Just 15 goals, 3 red cards and 2 penalties scored by the home teams to equalize the score - this was the story of the last weekend. One third of the League is behind us, and by now there are 5 teams in the top part, followed by the two extremely surprising teams in the upper part of the table. On the other hand, Hapoel Ashkelon looks as a team which hardly belongs to the National League, but the major disappointments by now are Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Beitar Jerusalem supplied us the best game of this weekend, making Hapoel Tel-Aviv lose for the first time this season - 2:1 to the Yellows, still unbeaten and holding firmly the 2nd place; Hapoel still stayed the leader and will return to Bloomfield the next week to meet there Hapoel Haifa, which stayed the 3rd after a disappointing home draw vs Maccabee Herzliya, 1:1. Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, in its best performance this season, defeated Maccabee Haifa at home, 2:1; the former Greens Alon Hazan and Amir Turgeman were the best in Ashdod, and Haifa was very lucky to finish with a minimal loss. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, helped by the referee Yaacov Ben-Hemo, defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva away, 2:0, with 2 goals at the ends of each half; Hapoel Rishon le-Zion used a harsh mistake of the referee Nir Baabour to make it at home, 1:0 vs Hapoel Ashkelon. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem through 2 quick goals, 2:0, and didn't concede for the first game this season; Hapoel Kefar-Saba was quite satisfied to grab a point at home vs Hapoel Beit-Shean, 1:1. And 1,500 spectators in Petakh-Tikwa were "sentenced to 90 minutes of boredom" in the nil draw between the local Maccabee and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
The first 5 minutes belonged to Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but later on Beitar Jerusalem started pressing and demonstrated one more time the reasons for taking points at home from FC Bruges and Sporting Lisbon. The shots of Alon Harazi (9) and David Amsalem (12) were imprecise, and Amsalem was tackled then by Pinney Balili in the box (16), without any reaction from the referee Amit Klein. Shavit Elimelekh greatly blocked Istvan Pisont (24), and Nir Sevilla shot a rebound volley near the post. A flying header of Alon Harazi from Yossi Abuksis' free kick unbelievably missed the frame, and then (37) Nir Reichman shot a surprising ball from 30 meters, only to see Elimelekh in his best. And still, Beitar managed to score before the break, after 43 minutes of play - a ball lost by Hapoel in the midcircle resulted in a quick attack of Abuksis - Pisont - Reichman - Sevilla, with the latter enjoying the incredible pass and shooting mightily and diagonally at half a height from 16 meters to the right post of a stunned Elimelekh and in. What a shot to open the score!
Still in the 1st half, Hamar performed a miraculous penetration into the box and centered it to Sevilla; Sevilla rolled it shortly to Nir Reichman as a sign of gratitude for the goal pass, but Reichman shot it from 5 meters to the bar and out, "The Miss Of The Season" by now. And still, 9 minutes in the 2nd half, Beitar scored the 2nd goal it deserved so much; Abuksis passed Shimon Gershon and sent Pisont with an extraordinary pass into the box, and the Hungarian midfielder of Beitar rushed inside with his famous sprint and justified his place at the top of "The Best Scorers List" by producing a mighty left-footer from 11 meters under the bar without stopping, 2:0.
Amsalem made a great pass from the left wing (62), which Nir Sevilla missed by centimeters, and then a ridiculous somewhat reducer of Hapoel came - Yaacov Hillel made a pass into the box, the hosts' defence stood stunned, the surprised Asi Domb just touched the ball to push it home from 5 meters near Itzhak Korenfein, but the keeper of Beitar had to change the direction of his advancement, and so slipped and missed the ball, 2:1 (68). The last 20 minutes were of Hapoel - Offer Shitrit found Korenfein well-prepared this time (68), and Korenfein corrected his mistake one more time with a fine double save from the shots of Georgi Daraselia and Eyal Ben-Ami (73). Still, it was Beitar with a final opportunity - Pisont (87) rushed into the box, leaving 3 Red defenders behind, but his curved shot to the far corner found Elimelekh in "The Save Of The Week" with a fine blocking. A wonderful end to a wonderful game, in which Beitar looked better than Hapoel, and probably (though it's early to state this) better shaped for winning another Championship.
