A great soccer weekend happened 2 days ago. 21 goals in 7 games (Hapoel Beer-Sheva will play a postponed game against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa on Tuesday), 3 penalties shot and 2 scored, 3 red cards and the status-quo preserved at the top - this was the Soccer story of the last weekend. Except that, we should mention "The Goal Of The Week" and "The Save Of The Week", both to be the serious contenders for their nominations at the end of the season, though it had just started.
Twice Maccabee Haifa was ahead of Maccabee Herzliya away, and twice it was the hosts' defender Ilan Bakhar who equalized the score, 2:2; those were the first lost points of Haifa and the first gained points of Herzliya this season. Hapoel Rishon le-Zion made a 1:1 home draw vs Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, a good game between the 2 surprising teams. Another good game was registered in Bloomfield, between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem; lots of goal opportunities were created, but the great skill of Shavit Elimelekh and especially of Liran Strauber left the game scoreless. Beitar Jerusalem finally scratches the top after defeating Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 4:3; Beitar had the 2 totally different halves, but the great skill of Nir Sevilla during the first 16 minutes promised its victory quite early. Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa registered their first victories through their first comebacks, over Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beit-Shean respectively; Maccabee Tel-Aviv is now at the very bottom with just 1 point collected in 3 games, who would've believed? And a very dull game between Hapoel Ashkelon and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv ended with a very appropriate nil draw. Now - let's turn to the details.
A magnificent deed of Alon Mizrahi after 17 minutes of play gave Maccabee Haifa an opener in Herzliya - getting the ball from the left wing with his back to the net, he pushed it immediately with his left in half a turn to leave Ronen Feigenbaum behind, and another half a turn brought an unstoppable diagonal left-footer from the box edge to the far-away corner, under the left crossbar of a flying Shuli Gilardi; in any other week, it would be "The Goal Of The Week", that's for sure... Until the end of the 1st half, both teams had one real opportunity each - the first one was of the hosts, when Nir Davidovich and Sergei Belianchuk managed to stop Santos Sierra (31). The next one caused the stadium to lose its breath - a 33-years-old Shuli Gilardi threw himself into an incredible in its beauty acrobatic cat flight, to parry with his right-hand fingertips a killer of Sergei Kandaurov going almost inevitably under the hosts' right crossbar (43), undoubtedly "The Save Of The Week".
5 minutes after the break, a controversial moment took place - Yaniv Cohen rushed into the box and fell after an impact with Nir Davidovich, the referee Dani Koren booked him for pretence, but it was possibly a place for penalty kick there. And still, Herzliya managed to equalize - a great shot of the defender Ilan Bakhar from 25 meters hit the back of Adoram Keisi, changed its trajectory and left Davidovich helpless. 1:1.
The last 10 minutes were breathtaking. Sergei Kandaurov, "The Player Of The Season" by now, prepared another goal for the Greens, as his corner found the unstoppable header of Arik Benado. However, exactly the same situation happened in another 4 minutes near the other net; this time, it was the corner of Yaniv Cohen and the great header of Ilan Bakhar, our "Man Of The Game". After the game, Haifa's 3rd coach Daniel Brailovsky (remember him, the Argentinian fans?) stated in a high Hebrew: "We should be grateful for achieving a draw; we've got a real present from heavens to become the 2:1, but even that wasn't enough". It seems that the expectations are very high in Maccabee Haifa this season, and the team quite justifies them, after all. And Herzliya got its 1st point this season; let me wish them good luck in the continuation. According to the game of yesterday, they definitely deserve it.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion couldn't use Haifa's loss of points, as it made just a draw at home, vs the really surprising newcomers, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod. Evgeniy Kashentsev, being in a superb form, scored after just 4 minutes, but Alon Hazan equalized the score 5 minutes before the break, after Naor Galili had been knocked down inside the box by Meir Azran. The game nearly turned into a tragedy - after a terrible (though unintentional) collision between Moshe Sebeg and Akakiy Devadze (23), the Georgian keeper of Ashdod remained unconscious on the ground, and the help hardly came in time; finally, Devadze had been taken into the hospital where everything was fixed, and just several broken teeth will serve him a reminder of this possible tragic outcome. Devadze's substitute Guy Nakhshon did a good job, and so did Sagi Strauss in Rishon's net. Sharon Martsiano of the hosts argued with the referee Nir Baabour for the whole game and finally found himself sent off with the 2nd yellow card.
The other 2 top teams, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem, ended their game with a nil draw; the opportunities were many, mostly of the hosts, but Liran Strauber, our "Keeper Of The Week", frustrated them time after time. Taking the balls of Yaacov Hillel, Krasimierz Muskal and Shalom Tikwa, Strauber reached his peak when he instinctively stretched to parry the great scissors kick of Offer Shitrit. The hosts attacked even after staying in 10 players - Yaniv Yaron had been sent off (51) with the 2nd yellow card. On the other hand, the guests had several attacks of their own - Ram Setti (30) and Vickey Bukovza (45) missed the frame, and Assaf Tubi's shot (52) was greatly parried by Shavit Elimelekh over his bar.
