Just 15 goals, 2 red cards and 2 missed penalties - but what a weekend! The weekend of thrillers at the top and some important results at the bottom - it seems Maccabee Herzliya is finally out of the dangerous zone, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva, altogether with Maccabee Tel-Aviv and several other teams, is going down and down. And the game in Jerusalem, despite the only goal scored, belonged to the games for which Soccer is loved all over the world. And although Reuven Attar's debut in the capital team was less than mediocre, the decoration for the show was complete.
So, in Jerusalem Beitar narrowly escaped Maccabee Haifa's clear dominance and scored a decisive goal during the last minutes, 1:0. Hapoel Tel-Aviv needed an injury time and a great shot of Shalom Tikwa to equalize away vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 1:1, and managed to stay at the top; as for Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, it closed the top gap after a hard home victory over Hapoel Ashkelon, 2:0. Hapoel Haifa recovered from a sudden loss of Reuven Attar and performed brilliantly at home vs Hapoel Jerusalem, 3:1; Liron Basis is our "Player Of The Week", with his 2 goals, after 2 brilliant goal passes of Giovanni Rosso. Maccabee Ironi Ashdod achieved just a disappointing nil home draw vs Hapoel Beit-Shean, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv forced a draw on Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv at the National Stadium in Ramat-Gan, just 1:1. Hapoel Kefar-Saba needed a goal of its new young midfielder, Niv Tal, to defeat a dull Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa of Moshe Sinai, 1:0. And finally, two great early strikes of Maccabee Herzliya away brought it a surprising victory over a deteriorating Beer-Sheva, 2:1. And now - to all the details.
Quite a good indication of the game quality, in my opinion, is the question: "If your beloved girlfriend wanted to know something about soccer and to understand why this game is loved so much all over the world, will you recommend this specific game to her?" Quite few of the games in the Israeli National League respond to this demand, and the game of Beitar Jerusalem vs Maccabee Haifa was definitely one of those few. It had everything inside, except the red cards - lots of dangerous moments, awful misses and great keepers' saves, the referee's mistake and the bright refereeing decisions, great speed and rhythm of play... And of course, the precious winner during the last minutes of the game, proving that the game is unpredictable until the very end, and that you need luck sometimes.
2 minutes in the game, Nir Sevilla passed a great ball to Istvan Hamar who shot it past the diving Davidovich and also near the post; Yossi Abuksis made a surprising shot from near the corner flag and saw Davidovich parrying it from under his crossbar (5), and in another 5 minutes, Reuven Attar in his 1st game in Beitar failed to finish Hamar's pass. As you see, the start was indeed of Beitar, but then Haifa seized all the initiative and played a truly inspired game, directed by the brilliant Sergei Kandaurov. Jiri Weora headed the ball to the hands of Korenfein (very good; he is our "Keeper Of The Week") after a pass of Doro (26). Alon Mizrahi failed to pass Korenfein (32) with no foul of the latter (a great decision of Meir Levi, in a very good performance except for one moment); in another 9 minutes, a move of Zhano - Kandaurov - Mizrahi produced a goal disallowed because of Mizrahi's offside (another good decision). Just before the break, Korenfein headed the ball away before Kandaurov outside the box, and then managed to throw himself back and to catch the lob of Mizrahi from 25 meters, a great save.
