20 goals, 4 penalties and 3 red cards - this was the harvest of the last week which enlarged the top gap, after a magnificent performance of the leader in Bloomfield and an unexpected draw of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa in Holon. This was the week of Sagi Strauss who returned to the net of Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, and it was also the week of Francisco Washington de Santos, a new Brazilian forward of Hapoel Kefar-Saba with a wonderful debut in the team, and of Beitar Jerusalem's defender Shmuel Levi, with "The Goal Of The Week". And of course, it was the week of Avi Nimni, our "Player Of The Week", with 2 goals and a goal pass, a great performance before his examinations in Sheffield Wednesday this week.
Beitar Jerusalem was down for just the 2nd time this season, but managed to be itself again, recovering and devastating Hapoel Tel-Aviv; but as for the rest of the top teams, it was a week of the bitter surprises. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa lost 2 important points in Holon, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva suddenly lost in Beit-Shean; and as for the aspiring teams, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, they lost respectively to Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Kefar-Saba. This helped Maccabee Tel-Aviv to catch the 4th place after devastating Hapoel Jerusalem away, 4:0; still, Maccabee is now 10 points behind the leaders, and if Avi Nimni leaves for Europe, God knows what will happen to the team. Another faking Empire, Maccabee Haifa, embarrassed its fans once more, this time achieving just a home draw against Hapoel Taibe; the Greens weren't positioned that badly in the table since the end of 80-ies. And in the bottom battle, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion managed to steal a goal during the final minutes, and Maccabee Herzliya was attacking in vain all the game, seeing Sagi Strauss in front of them and staying frustrated time after time. And now - to the details.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, with its back to the wall, started the game furiously, seeing the new keeper of the National team, Itzhak Korenfein (who in all probability will be in the net of Israel against Luxembourg), in his best. After just 4 minutes of play, Korenfein reacted superbly to the sharp deflection of his own defender, Shmuel Levi, stopping it on the goal-line, and 20 minutes later, his magnificent dive sent to a corner a curved ball shot by Avi Azulai in a turn from 14 meters. And still, it was Hapoel that opened the score - a great penetration of Alon Hazan found Sagiv Eliyahu inside the box, Korenfein managed to block the first shot but lost the sight of the ball afterwards, and the sitting Eliyahu managed to push his leg and to roll the ball from 10 meters into an empty net. Sagiv Eliyahu scored a goal for Hapoel after 611 dry minutes (!), the previous goal being also his vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (Week 05); so, Hapoel equalized the negative record of Maccabee Herzliya from this season, of consecutive scoreless minutes.
Beitar, after a goal, seemed to wake up. First, a great header of Salloi (42) hit a bar, and in a minute, Salloi again got a ball from Pisont and shot it flatly and sharply from 22 meters to the right corner of Shavit Elimelekh, 1:1. And two minutes in the 2nd half, it was another sharp free kick of Itzhak Zohar to go in; this time, Shavit Elimelekh should've taken the ball that was directed into the net center, but he was stuck and did nothing to prevent the ball from penetrating inside his net. 2:1.
Hapoel seemed to get another breathe and started attacking again, with the header of Sagiv Eliyahu (53) and the great curved shot of Alon Hazan (62) missing the frame by centimeters; and on the other side, Leonardo was making a good job in guarding Eli Ohana. But still, Eli Ohana managed once to run away from his personal guard on the left wing (78) and to bounce the ball into the box; Shmuel Levi rushed into the box and threw himself into the air, meeting the ball 10 meters from the net with a threatening flying header that no keeper in the world could deny. 3:1, "The Goal Of The Week", and in my eyes, one of the competitors for "The Goal Of The Season", being no less beautiful than, for example, the historical header of Iordan Letchkov eliminating the German team from WC'94.
Beitar scored yet another goal, when Yossi Abuksis found the fresh substitute Eitan Mizrahi inside the box, and the latter shot it in under the body of Shavit Elimelekh. Beitar is the first, and Eli Ohana declared: "We want to finish Round 1 with another 3 victories, reaching the unprecedental record of 41 points out of 45 possible"; considering the team's skill and the rivals left (Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Hapoel Beit-Shean), the mission doesn't seem to be as impossible as this of Tom Cruise. And as for Hapoel Tel-Aviv, it found itself the last for the first time for the last 8 years (!), and now the team's directors are talking about parting from its manager, Moshe Sinai.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa seems the only force left to be able to compete with the leaders from the capital, but yesterday it unexpectedly lost 2 important points in Holon. It seemed another easy game for the guys of Nir Levin, after the hand of Roman Pets inside the Holonian box; Moti Kakun shot the flat penalty to the right corner of Zhidkov who didn't reach the ball, and so opened the score. But then Holon was mostly attacking, and 13 minutes from the final whistle, an equalizer came - a great pass of Moti Fleeter from the right wing for 40 meters (!) found the flat flying head of Tomer Barzilai to beat the stretching Shai Hess. Or should I say "the lying header", as the scorer was so close to the ground; a wonderful effort that had just the header of Shmuel Levi to deny it "The Goal Of The Week" award. Eli Cohen, the new coach of Holon (don't mix him with Eli Cohen of Beitar Jerusalem, these are 2 different people!), is still unbeaten in the last 4 games of the team; and as for Nir Levin, he should beat Maccabee Haifa the next week in order to show his true intentions.
