ISRAELI NATIONAL LEAGUE (LEAGUE A), WEEK 16, 24/01/1998.
22 goals, 1 penalty scored and 6 red cards (!) - this was the story of a quite interesting
weekend, which marked our return to Israeli Soccer after a long recess and left a status-quo
both at the top and at the bottom. Lots of new players have been introduced, some for bad and
several for good. However, the main story were the own goals - 3 of those were scored, one a
decisive one in a critical minute. The two others set a situation unknown before in Israel
and hardly known in the world - two own goals were scored there, one by the defender of each
team, and in both cases those unfortunate defenders managed to fix their mistakes by a goal
scored into the right net!
A concert of Soccer was registered in Ashdod, where Beitar Jerusalem devastated the local
Maccabee Ironi by 4 goals to nil; Istvan Salloi celebrated his return after a long injury
with 3 goals and a brilliant game, becoming our "Player Of The Week". Hapoel Tel-Aviv played
another uninspired game to defeat Maccabee Herzliya with a minimal 1:0 at home, but they are
still the stubborn runners-up; remember the name Sebastian Simerotic - this Slovenian
forward is going to be the hit of the League. Hapoel Haifa disappointed with a nil draw away
vs Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and therefore lost the 3rd place to Maccabee Haifa by the number of
goals scored; as for the Greens, they had an extra man and a brilliant goal in their active,
but still needed a huge luck of Walid Badir's own goal to defeat Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home
in the dying seconds, 2:1. Hapoel Beit-Shean registered a superb performance at home, vs
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 3:1, and showed us its threatening line of foreigners, some new and
some already well-known. The rest of the games finished equally - such was the case of
Hapoel Kefar-Saba vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home, and of Bnei-Yehuda vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva at
home, both 1:1. The perfect game was presented to us in Jerusalem, where the local Hapoel
tied Hapoel Ashkelon, 3:3.
A pressure of Beitar was remarkable from the very first minutes, and after 8 minutes Istvan
Pisont sent a threatening curved ball to the right crossbar of Akakiy Devadze from 18 meters,
sort of Daniel Amokachie's effort against the Greeks in WC'94; had it gone slightly lower, it
would've been a serious contender for "The Goal Of The Season". However, yesterday Beitar had
another scoring foreigner, Istvan Salloi, making a bright return after a long absence - his
great shot from 16 meters at half a height left Devadze stunned (25), and his impeccable
placement enabled him to use a miserable deflection from Gal Fibakh after a corner kick and
to close the 1st half with another goal. Ashdod tried to attack itself, but saw Itzhak
Korenfein, our "Keeper Of The Week", in his best several times - and 36 minutes in the game,
it was a real luck for the defending Champions, as Korenfein, Tretyak, the bar and another
deflection saved their net. Another goal of Salloi came 26 minutes in the 2nd half - Yossi
Abuksis' precise pass found a head of Salloi, diving to send the ball in an unbelievable
trajectory into the far corner of Devadze. Nir Sevilla's accords were the last ones - coming
as a substitute for Holtzman after 63 minutes of play, he scored (74) and hit 2 posts; Ashdod
could answer with one post of its own, but it wasn't enough even to reduce the score. Even
so, Ashdod can't judge this game objectively, as Beitar was definitely out of its League; as
for Beitar, I see nothing to stop them in their rush to all the titles.
Another dull and nearly scoreless game of Hapoel Tel-Aviv still brought the Reds an ordinary
victory over Maccabee Herzliya, 1:0 at home - this time, 5 minutes from the break, it was a
header of Shimon Gershon after Mario Masterovic's free kick to beat Shuli Gilardi. However,
Hapoel Tel-Aviv presented us its new brilliant Slovenian forward, Sebastian Simerotic - his
preparations for Georgi Daraselia (13) and Offer Shitrit (29) were mercilessly wasted (a good
word for Gilardi for the last one), and only a great skill of Gilardi managed to stop his
fabulous penetration (55); besides, it was a mistake of the referee Dani Koren who didn't
give Hapoel a penalty kick (80) after a foul on Shalom Tikwa. On the other hand, Herzliya
presented a good game, but failed to create any real goal opportunities - only the misses of
Ilan Bakhar (60) and Moris Uzan (a new buy from Hapoel Beit-Shean, 73) reminded slightly of
its attack.