The 2nd half was one of the best seen this year in Israel. Attar (50), in one of his few positive deeds all over the game, sent a ball to Hamar, but Davidovich blocked the Hungarian player; in another minute, Davidovich stopped a shot of Amsalem. A brilliant pass of Avishai Zhano on the other side found Haim Silbas in a one-to-one situation with Korenfein (62), but the keeper threw himself forward and parried the shot by foot, saving a sure goal. In another 2 minutes, Korenfein could do nothing against the fantastic shot of Kandaurov from 18 meters that shook his left post; then, it was the chance of Weora (67), who managed to miss in front of Korenfein from 10 meters. "And I will struck upon thee with great vengeance" - this citation from the Bible and the "Pulp Fiction" movie was most certainly recalled by Nir Sevilla, as he was booked by a furious Meir Levi after a clear dive in Haifa's box (71). But the most controversial and wonderful moment was registered after 63 minutes of play - Yossi Abuksis raised a free kick into the box, and Alon Harazi jumped high and threw the ball by hand (!) to the net from 8 meters, just like in handball! Meir Levi didn't see it and so abstained from giving Harazi the 2nd yellow card (2 very harsh refereeing mistakes), but Nir Davidovich dived brilliantly to his right, as if attracted magnetically towards the ball, and fisted it to a corner with both fists. "The Save Of The Week", which will undoubtedly compete for "The Save Of The Season".
However, in another 21 minutes even Davidovich could do nothing - he got out and fisted the ball away before Nir Sevilla, but no defender helped him to clear the ball away (the only failed offside trap of Haifa during the game), and Jean Talesnikov returned the ball back to Haifa's box. Nir Sevilla rolled the ball flatly to Istvan Hamar to the left wing, and Hamar, not missing for a change, turned around and sent the ball from 12 meters flatly between Davidovich and his close post. 1:0. Just before the final whistle, Haifa had a brilliant chance to equalize - Kandaurov shot a free kick, a confusion in Beitar's box was created, and finally Sergei Belianchuk sent it high from 5 meters, what a miss! Anyway, Haifa can see itself extremely disappointed with the result and the low usage of opportunities, but not with the way it played; as for Beitar, this luck usually goes with the teams in their Championship seasons. Let's wait and see, and let's hope that games like that one are played in our League again and again.
However, not only Beitar is lucky this season - Hapoel Tel-Aviv managed to preserve the lead just with the final whistle, when Shalom Tikwa got a surprising deflecting ball and shot it wholeheartedly under Sagi Strauss' bar, 1:1 in Rishon le-Zion! After several of Tel-Aviv's attacks during the 1st half (and a goal of Offer Shitrit disallowed after his foul on Tomer Eliyahu), Rishon hit first - Nissan Capeta rolled his 6th goal pass this season to Sharon Martsiano, and the latter shot it flatly past the stretching Shavit Elimelekh, 1:0. In the 2nd half, Shalom Tikwa substituted Kefir Udi and was the best in the guests' squad - his shot (51) was saved by Dani Albert from the hosts' goal-line, and his 2 goal passes to Offer Shitrit (60) and Yaacov Hillel (68) were both continued well, saved by the defender Meir Azran also from the goal-line. Nir Shikwa missed the frame on a counterattack (81), and 5 minutes after the red card shown to Moshe Sebeg after a brutal foul on Shalom Tikwa, Tikwa also equalized. A very cruel destiny of Rishon le-Zion, and another 2 weeks of Hapoel Tel-Aviv at the very top.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa managed to win in Ashkelon, but it was hard. 16 minutes in the 2nd half, it was "The Most Strange Goal Of The Season" to bring the favourites a lead - a corner kick was performed and cleared away towards the corner flag, and Uzi Ohayon tried to hit the ball away; however, it went high in the air and finally landed in the far corner of Asi Rakhamim! 1:0. In between, Moti Kakun failed to beat Asi Rakhamim from a penalty spot (37), but seconds from the final whistle, he fixed his mistake - getting a ball from Shai Hess, he threw it over the defender, entered the box, misled the following defender once again, passed another one and curved the ball finally from 13 meters into the left corner of Asi Rakhamim, a great effort. 24 points of Petakh-Tikwa from the 30 possible in the last 10 games speak loudly for themselves, and this team is definitely another competitor for the Championship struggles.