Just 35 seconds have passed, when Nir Sevilla exploited an awful mistake of Tamir Netser to roll the ball past Eran Scheinsinger in the game between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Kefar-Saba; and just 3 minutes afterwards, it was the Brazilian Celsao Sousa who passed Itzhak Korenfein and rolled the ball into an empty net, 1:1. 7,000 spectators at Teddy stadium were shocked with the density of events, and Nir Sevilla, substituting the injured Eli Ohana and full of aspirations, continued with his performance. 12 minutes from the start, Istvan Salloi overplayed Scheinsinger in the air, his header hit the bar, and Sevilla was on the rebound to head it in; and in another 4 minutes, Sevilla headed it past the stunned keeper after a corner performed by Yossi Abuksis. 11 minutes before the break, it was the pass of Shmuel Levi from the right wing, Sevilla jumped high and missed the ball, but Istvan Pisont was there with a powerful flat volley out of Scheinsinger's reach. The victory was actually promised, and Beitar's players stopped trying, which nearly cost them another draw. Itzhak Korenfein registered a great back flight (54) to parry a clever ball of Washington de Santos from under his bar, but then he could do nothing - an unstoppable shot of Yaniv Avvargeal from 20 meters (68) reflected to Avi Sandor, and the latter just walked with the ball into the net, 2:4. And 2 minutes from time, Avvargeal's corner found the head of Moti Eberbaum; a dreadful timing of Korenfein helped this goal to be scored. Kefar-Saba lost 2 games, but it can be quite optimistic as for its skill; and as for Beitar, we'd better think that this was their skill after the exhausting game in Lisbon, and not the normal one.
Hapoel Haifa, playing without the injured Avi Perets and Offer Talker, showed a young Dudu Awwat in the net, making several superb saves; Yossi Malka was quite good at Talker's right wing. However, the biggest hero of Haifa was Miroslav Bicinic, a Croatian coming to Hapoel Haifa from the German team Duisburg and capturing the hearts of the Red fans after his first 73 minutes here. Eli Driks opened the score (40) after a good pass of Moshe Glam from the left wing and Awwat's bad timing. However, Sergen Culakovic equalized just 4 minutes later, getting Giovanni Rosso's pass from the right wing and heading it to the guests' right post and in; Alexander Uvarov, 37.5 years old, is slow and wasn't flawless in preventing this goal. And then Haifa's winner came, and what a magnificent one! Glam headed away Rosso's pass from the left wing, exactly to Bicinic who was standing 10 meters outside the box; the Croatian midfielder raised his left foot and sent a breathtaking curved volley that stopped just under the left crossbar of a desperately flying Uvarov, "The Goal Of The Week". Maccabee was shocked, and even the red card shown to Ilan Tal 2 minutes from time, didn't help them to score; just 1 point out of 9 possible, and the team of Avraham Grant is in a real trouble. And Bicinic said after the game: "I was dreaming all the night about opening my Israeli career with a goal, but even in my dream the goal wasn't that beautiful".
Europe and Israel are two totally different places in everything concerning Soccer, but strangely so in Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa's case - returning to the League after another European victory, the team had a very hard time vs Hapoel Beit-Shean at home. After just 8 minutes of play, Shimon Danan scored after a great solo effort in the box in front of Beni Kozoshvili, Gabor Marton and the keeper Shai Hess. Petakh-Tikwa equalized after another 6 minutes; it was a great preparation after a free kick of Manor Hassan, and Gabor Marton had no problems to beat Meir Cohen from inside the box. [Those of you remembering the beautiful International goals - this was a mirror image of Thomas Brolin's goal, Sweden vs Romania, WC'94]. And Petakh-Tikwa indeed had several more opportunities during the 1st half, but Meir Cohen in the guests' net was superb; and then, Igor Acmagic (40) used a great goal pass of Shimon Danan and scored another surprising goal for the guests. However, the hosts answered here with 2 goals of their own - still in the 1st half, it was a penalty kick of Moti Kakun, and after the break it was Manor Hassan with an unstoppable shot from inside the box. Beit-Shean was complaining all the time about the awful refereeing of the young Moshe Atias, and they indeed have some good cases in their claims.