Maccabee Haifa, losing Sergei Kandaurov to Benfica Lisbon and buying Itzhak Zohar and the
Russian star Vladimir Niederhaus, seemed to lose confidence in its victory, when a fast goal
of a fresh substitute Idan Shum equalized the score for Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (77), 1:1;
however, a desperate dive of Walid Badir, 2 minutes from time, turned out to be quite a
miserable one - his deflection went straight to the right corner, out of the desperately
diving Shai Hess' reach. Before that, it was a 2nd yellow card shown to Moti Kakun (39), a
great shot of Armen Shakhagladian parried in a great dive of Davidovich (27, "The Save Of The
Week"), and most of all, the opener. Itzhak Zohar, producing nothing positive throughout the
whole game, still made one bright sparkle to deserve the title of "The Man Of The Game" -
when Alon Mizrahi was knocked down after 52 minutes of play, Zohar took a free kick from 30
meters diagonally, and made just 2 steps to send a killer to Shai Hess' near corner, "The
Goal Of The Week".
Hapoel Haifa, buying such the talented players as Ronen Harazi and the Croatian midfielder
Goran Milenko, disappointed very much in Petakh-Tikwa, making only a nil draw vs the local
Maccabee. Nothing can be mentioned about this game, except the save of Golan Malul from Ronen
Harazi's shot and the two red cards. Giovanni Rosso, Haifa's Croatian midfielder, was sent
off under the strangest circumstances - he was brutally fouled by Petakh-Tikwa's defender,
the referee Haim Lipkovich marked to continue playing, Rosso objected loudly and cursed, and
the referee had no single moment of hesitation to leave Haifa in 10 men (33). In 6 minutes, a
brutal foul of Noam Keisi on Oren Zeituni deserved no reaction from Lipkovich; just after the
end of Haifa's attack, Lipkovich called Keisi and showed him a 2nd yellow card. Nothing new
happens in Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, but Haifa should recover, if it wants to fight for the
Championship.
Looking at the game between Hapoel Beit-Shean and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Hapoel Haifa perhaps
regretted letting its forward Sergen Culakovic go - his header after Avi Danan's pass put
the last nail into Rishon's coffin, 3:1; Nir Shikwa managed to reduce the score with a shot,
beautiful in itself, just during the last minute of play. Eitan Taib opened the score, 9
minutes before the break, from a penalty spot, after Tomer Eliyahu's foul on Zadko Adic, and
Gala Pancheladze made a goal pass to an undisturbed rush of Shimon Danan in one-to-one with
Sagi Strauss (47); Primoz Gliha was good, either. The threatening line of Beit-Shean's
foreigners may make this team catch a good place in the middle of the season, far from the
bottom danger. As for Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, it looked disappointing, and only Sagi Strauss
showed his regular skill; the team should improve, and quickly.
A highly enjoyable game took place in Jerusalem, where the local Hapoel hosted Hapoel
Ashkelon. The guests opened the score from a brilliant free kick of its Georgian hero Georgi
Anchavadze (26), and the hosts equalized early after the break, when a great pass of Laszlo
Czeh left Assaf Tubi alone in front of Asi Rakhamim. And here the ping-pong of own goals and
retaliations started. A cool Maradona-style solo penetration of Anchavadze, who passed 5
players (!), finally produced a cross, and Eyal Avrahami deflected the ball into his own net
(54); after just one minute, the hosts performed a corner kick, and Avrahami himself volleyed
the ball home, 2:2. 19 minutes in the 2nd half, Jerusalem obtained its first advantage, as
Dudu Dahan deflected the wide ball of Assaf Tubi to his own net and failed to clear it away
before the line. And Jerusalem was attacking from then on, but failed to score the winners;
on the other side, a great double pass between Anchavadze (who else?) and Dudu Dahan gave the
latter an opportunity (87) to fix his own mistake, which he did. An interesting game of
breathtaking developments brought a justified draw, 3:3.