Everything seemed to be great also for Hapoel Beer-Sheva - just after 3 minutes of play, Ami Azulai fouled Shai Holtzman inside the box, and the flourishing forward of Beer-Sheva himself punished the hosts from the white spot, 1:0. And still, Beit-Shean smiled at the end, with a first home victory after 9 months, a hard pregnancy with a victory over the top team to be delivered. A magnificent save of Shaul Smadja from the header of Udi Shnorman sent the ball into the legs of Tibor Shallai, the latter shot it inside the box, and there Sergen Culakovic heeled it in, 1:1; here ended the 483 dry minutes (!) of Shaul Smadja, another keeper showing a great skill this season. And in the 2nd half, Smadja parried another dangerous ball, this time of Culakovic, but it deflected to Shimon Danan near the net, and the latter bounced it above the rushing keeper, with an unsuccessful trial of Ilan Vaaknin to save his net, 2:1 to the hosts. The hosts left the last place, and the guests have a hard game the next week, at home against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv is finally close to the first 3 teams, after devastating Hapoel Jerusalem away, 4:0. The best was, as usual, Avi Nimni - first, he opened the score from a penalty spot, and then, he finished the record of goals with a wonderful shot from 14 meters to the left high corner of Jaroslav Baku; and in between, he made a great goal pass to Nir Sevilla, who scored after a long dry period. Offer Mizrahi also broke his scoring draught, and there is a hope in Maccabee that those two forwards will gain their lost self-confidence. Still, it is clear that the team is built around Avi Nimni, and if he leaves for Europe... Tough. As for Hapoel Jerusalem, it should gather money and buy some foreigner to make the team steady.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa hosted Hapoel Haifa, hoping to win after the 2 unexpected draws with the bottom teams; however, the team of Ivan Katalinic and Ronnie Dora had other plans. A corner of Georgi Kovac found the head of Alon Halfon (37) with an opener, and after the break, a hand of Morad Abu-Kishak inside the box caused the penalty kick scored by Tal Banin (57). A 5th consecutive victory of Hapoel Haifa, and the team goes now to the low top. If only they brought Ronnie Dora to help Katalinic earlier!..
And if Hapoel Haifa makes trips from victory to victory, Maccabee Haifa has a hard time, with the 4th consecutive winless game! Yesterday, Reuven Attar opened the score vs Hapoel Taibe at home, but in the 2nd half, an awful mistake of Bonnie Ginzburg gave Nassim Agbariya a chance to head the equalizer in, after a great scissors goal pass by Bogdan Ujebyak. After that, Taibe had even several opportunities to win the game, but Bonnie Ginzburg managed to return the debt for his mistake with several good saves. For Taibe, it was the first point after 5 consecutive losses, and the team is now again above the water-line. And as for Haifa, it's now positioned the 8th, and the next week it plays against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa away.
The new Brazilian forward of Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Washington de Santos, made yesterday all the difference between the hosts and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, with a great debut in Israel. He was indeed stopped several times by Liran Strauber, but he gave Kefar-Saba a superior feeling, and this feeling was translated into the victory with a winner of Yaniv Avvargeal, after a goal pass of Offer Cohen. Bnei-Yehuda had a great opportunity to equalize in the 2nd half, but a great scissors kick of Amir Avigdor found a no less great flight of Eran Scheinsinger, in my eyes probably "The Discovery Of The Season". During the dying seconds of the game, Gabi Sapir was sent off after wasting time and cursing the referee after being booked, and a great lack of order took place, while in the center of the events were the 3 Cohens - Nissim Cohen, Bnei-Yehuda's midfielder, Avi Cohen, Hapoel Kefar-Saba's coach, and Avner Cohen, the referee. Finally, the order was restored, and the game was finished.