And finally, it was a really-really dull game in Ashkelon, between Hapoel Ashkelon and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. Stopping the penalty of the new Georgian midfielder of Ashkelon, Georgi Anchavadze (28), and parrying also the rebound (Eilon Schwegger stopped the third trial of the miserable Anchavadze), the National keeper Rafi Cohen became "The Man Of The Game". Just 2 other opportunities were registered throughout the whole match - Cohen flew under his bar (39) to parry a surprising shot of Boaz Meir (35), and Asi Rakhamim in the other net did the same to deny the shot of Timur Tugashi, the new Georgian midfielder of Bnei-Yehuda. Both teams really wanted the game to be over, and finally it was, scoreless and disappointing.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): Maccabee Haifa (1) hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv (4), the best attack vs the best defence, NOT TO BE MISSED! Beitar Jerusalem (5) faces Hapoel Haifa (7) at home, NOT TO BE MISSED! Another games of a great interest are the following: Petakh-Tikwa's derby with Maccabee as the hosts, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (6) vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10), and the game of the outsiders between Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) and Hapoel Ashkelon (15).
Maccabee Herzliya - Maccabee Haifa 2:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Ilan Bakhar (57, 85).
Guests: Alon Mizrahi (17), Arik Benado (81).
THE BEST: Ilan Bakhar, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Evgeniy Kashentsev (4).
Guests: Alon Hazan (40 pen).
RED: Sharon Martsiano, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 90.
THE BEST: Avi Pitusi, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Jerusalem 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Yaniv Yaron, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 51.
THE BEST: Liran Strauber, keeper, Hapoel Jerusalem.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 4:3 (4:1).
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Hosts: Nir Sevilla (1, 12, 16), Istvan Pisont (34).
Guests: Celsao Sousa (4), Avi Sandor (68), Moti Eberbaum (88).
THE BEST: Nir Sevilla, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Sergen Culakovic (44), Miroslav Bicinic (73).
Guests: Eli Driks (40).
RED: Ilan Tal, forward, Hapoel Haifa, 89.
THE BEST: Giovanni Rosso, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
Hapoel Ashkelon - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Rafi Cohen, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
On the 28th minute Georgi Anchavadze (Hapoel Ashkelon) missed a penalty
kick - Rafi Cohen saved.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa P:P (P:P).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE GAME: Will be played on Tuesday.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 3:2 (2:2).
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Hosts: Gabor Marton (14), Moti Kakun (45 pen), Manor Hassan (50).
Guests: Shimon Danan (8), Igor Acmagic (40).
THE BEST: Manor Hassan, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Liran Strauber
(Hapoel Jerusalem)
Ilan Bakhar Ran Ben-Shimon Sergei Tretyak Hagai Kol
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Avi Pitusi Giovanni Rosso Yaniv Cohen Manor Hassan
(Rishon le-Zion) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Nir Sevilla Yaniv Avvargeal
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)
Hapoel Jerusalem, Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Herzliya - 2.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: Miroslav Bicinic.
Also - Nir Sevilla (the 3rd), Alon Mizrahi, Istvan Pisont.
MO: Miroslav Bicinic.
THE BEST SAVE:
91: Shuli Gilardi, from Sergei Kandaurov, 43.
MO: Shuli Gilardi, from Sergei Kandaurov, 43.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Haifa 03 2 1 0 10- 5 7
2 (2) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 03 2 1 0 7- 2 7
3 (3) Hapoel Jerusalem 03 2 1 0 5- 3 7
4 (4) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 03 2 1 0 2- 0 7
5 (10) Beitar Jerusalem 03 1 2 0 8- 7 5
6 (5) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 03 1 2 0 3- 2 5
7 (12) Hapoel Haifa 03 1 1 1 2- 2 4
8 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 03 1 1 1 2- 3 4
9 (6-8) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 02* 1 0 1 2- 2 3
10 (6-8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 03 1 0 2 5- 6 3
11 (6-8) Hapoel Beit-Shean 03 1 0 2 4- 5 3
12 (16) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 03 1 0 2 5- 8 3
13 (11) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 03 0 1 2 5- 7 1
14 (14) Maccabee Herzliya 03 0 1 2 4- 6 1
15 (15) Hapoel Ashkelon 03 0 1 2 3- 6 1
16 (13) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 02* 0 1 1 1- 4 1
* - missing game
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
NOTE: Hapoel Beer-Sheva will play its game against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa on
Tuesday, to give Beer-Sheva's players the needed rest after the
exhausting 120 European minutes the last Thursday's evening.
BEST PLAYER: Nir Sevilla, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0) 1
**********************************************************
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 3(0) 3
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 3(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 3(0) 1
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 3(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 3(2) 1(1)
**********************************************************
Ilan Bakhar (Maccabee Herzliya) 2(0) 2
Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 2(0) 1
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 2(0)
Eli Tsuref (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 2(0)
Georgi Daraselia (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 2(0)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Maccabee Haifa (1) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (4) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (2) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (10) | Hapoel Jerusalem (3) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (5) | Hapoel Haifa (7) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (6) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (9) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (8) | Maccabee Herzliya (14) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) | Hapoel Ashkelon (15) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (16) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (12) |
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