Being just behind the leader before this weekend, Maccabee Haifa went to Ashdod and played awfully there, the fact fully exploited by the National League newcomers. After a great save of Davidovich from the shot of Yossi Madar (19), the 1st goal was scored - a corner was performed, Davidovich managed to parry the ball of Turgeman, but no one of the defence helped him, and Igal Zrihen was there to push the ball in (22). 6 minutes after the break, it was Turgeman with a great goal - he got a ball from Assif Ben-Ishai, overran Arik Benado at the left wing, saw Nir Davidovich out of his net (what the hell for?..) and sent a clever diagonal ball from 30 meters over him into the net, 2:0. A red card shown to Haifa's forward Hezi Shirazi after a brutal foul over Yossi Madar (55) somehow made the game two-sided, strange as it may sound. Turgeman's shot (63) was stopped by the improving Davidovich, and another shot of his after Alon Hazan's preparation rolled near the post. A mighty shot of Madar (67) had its speed reduced with Davidovich's interference, and Arik Benado headed the ball away acrobatically from the goal-line; on the other hand, it was a fine save of the bored Akakiy Devadze from Jiri Weora's shot. 15 minutes from time, Maccabee Haifa finally made something beautiful in the game, but it stayed only a reducer - Adoram Keisi shot a mighty left-footer from 18 meters past the left hand of acrobatically flying Devadze to his high left corner, 2:1. Maccabee Haifa certainly has a room for improvement, and hopefully, it will improve in the next game, as its two bright foreigners Sergei Kandaurov (injured) and Ibrahim Doro (red-carded) will return to the pitch. As for Ashdod, it's not exactly a surprise for me, though it might be a surprise for the rest of the Israeli Soccer critics - its managers made all the right steps to build the team after a promotion to the National League, and I will be surprised if the team finishes the season below the 8th place.
It wasn't the day of Haifa, as Hapoel Haifa lost 2 points at home to Maccabee Herzliya. After 32 minutes of play, Santos Sierra rolled a great ball to the attacking defender Ilan Bakhar, and the latter rolled it cleverly from 16 meters past Dudu Awwat. Haifa's equalizer came after another 25 minutes, when Najouan Grayib's penetration into the box was stopped by Yaacov Koretski, and Reuven Attar shot a penalty kick flatly to his right corner, out of the diving Gilardi's reach. Haifa was attacking frantically later on, but saw Gilardi in his best; this is the 2nd consecutive week Maccabee Herzliya takes the points from the top teams, but this still isn't enough for escape from the bottom.
The team that finally escaped the very bottom is Maccabee Tel-Aviv, with a 2:0 home victory over Hapoel Jerusalem. After just 2 minutes of play, Dedi Ben-Dayan performed a routine free kick and rolled it into the box; nothing seemed to be dangerous in the density of players, but Eli Driks' left foot appeared from nowhere to send a well-measured volley from 11 meters under the right crossbar of Strauber, "The Goal Of The Week". And after another 4 minutes, a combination of Offer Levi - Elek Nyilas - Offer Levi - Domagio Kosic resulted in the latter's diagonal shot from 16 meters, again under Strauber's right crossbar. Elek Nyilas, the new Hungarian International forward of Maccabee Tel-Aviv, was the best on the pitch, and his curved shot close to the end found Strauber's bar; beforehand, Strauber's mistake in sending the ball away by foot resulted in Kosic's shot into an empty net from 25 meters, saved from the goal-line by Moti Ohayon. Anyway, Maccabee looked better than Hapoel, but this skill will not be sufficient for any of the teams the next week against their mighty opponents.
A short International remark - a day before Elek Nyilas landed in Israel, the Hungarian National coach announced Nyilas wouldn't play for the National team in its 2nd leg play-off game against Jugoslavia, as he would play in Israel. The official reason is that the Israeli league is hard to follow after, but is there an unofficial reason of antisemitism present as well? And more - I seriously doubt that in their current form, Gabor Marton, Istvan Salloi (before breaking his arm) and especially Istvan Pisont, if taken to the Hungarian National team, would make it more ridiculous than the sad joke which lost 1:7 at home to Jugoslavia.
Apropos, Gabor Marton - his goal pass found the head of Eran Prisant to open the score in Beer-Sheva 2 minutes before the break, 1:0 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. The game passed in the shadow of a terrible mistake of Yaacov Ben-Hemo - after just 3 minutes of play, Yossi Benayoun tried to bounce the ball over Shai Hess who parried it by hand outside of his box; instead of sending Hess off, Ben-Hemo whistled and awarded a foul ... against Beer-Sheva! After the break, Hess stopped two dangerous balls of Chaba Horvath (76) and Yossi Benayoun (77), and Amir Avigdor headed the ball to Hess' right post (89). However, the team to score again was Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, after another referee's mistake. A throw-in was awarded to the guests instead of awarding it to the hosts; finally, the ball came to Avi Crause who centered it to Yaniv Offri. Offri, substituting the 1st scorer Eran Prisant, seized the last minute opportunity in both hands and rolled the ball past the helpless Shaul Smadja. Never before did Beer-Sheva look worse than now, if my memory serves me right.