And in Rishon le-Zion, Maccabee Herzliya was attacking all the time, but Sagi Strauss made a great performance in the hosts' net; his flights to fist away the header of Offir Haim (88) and to catch the ball of Ellad Koren (64) will be remembered in Rishon for long. Strauss reached his peak after 56 minutes, when he appeared from nowhere in a far-range cat flight to parry the ball of Meir Melika going into an empty net. And when you don't score, you concede. A sharp shot of Tomacz Czibola passed Shuli Gilardi to end his 367 dry minutes (!), after Nir Shikwa reached the ball to continue it into an empty net. Rishon made its position better, but Herzliya shouldn't be desperate, just upset with losing all the points undeservedly.
NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight): We have a derby of Jerusalem, and also the games between Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) and Maccabee Haifa (8), and between Hapoel Beer-Sheva (3) and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5). At the bottom - Maccabee Herzliya (13) hosts Hapoel Beit-Shean (15).
And in a week, December 15th: Israel hosts Luxembourg in the preliminaries of WC'98, and we just have to win! The era of Maccabee Haifa is finished, the era of Beitar Jerusalem starts. Pay attention to the most possible line-up: Itzhak Korenfein (Beitar Jerusalem); Shmuel Levi (Beitar Jerusalem), Arik Benado (Maccabee Haifa), Alon Brumer (Maccabee Tel-Aviv), David Amsalem (Beitar Jerusalem); Alon Hazan (Hapoel Tel-Aviv), Eyal Berkovich (Southampton), Tal Banin (Hapoel Haifa), Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv); Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem), Haim Revivo (Celta Vigo). Pay attention that 3 very important players may be out of the opening squad: Rafi Cohen (keeper, Hapoel Haifa), Ronen Harazi (forward, Beitar Jerusalem) and Ronnie Rosenthal (forward, Tottenham Hotspurs). Good luck to the team!
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - BEITAR JERUSALEM 1:4 (1:1).
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Hosts: Sagiv Eliyahu (33).
Guests: Istvan Salloi (43), Itzhak Zohar (47), Shmuel Levi (78),
Eitan Mizrahi (87).
THE BEST: Istvan Salloi, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Tomer Barzilai (77).
Guests: Moti Kakun (28 pen).
RED: Walid Badir, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 40.
THE BEST: Itzhak Swissa, forward, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Sergen Culakovic (26), Shimon Danan (61).
Guests: Shai Holtzman (3 pen).
THE BEST: Shimon Danan, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Jerusalem - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 0:4 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Avi Nimni (6 pen, 68), Nir Sevilla (16), Offer Mizrahi (58).
RED: Amir Gola, defender, Hapoel Jerusalem, 39.
THE BEST: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Alon Halfon (37), Tal Banin (57 pen).
THE BEST: Tal Banin, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 1:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Yaniv Avvargeal (39).
Guests: -.
RED: Gabi Sapir, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 90.
THE BEST: Washington de Santos, forward, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Maccabee Haifa - Hapoel Taibe 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Reuven Attar (42).
Guests: Nassim Agbariya (71).
THE BEST: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Maccabee Herzliya 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Nir Shikwa (79).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Sagi Strauss, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Sagi Strauss
(Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Shmuel Levi Gabor Marton Yaron Ben-Dov Ehud Kahila
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Rishon le-Zion) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Avi Nimni Washington de Santos Tal Banin
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Hapoel Haifa)
Sergen Culakovic Itzhak Swissa Istvan Salloi
(Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Beitar Jerusalem - 3.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 2.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Haifa,
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, Hapoel Beit-Shean - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 12 10 2 0 28- 7 32
2 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 12 9 2 1 27-13 29
3 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 12 8 0 4 18- 9 24
4 (6) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 12 6 4 2 21-14 22
5 (4) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 12 6 2 4 14-12 20
6 (5) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 12 6 2 4 15-15 20
7 (7) Hapoel Haifa 12 6 1 5 21-16 19
8 (8) Maccabee Haifa 12 4 4 4 14-15 16
9 (9) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 12 5 1 6 10-11 16
10 (10) Hapoel Jerusalem 12 4 1 7 10-18 13
11 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 12 4 1 7 13-24 13
12 (13) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 12 2 4 6 8-14 10
13 (11) Maccabee Herzliya 12 3 1 8 5-12 10
14 (15) Hapoel Taibe 12 3 1 8 10-21 10
15 (16) Hapoel Beit-Shean 12 2 3 7 9-13 9
16 (14) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 12 2 3 7 7-16 9
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams before this week.
BEST PLAYER: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Yaniv Offri (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0)
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
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Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 8(3) 2(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(3) 1(1)
Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 8(4)
*********************************************************
Itzhak Zohar (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(2) 1
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(2)
Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 7(3) 1(1)
*********************************************************
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 6(0) 1
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) | Hapoel Jerusalem (10) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) | Maccabee Haifa (8) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (3) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (4) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (6) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (16) |
| Hapoel Haifa (7) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (12) |
| Hapoel Taibe (14) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (13) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) |
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