2 minutes in the game in Kiryat-Eliezer, a brilliantly performed free kick of multiple moves found Giovanni Rosso with a pass into the box, and Liron Basis rolled the ball into the net out of the confusion, a quick 1:0 to Hapoel Haifa over Hapoel Jerusalem. 2 minutes from the break, Jerusalem managed to equalize after a corner kick of Dudi Stolper and a header of Vickey Bukovza, but that was it. Haifa entered the 2nd half with more energy and skill, and finally, those resulted in two justified goals. First, it was Rosso's penetration at the right wing; he centered the ball, and Liron Basis came with a flying header to put it in the right corner of Liran Strauber, 2:1 (76). And 4 minutes from time, Strauber managed to fist the ball from Sharon Avitan's head, but Miroslav Bicinic was there with a charming lob from 22 meters to an empty net, my "Goal Of The Week". And the next game is nothing else but Haifa's derby...
Strange but true, a great advancement of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod was stopped at home by Hapoel Beit-Shean - the 2 teams parted with quite a dull nil draw. The two persons most responsible for this were the keepers, Akakiy Devadze of Ashdod ("The Man Of The Game") and Meir Cohen of Beit-Shean - their saves from the shots of Heiman Halaila (Devadze, 68) and of Yossi Madar (Cohen, 39) were just brilliant, and Devadze made several more saves to keep his net clean. After a draw, Ashdod failed to come even closer to the top, and Beit-Shean stayed still extremely close to the bottom.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv was much-much better at home than Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, but Rafi Cohen in Bnei-Yehuda's net and the incredible misses of Rodrigo Goldberg left the score intact. It stayed that way until the 43rd minute - then, Stav Elimelekh shot a volley to the left post of Uvarov from 25 meters, and Cobi Refua was on the rebound to put it in, a really surprising 1:0 to Bnei-Yehuda despite all the events on the pitch. 11 minutes in the 2nd half, Rafi Cohen coolly stopped the penalty kick earned by Offer Levi and wasted by Elek Nyilas, and then 3 goals of Maccabee (!) were disallowed because of the offsides (Offer Levi, Elek Nyilas and Rodrigo Goldberg). Finally, 4 minutes from time, Offer Levi centered the ball from the right wing, Goldberg missed it as usual, but Eli Driks was there in the only positive deed of his in this game, 1:1. The faster both teams forget about this game, the better for them; Bnei-Yehuda had another opportunity just before the end, but Alexander Uvarov managed to block Timur Tugashi. Elek Nyilas said after the game: "I was the penalty taker of Ferencvaros and of the Hungarian National team; I scored vs Ajax and Grasshoppers, and here I failed. Impossible!" This way or another, a good save of Rafi Cohen - his save from a penalty kick of Gianfranco Zola 4 years ago already entered the golden pages of the Israeli Soccer history.
Tsakhi Shemariyahu's goal from Roman Filipchuk's pass went unnoticed (!) in Kefar-Saba after 22 minutes of play - the flat shot of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa's player has passed the goal-line before being cleared away by Tamir Ben-Haim, but the referee Nir Baabour marked to continue playing. When will those mistakes end? Finally, the game was far from being bright, and Kefar-Saba scored an eventual winner - Yaniv Avvargeal rolled the ball into the box, and the new hosts' forward Niv Tal shot it wholeheartedly under the bar of Golan Malul. 1:0, and the team of Moshe Sinai is also going down and down, while the team of Avi Cohen goes forward.
And finally, it was the game of Hapoel Beer-Sheva (with its new owner Eli Zino near the coach Jackie Dekel) at home, vs Maccabee Herzliya. 13 minutes in the game, Vassili Ivanov got a ball from Ilan Bakhar, misled his defender and shot a sharp ball from 16 meters to the opposite corner of Shaul Smadja, 1:0; in another 6 minutes, Santos Sierra overran Sharon Bukhnik, passed Smadja and rolled the ball into an empty net, 2:0 to Herzliya! Beer-Sheva wanted much to equalize, but only the substitute Tomer Vaaknin managed to score early in the 2nd half, after a great solo penetration of Yair Simhon. Unfortunately for the hosts, the defender Ilan Vaaknin was sent off shortly after it, and 5 minutes from time, Amir Avigdor failed to head the ball in from 5 meters. Congratulations to the team of Shiya Feigenbaum that managed to register its 2nd consecutive victory and to go further from the dangerous zone; as for Beer-Sheva, a Bulgarian coach and 3 of the Bulgarian players are on their way to Negev, but will it help? Well, the time will show us this...
NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight): Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) hosts Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16), and never before were those teams separated by the entire table. Bnei-Yehuda (12) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (2), and the history promises a great game; keep in mind also that Bnei-Yehuda is considered a very uncomfortable team for Beitar. Maccabee Haifa (4) hosts Hapoel Haifa (5), the derby NOT TO BE MISSED!!! And there is also a very important bottom struggle, when Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) hosts Maccabee Tel-Aviv (14).
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Sharon Martsiano (42).
Guests: Shalom Tikwa (90).
RED: Moshe Sebeg, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 86.
THE BEST: Meir Azran, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Maccabee Haifa 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Istvan Hamar (84).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Sergei Kandaurov, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Ashkelon 2:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: OG (Uzi Ohayon, 61), Moti Kakun (90).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Andrei Christophick, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
On the 37th minute Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty kick -
Asi Rakhamim saved.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Jerusalem 3:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Liron Basis (2, 76), Miroslav Bicinic (86).
Guests: Vickey Bukovza (43).
THE BEST: Liron Basis, forward, Hapoel Haifa.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - Hapoel Beit-Shean 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Akakiy Devadze, keeper, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Niv Tal (69).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Niv Tal, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - MACCABEE HERZLIYA 1:2 (0:2).
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Hosts: Tomer Vaaknin (47).
Guests: Vassili Ivanov (13), Santos Sierra (19).
RED: Ilan Vaaknin, defender, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 54.
THE BEST: Oleg Naduda, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Eli Driks (86).
Guests: Cobi Refua (43).
THE BEST: Rafi Cohen, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
On the 56th minute Elek Nyilas (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) missed a penalty kick -
Rafi Cohen saved.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Itzhak Korenfein
(Beitar Jerusalem)
Beni Kozoshvili Meir Azran Nir Yonai Dani Albert
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (H. Rishon le-Zion) (H. Kefar-Saba) (H. Rishon le-Zion)
Giovanni Rosso Sergei Kandaurov Oleg Naduda Andrei Christophick
(Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Haifa) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Liron Basis Shalom Tikwa
(Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 2.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Haifa,
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Maccabee Herzliya - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Miroslav Bicinic.
Also - Moti Kakun, Liron Basis (the 1st).
THE BEST SAVE:
91: Dani Albert (!), from Shalom Tikwa, 51.
MO: Nir Davidovich, from Alon Harazi, 64.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 12 7 4 1 13- 6 25
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 12 6 6 0 29-14 24
3 (4) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 12 7 3 2 21-13 24
4 (5) Hapoel Haifa 12 6 4 2 20-12 22
5 (3) Maccabee Haifa 12 6 3 3 21-12 21
6 (6) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 12 5 5 2 18-15 20
7 (7) Hapoel Jerusalem 12 4 5 3 15-16 17
8 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 12 5 1 6 15-17 16
9 (9) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 12 3 5 4 15-18 14
10 (12) Maccabee Herzliya 12 3 4 5 16-17 13
11 (10) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 12 2 6 4 9-13 12
12 (13) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 12 2 5 5 12-17 11
13 (11) Hapoel Ashkelon 12 3 2 7 13-22 11
14 (14) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 12 2 4 6 13-17 10
15 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 12 2 4 6 10-17 10
16 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 12 1 3 8 14-28 6
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Liron Basis, forward, Hapoel Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0)
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Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 7(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 7(4) 1
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 6(0) 1
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 6(0)
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 5(0) 2
Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 5(0)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(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 |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (12) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (10) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (3) |
| Maccabee Haifa (5) | Hapoel Haifa (4) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (11) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (6) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (7) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (9) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (13) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (8) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (14) |
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