjoyable Games Of The Season": Maccabee Haifa vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv. The guests showed a fantastic skill, led by a charming Shalom Tikwa, but even this and the skill of Baku in the net were not enough against the wonderful duo of fresh fathers, Offer Shitrit and Haim Revivo, for the 3rd time this season our "Player Of The Week".
The start of Haifa was amazing, as Eyal Berkovich (wonderful in the midline) sent Moshe Glam (with some very good penetrations at the left wing) into the box, and the latter was knocked down by Moti Fleeter. That happened seconds from the start; Fleeter was booked, and Kandaurov shot precisely from the penalty spot, 1:0. Haifa continued to press, but Jaroslav Baku (who can see himself robbed by conceding 4 goals despite the skill he showed) parried the dangerous balls sent by Kandaurov, Berkovich and Zhano, and there were several misses. Shalom Tikwa (who changed single-footedly the dull team of December to a very attractive one) got active, started to organize the good attacks, and Hapoel stroke twice, beating Haifa's defence which was very far from being impressive. After 20 minutes Tikwa, sent a ball into the box, Alon Harazi tried to clear it, and Rafi Cohen couldn't overplay Sagiv Eliyahu in the air, 1:1. And just one minute later, Tikwa fed Sagiv Eliyahu with the ball again, the latter sent it to Alon Offir, Alon Harazi and Jaroslav Kintus thought it to be an offside and slept, and Offir had no problems to shoot it in, 1:2.
Haifa was in shock for several minutes, but the quality of team is measured by its ability not to be broken by the unexpected. Hapoel Tel-Aviv, being down after just one minute of play, managed to strike twice, and now it was the turn of Haifa to change the trend. 13 minutes before the break, it registered a great team effort to end with an equalizer - Offer Shitrit penetrated at the right wing and prepared a fantastic ball to Haim Revivo, and the latter touched the ball in the air without stopping to bounce it above Baku. Haifa continued to press, but Baku was mostly positioned well, Kandaurov missed, and a volley kick of Revivo after a corner preparation of Berkovich went too high.
The 2nd half started with Haifa pressing again, but the ball couldn't enter the net for various reasons. And then Hapoel surprised again - Kintus lost a simple ball to Alon Offir near the box of Haifa, Offir fed Tikwa with it, and the latter sent a clever ball to Sergei Pogodin in the box. It turned to be a goal after the Russian forward sent a bomb to a high corner of Rafi Cohen, 2:3. After just 2 minutes, Hapoel stayed in 10 men, after Moti Fleeter was sent off with his 2nd booking, for using his hand to deny the ball from Glam.
Haifa couldn't afford to lose the points at home, and therefore had to score twice, in the game of "make or break". From now on, it reminded me of the game between the same Maccabee and Torpedo Moscow, at 28/09/1993 - a wonderful attack against a superb defence, with a lot of pressure but also a lot of motivation to make it the question of time. Then, 2.5 years ago, it was Roman Pets with a wonderful bomb from 35 meters to break the ice; yesterday it was the best Israeli player of the last years, Haim Revivo. Getting a ball from Berkovich in the box (65), he shot a precise ball between the 2 defenders to the left post of Baku, the ball rolled on the line and then passed it despite the keeper's trials to clear it, 3:3.
Hapoel made several counter-attacks, but now Rafi Cohen was in place; on the other hand, Haifa pressed and pressed, but Silbas and Zhano weren't precise, Kandaurov missed time after time, Baku took two very dangerous balls of Revivo and Kintus, and was also in place after the shots of Berkovich and Glam; Shitrit shot away from a wonderful position, and later, his wonderful flying header was cleared from the line by Sharon Mimer. But the most important was the fact that Haifa believed it could make it, and so sweeter was a victory it registered in an injury time. Moshe Glam was let down 35 meters from the box, and Kandaurov sent a terrific bomb from the free kick; this time it went straight under the bar and could have been the serious contender for "The Goal Of The Season", hadn't Baku stretched superbly to send it to a corner. The corner was performed, Kintus pushed the ball down with his head, and Shitrit, pressed by a defender, shot it from the air, 7 meters from the net, in half a turn, 4:3.
Shitrit: "This week I became a father for Dorin, and I dedicate this goal to my little girl. I shot with my heart, not with my foot". Revivo, who'll become a father in several weeks: "I can't be happy after this game, because if we concede 3 goals at home and are happy about 2 equalizers and a last minute winner, even if we play against the excellent team like Hapoel Tel-Aviv, it's disappointing, and something is to be checked". And in Hapoel Tel-Aviv, all were very disappointed with the final result, but not with the way the team played.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Haifa; this was a fair game, but also a very dull one. The only goal of Maccabee came after another mistake of the Hungarian National keeper Zoltan Veg, who should've parried the ball by Moroz; this was very frustrating, as Veg was good throughout the game, and 5 minutes before the goal denied superbly Evgeniy Kashentsev in one-to-one. Hapoel could've equalized, again through the substitute Dani Niron, but his header was parried by Uvarov from his low corner (83).
