27 goals, 2 red cards, 5 penalties shot and 4 scored - this was the story of the last weekend. And the best news are - the Championship battle is open again, and again with 4 teams!
The Tel-Aviv derby ended with a nil draw, thanks to the wonderful skill of Jaroslav Baku in Hapoel's net; Maccabee Tel-Aviv can see itself severely disappointed, as all of its top rivals won and closed the gap. Beitar Jerusalem devastated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, and scored even enough goals to pass Hapoel Haifa in the table; the latter had a hard time against Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, but had Reuven Attar to bring the victory. Maccabee Haifa defeated Beitar Tel-Aviv away after 2 great efforts of its 2 best strikers, Haim Revivo and Offer Shitrit. At the bottom, two very important victories to Hapoel Kefar-Saba and the Oranges of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv; and as for Beitar Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and mostly Maccabee Yaffa, these teams should wake up quickly in case they want to stay in the National League. And now - to the very details.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Round 2 is an entirely different team from this of December 1995; bringing Sergei Pogodin and Shalom Tikwa to its lines, it became steady and dangerous, playing equally against any Israeli League giants. It started with a game in Haifa, when Offer Shitrit gave a relief to thousands of Haifa fans just seconds from time, 4:3 to Maccabee Haifa after a great game of both squads. It went on in Bloomfield, with 4:0 over Beitar Jerusalem. And this was seen yesterday, 0:0 in Bloomfield vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv. Hapoel was better in the 1st half and had a lot of opportunities - Yossi Madar (17) found Uvarov ready, Krasimierz Muskal (34) shot the ball to Uvarov's body after the latter had slipped the ball sent by Alon Offir, and it was Uvarov again to save against Muskal again (55); in between (53), Shalom Tikwa missed the frame from a very hard angle. After 40-50 minutes, Maccabee entered the game, with Itzhak Zohar heading it near the post of Baku (42), and then shooting a good free kick (44), parried by the keeper. From that moment on, Baku was the dominant figure, parrying in a fantastic instinct the header of Driks from under the bar (69), and denying also the shot of Driks (54) and the penetration of Kashentsev (83). In the injury time, Nir Klinger shot the ball that passed Baku but found Sharon Mimer clearing it from the line. Maccabee could see itself a little bit disappointed with the referee Haim Lipkovich - it deserved a penalty kick, when Alon Offir touched the ball by hand within his box (36); however, in my opinion, here the justice was made for the foul of Uvarov a fortnight ago, which hadn't been punished.
Maccabee Haifa played a very dull 1st half away against Beitar Tel-Aviv, with Offer Shitrit missing 3 perfect goal opportunities, and Sagi Strauss making several good saves; moreover, it was Nir Davidovich to keep the net of Haifa clear, making an acrobatic flight to deny the ball of Victor Mundi from under the crossbar (30) and closing the left low corner well after the ball of Arik Shriki (44). But after the break, when Maccabee got the info about the derby final score, it was quite another story. Haim Revivo (53) opened the score with a fantastic curved free kick from 22 meters, touching the bar and going in; and the exact copy of this ball (67) was parried by Sagi Strauss, "The Save Of The Week". And 2 minutes from time, Offer Shitrit returned the debt of all his misses, when he kidnapped the ball from Nir Arbiv, rushed into the box, misled Lubomir Pawek and shot the ball that kissed the net, 2:0. And now, Haifa has a great opportunity to regain the lead the next week, in case it defeats Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home, with any score.
At Friday, Hapoel Haifa was astonished a little bit at home, when Hisham Zoabi shot a ball from 25 meters to find Zoltan Veg unprepared (26); nevertheless, it took the top team of my city just 80 seconds to equalize - Alon Halfon bounced the ball into the box, Amir Avigdor of Beer-Sheva headed it back, Shaum Smadja at the net missed the ball, and Reuven Attar headed it in 80 centimeters from the goal line, 1:1. Smadja, one of the best Israeli keepers and usually a very confident one, was responsible also for the 2nd goal in one of his worst games this season - Meola's mistake wasn't learnt properly, as Offer Talker shot the ball from an angle of virtually zero, and Smadja failed to close his near corner. Beer-Sheva equalized after the break through a magnificent free kick of Barukh David, kissing the post and going in, and then Haifa stayed in 10 players, after Nir Sokher had been sent off. Nevertheless, it was Haifa to win the game, after Ilan Vaaknin sent Tal Banin down within his box, and Reuven Attar converted the penalty kick into a winner, 3:2. Beer-Sheva had a fantastic opportunity to equalize 2 minutes in an injury time, when Zoltan Veg saved the effort of Sharon Avitan, and Hisham Zoabi shot the rebound above the bar in front of the empty net.
Eli Ohana, having declared 3 weeks ago that Beitar Jerusalem left the Championship battle, said yesterday: "Every person in the world hates to be mistaken, but in this case, I hope my previous statement would be a big mistake". Indeed, yesterday Beitar registered yet another brilliant game, scoring 6 unanswered goals against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and climbing to the 3rd place. "The Man Of The Game" was the Hungarian midfielder of Beitar, Istvan Salloi, with 2 goals and a goal pass; Istvan Pisont and Eli Ohana were satisfied with a goal and a goal pass each. But the best goal was that of Ehud Kahila, 5:0, when Pisont bounced the corner into the box, Eli Ohana slid it back with a head, and Kahila flew in the air to reach the ball with his header from 3 meters.