Another huge referee's mistake happened in Rishon le-Zion - after 58 minutes of play there, Boaz Meir of the guests entered the box and was knocked down there, but the referee Nir Baabour saw it as pretence and sent Meir off with a 2nd yellow card! After that moment, Ashkelon was broken, and just the keeper Asi Rakhamim was in his best to preserve the minimal loss - his saves from the shots of Evgeniy Kashentsev, Zlatko Zupatic and Dani Albert saw to this. The same miserable Boaz Meir was the reason for Ashkelon's loss, 4 minutes before the break - Nissan Capeta seized the top of "The Best Goal Pass Makers List" with his 5th goal pass this season, this time to Avi Pitusi, and the latter's weak ball hit Meir's leg and misled Asi Rakhamim. With its 3rd consecutive loss after the vacations, Ashkelon should start thinking hard about staying in the League; as for Rishon, it's back on track of being a good midtable team.
Registering victories in 3 consecutive games beforehand, Hapoel Kefar-Saba was expecting a pleasant home game vs Hapoel Beit-Shean; however, at the end it was lucky to finish it with 1 point. A new Croatian midfielder of Beit-Shean, Zadko Adic, shot a great ball from 10 meters to the right corner of Scheinsinger, 1:0 to the guests (26). Kefar-Saba equalized 18 minutes from time - Yaniv Avvargeal was knocked down by Almog Hazan inside Beit-Shean's box and converted the penalty himself, 1:1.
As for the game between Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, it is redundant to say anything about it. I will only say that those games make the people change the channel immediately, if shown on TV.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) hosts Hapoel Haifa (3), NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Hapoel Jerusalem (6) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (2) in the first derby for years to arouse a huge interest, NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Maccabee Haifa (4) hosts Maccabee Tel-Aviv (12), and the tradition will be preserved - the game is NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Also, it's an important bottom game between Hapoel Ashkelon (14) and Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16).
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Nir Sevilla (43), Istvan Pisont (54).
Guests: Asi Domb (68).
THE BEST: Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
Hapoel Haifa - Maccabee Herzliya 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Reuven Attar (57 pen).
Guests: Ilan Bakhar (32).
THE BEST: Oleg Naduda, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
MACCABEE IRONI ASHDOD - Maccabee Haifa 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Igal Zrihen (22), Amir Turgeman (51).
Guests: Adoram Keisi (75).
RED: Hezi Shirazi, forward, Maccabee Haifa, 55.
THE BEST: Amir Turgeman, forward, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Eran Prizant (44), Yaniv Offri (90).
THE BEST: Andrei Christophick, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Jerusalem 2:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Eli Driks (2), Domagio Kosic (6).
Guests: -.
RED: Amir Shelakh, defender, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 71.
THE BEST: Elek Nyilas, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Hapoel Ashkelon 1:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Avi Pitusi (41).
Guests: -.
RED: Boaz Meir, midfielder, Hapoel Ashkelon, 58.
THE BEST: Dani Albert, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - Hapoel Beit-Shean 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Yaniv Avvargeal (72 pen).
Guests: Zadko Adic (26).
THE BEST: Eitan Taib, defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: NO ONE!!!
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Shai Hess
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Shmuel Levi Gadi Brumer Gabor Marton Dani Albert
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Rishon le-Zion)
Alon Hazan Elek Nyilas Istvan Pisont Yossi Abuksis
(Mcb. Ironi Ashdod) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Nir Sevilla Amir Turgeman
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Mcb. Ironi Ashdod)
Beitar Jerusalem - 4.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 2.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Eli Driks.
Also - Amir Turgeman, Adoram Keisi, Nir Sevilla, Istvan Pisont.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Shavit Elimelekh, from Istvan Pisont, 87.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 10 6 3 1 10- 4 21
2 (4) Beitar Jerusalem 10 5 5 0 27-13 20
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 10 5 4 1 16- 9 19
4 (2) Maccabee Haifa 10 5 3 2 19-11 18
5 (6) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 10 5 3 2 18-13 18
6 (5) Hapoel Jerusalem 10 4 4 2 13-12 16
7 (7) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 10 4 4 2 14-14 16
8 (9) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 10 3 4 3 13-14 13
9 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 10 4 1 5 14-16 13
10 (10) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 10 2 5 3 8-11 11
11 (11) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 10 2 4 4 10-12 10
12 (14) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 10 2 3 5 12-14 9
13 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 10 2 2 6 9-16 8
14 (12) Hapoel Ashkelon 10 2 2 6 11-20 8
15 (15) Maccabee Herzliya 10 1 4 5 11-15 7
16 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 10 1 3 6 13-24 6
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0) 1
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Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 6(0) 1
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 6(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 6(4)
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 5(0) 1
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(1)
**********************************************************
Nissim Avitan (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 4(0)
Georgi Daraselia (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 4(0)
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 4(0)
Moris Uzan (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 4(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 4(1)
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 4(3) 1(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 week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (6) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (12) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (11) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (7) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (15) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (8) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (14) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16) |
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