Beitar Jerusalem pressed Maccabee Yaffa all way through, but the result wasn't impressive. Eli Ohana scored twice, after the mistakes of the second Yaffa's keeper, David Parhi, and Istvan Salloi missed several times; however, Yaffa was an equal rival and could've taken the points, especially in its good minutes after an equalizer. Ohana: "Maccabee Yaffa surprised me for good. I don't know what happens to us, but we'll surely want to change it".
A severe collision between Menakhem Koretski of Beitar Tel-Aviv and Moti Eberbaum of Hapoel Kefar-Saba in Koretsky's box resulted in a broken leg of the keeper and a light brainshake of the forward; as if it wasn't enough, Koretski was sent off after fisting Eberbaum, when the two lay suffering from pain. Yaron Melika (the brother of Meir Melika, the bench forward of Maccabee Tel-Aviv) played instead of him, and caused his team to lose 2 points - in an injury time, Cobi Refua equalized from the penalty spot, as Melika kicked him down. Koretski won't be able to play for 6 weeks because of his leg, and he is the 2nd keeper that Beitar Tel-Aviv loses this season; the first one, Sagi Strauss, broke his arm in December.
Strange but true, there is nothing (or almost nothing to say) about the rest of the games. A good performance by Shai Hess in the net of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and an even better one by Shaul Smadja in the net of Hapoel Beer-Sheva left the game between their teams scoreless, a 6 nil draw of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and their 10th (!) draw after all. Bonnie Ginzburg back in the net of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv and a fantastic strike of Dani Albert to Bonnie's high corner - this was mostly the story of 1:1 draw between Bnei-Yehuda and Rishon le-Zion in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa. Maccabee Herzliya defeated the weak squad of Hapoel Tsafririm Holon away, with a clever direction change by Oleg Naduda and a wonderful header of the substitute Ilan Bakhar; both goal passes were made by 41-years-old Nissim Cohen, and he's our "Man Of The Game" there. And Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa caught 5th place again, defeating Hapoel Beit-Shean away due to Najouan Grayib's goal.
NEXT WEEK we have the 1/8 Cup games, and in a fortnight, March 2nd, the 65th birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev will be celebrated by tough games between the League top leaders and the League bottom leaders (Maccabee Tel-Aviv in Kefar-Saba, Maccabee Haifa in Rishon le-Zion, Beitar Jerusalem in Beer-Sheva and Hapoel Haifa at home against Bnei-Yehuda). Also an interesting bottom battle for Hapoel Beit-Shean in Yaffa. Seems like nothing to watch: Maccabee Herzliya vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, as both teams practically has nothing to win and nothing to lose.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Haifa 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Victor Moroz (71).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Gadi Brumer, defender, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Maccabee Yaffa 2:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Eli Ohana (46, 75).
Guests: Avivi Zohar (69 pen).
THE BEST: Eli Ohana, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 4:3 (2:2).
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Hosts: Sergei Kandaurov (1 pen), Haim Revivo (32, 65), Offer Shitrit (89).
Guests: Sagiv Eliyahu (20), Alon Offir (22), Sergei Pogodin (53).
RED: Moti Fleeter, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 55.
THE BEST: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Najouan Grayib (83).
THE BEST: Najouan Grayib, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Shaul Smadja, keeper, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - MACCABEE HERZLIYA 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Oleg Naduda (63), Ilan Bakhar (85).
RED: Guy Mishal, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 38.
THE BEST: Nissim Cohen, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Itzhak Levi (17).
Guests: Dani Albert (43).
THE BEST: Oleg Molokov, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Beitar Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: OG (Eran Prizant, 40).
Guests: Cobi Refua (90 pen).
RED: Menakhem Koretski, keeper, Beitar Tel-Aviv, 30.
THE BEST: Andrei Lazovskiy, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Shaul Smadja
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Tomer Shem-Tov Gadi Brumer Andrei Lazovskiy Guy Gat
(Hap. Kefar-Saba) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hap. Kefar-Saba) (Maccabee Herzliya)
Haim Hageage Eyal Berkovich Haim Revivo Tomacz Czibola
(Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Haifa) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Eli Ohana Najouan Grayib
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Kefar-Saba - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Herzliya, Hapoel Beer-Sheva,
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 19 15 2 2 41-13 47
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 19 13 5 1 43-19 44
3 (3) Maccabee Haifa 19 12 6 1 53-24 42
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 19 11 5 3 40-20 38
5 (6) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 19 9 6 4 29-24 33
6 (5) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 19 9 4 6 23-22 31
7 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 19 6 10 3 23-18 28
8 (8) Maccabee Herzliya 19 8 3 8 20-19 27
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 19 5 4 10 29-38 19
10 (10) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 19 4 6 9 19-22 18
11 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 19 5 3 11 15-25 18
12 (12) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 19 5 3 11 19-31 18
13 (13) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 19 4 3 12 20-37 15
14 (14) Hapoel Beit-Shean 19 3 6 10 17-34 15
15 (15) Maccabee Yaffa 19 4 2 13 16-37 14
16 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 19 3 4 12 21-45 13
BEST PLAYER: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 21(0) 2
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Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 14(4)
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Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 11(1)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 11(3)
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Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0) 2
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 10(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 10(1)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 10(4) 1(1)
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Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 9(0)
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(1) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(2)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (12) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) | Maccabee Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Haifa (4) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (13) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (8) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (7) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (15) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) |
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