Another great performance was given yesterday by Hapoel Kefar-Saba, defeating Maccabee Yaffa 4:1 at home after a good performance, especially of Gabor Marton, our "Player Of The Week", and Cobi Refua. The goal pass of the first and a wonderful volley shot of the last from 15 meters opened the score after 13 minutes. Yaffa had several opportunities to equalize, but wasted them all, and Oren Flash in a counterattack shot the ball into the net in front of Beloshapka, 2:0. 2 penalties before the break, one for each side, were scored, and after the break Gabor Marton scored himself, 4:1. "The Miss Of The Week" was registered by Eberbaum, 3 minutes from the final whistle; he shot a penalty kick, Beloshapka guessed the corner and parried the ball to his post, and Eberbaum shot the rebound above the bar in front of an empty net, from 5 meters.
An interesting game took place in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, where Maccabee Herzliya took a lead, from the penalty kick scored by Offer Mizrahi; before that event, Bonnie Ginzburg had been injured and replaced in the net by Guy Nakhshon, and so the situation of Bnei-Yehuda seemed hard. Nevertheless, it was Igor Shkvyrin scoring twice within 3 minutes and turning the score upside down. The shot of Oleg Naduda was parried badly by Guy Nakhshon (61), Offer Mizrahi tried the rebound, Nakhshon parried it again, but Mizrahi jumped well to reach the ball before the empty net, 2:2. And the winner was scored by Nir Sevilla, who passed two players and shot powerfully against Shuli Gilardi, 3:2 to Bnei-Yehuda after all the perturbations.
A dull game between Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, with no one to mark, will be remembered only for the goal of Nissim Ben-David, who shot a bright volley kick from 16 meters in his debut game. And in Beit-Shean, Shai Holtzman scored a wonderful goal, 5 minutes from time, but Hannah Farhoud equalized dramatically a minute from the final whistle. Beit-Shean is situated now better than 4 teams.
NEXT WEEK: "The Game Of The Season" in Kiryat-Eliezer, between Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv, NOT TO BE MISSED!!! At the bottom - a very important game between Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) and Beitar Tel-Aviv (15).
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Jaroslav Baku, keeper, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Beitar Tel-Aviv - MACCABEE HAIFA 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Haim Revivo (53), Offer Shitrit (88).
THE BEST: Nir Davidovich, keeper, Maccabee Haifa.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 6:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Istvan Salloi (23, 50), Istvan Pisont (45), Shmuel Levi (53),
Ehud Kahila (59), Eli Ohana (64).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Istvan Salloi, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 3:2 (2:1).
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Hosts: Reuven Attar (27, 86 pen), Offer Talker (38).
Guests: Hisham Zoabi (26), Barukh David (49).
RED: Nir Sokher, defender, Hapoel Haifa, 75.
THE BEST: Demir Lajec, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Nissim Ben-David (88).
Guests: Nir Shikwa (77).
RED: Moshe Sebeg, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 79.
THE BEST: NO ONE!!!
BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Herzliya 3:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Igor Shkvyrin (54, 56), Nir Sevilla (63).
Guests: Offer Mizrahi (32 pen, 61).
THE BEST: Nir Sevilla, forward, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Maccabee Yaffa 4:1 (3:1).
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Hosts: Cobi Refua (13, 39 pen), Oren Flash (33), Gabor Marton (77).
Guests: Yaron Drori (41 pen).
THE BEST: Gabor Marton, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
On the 87th minute Moti Eberbaum (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) missed a penalty kick -
Boris Beloshapka saved to the post.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Hannah Farhoud (89).
Guests: Shai Holtzman (85).
THE BEST: Meir Cohen, keeper, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Jaroslav Baku
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Ilan Elharar Demir Lajec Sharon Mimer David Amsalem
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Istvan Pisont Gabor Marton Nir Sevilla Igor Shkvyrin
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Bnei-Yehuda) (Bnei-Yehuda)
Istvan Salloi Cobi Refua
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)
Beitar Jerusalem - 4.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 2.
Hapoel Haifa - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 25 18 5 2 51-15 59
2 (2) Maccabee Haifa 25 16 8 1 66-27 56
3 (4) Beitar Jerusalem 25 16 6 3 55-25 54
4 (3) Hapoel Haifa 25 16 6 3 54-25 54
5 (5) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 25 12 6 7 30-24 42
6 (6) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 25 11 8 6 36-30 41
7 (7) Maccabee Herzliya 25 10 4 11 29-28 34
8 (8) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 25 7 12 6 26-31 33
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 25 7 6 12 41-50 27
10 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 25 6 6 13 20-33 24
11 (12) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 25 7 3 15 28-43 24
12 (11) Hapoel Beit-Shean 25 5 8 12 22-41 23
13 (13) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 25 4 8 13 24-35 20
14 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 25 5 5 15 24-45 20
15 (14) Beitar Tel-Aviv 25 5 5 15 25-53 20
16 (16) Maccabee Yaffa 25 5 4 16 19-45 19
BEST PLAYER: Gabor Marton, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 24(0) 1
*********************************************************
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 19(6) 2(1)
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(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 15(1)
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 14(1)
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Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 13(0) 1
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 13(1) 2
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Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 12(0)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(3)
*********************************************************
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 11(0) 1
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 11(1)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 11(4)
*********************************************************
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1)
Cobi Refua (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 10(3) 2(1)
Offer Mizrahi (Maccabee Herzliya) 10(3) 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 Haifa (2) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (10) | Beitar Jerusalem (3) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (7) | Hapoel Haifa (4) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (16) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (6) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (12) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (13) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (11) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (15) |
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