Bakhva Ambidze was the best on the pitch in Hapoel Kefar-Saba's home game vs Maccabee
Tel-Aviv, and even scored an opener (22) from Washington de Santos' goal pass; however, he
was sent off after 39 minutes of play for a mild foul on Elek Nyilas, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv
took the reign. It wasn't the last mistake of the referee Haim Yaacov - 63 minutes in the
game, a clear foul inside the guests' box over the fresh substitute Niv Tal deserved no
referee's reaction and prevented the hosts from winning; at that moment, the score was 1:1,
after a brilliant header of Eli Driks (57). Driks, in one of his best seasons lastly, scored
by now 10 goals and caught with Alon Mizrahi, but his team has a lot of room for improvement.
And finally, it was the game of outsiders between Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beer-Sheva,
resulting in a 1:1 draw; Ehud Kahila of Beer-Sheva (54) and Yuval Naim of Bnei-Yehuda (77)
were sent off with their 2nd yellow cards. Dudu Heffer (13) opened the score with a free
kick, and the new purchase of Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, Yaniv Offri, equalized after a goal pass of
Sahar Mizrahi, "The Man Of The Game". No definite changes were made in Bnei-Yehuda during the
recess, while Beer-Sheva bought a great number of new foreigners. The Italian midfielder
Marco Di Constanza and the Croatian defender Aris Eliacic impressed for good, while the young
Nigerian forward Christian Okpala was a huge disappointment.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): Beitar Jerusalem (1) hosts Maccabee Tel-Aviv (10), and because of the
tradition, it's the game NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Also to be watched: Hapoel Haifa (4) vs Maccabee
Ironi Ashdod (8), and the important bottom battle between Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16) and Hapoel
Beit-Shean (13).
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:4 (0:2).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Istvan Salloi (25, 45, 71), Nir Sevilla (74).
THE BEST: Istvan Salloi, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Herzliya 1:0 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Shimon Gershon (40).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Sebastian Simerotic, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Haifa 0:0.
-------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Giovanni Rosso, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa, 33.
Noam Keisi, defender, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 39.
THE BEST: Golan Malul, keeper, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 2:1 (0:0).
-------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Itzhak Zohar (52), OG (Walid Badir, 89).
Guests: Idan Shum (77).
RED: Moti Kakun, forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 39.
THE BEST: Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 1:1 (1:0).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Bakhva Ambidze (22).
Guests: Eli Driks (57).
RED: Bakhva Ambidze, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 39.
THE BEST: Michael Zemlinskiy, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Hapoel Ashkelon 3:3 (0:1).
-----------------------------------------------
Hosts: Assaf Tubi (48), Eyal Avrahami (55), OG (Dudu Dahan, 64).
Guests: Georgi Anchavadze (26), OG (Eyal Avrahami, 54), Dudu Dahan (87).
THE BEST: Georgi Anchavadze, midfielder, Hapoel Ashkelon.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 3:1 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Eitan Taib (36 pen), Shimon Danan (47), Sergen Culakovic (64).
Guests: Nir Shikwa (90).
THE BEST: Zadko Adic, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1:1 (0:1).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Yaniv Offri (49).
Guests: Dudu Heffer (13).
RED: Ehud Kahila, defender, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 54.
Yuval Naim, defender, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 77.
THE BEST: Sahar Mizrahi, midfielder, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Itzhak Korenfein
(Beitar Jerusalem)
Shmuel Levi Eitan Taib Alon Harazi Amir Avigdor
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Yossi Abuksis Zadko Adic Georgi Anchavadze Istvan Salloi
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Ashkelon) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Assaf Tubi Sebastian Simerotic
(Hapoel Jerusalem) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Beitar Jerusalem - 5.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - 2.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem,
Hapoel Ashkelon, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Itzhak Zohar.
ALSO - Istvan Salloi (the 1st), Georgi Anchavadze,
Istvan Salloi (the 3rd).
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Nir Davidovich, from Armen Shakhagladian, 27.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 16 10 6 0 40-16 36
2 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 16 10 5 1 16- 6 35
3 (4) Maccabee Haifa 16 9 3 4 29-18 30
4 (3) Hapoel Haifa 16 8 6 2 26-15 30
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 16 8 3 5 24-19 27
6 (7) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 16 6 4 6 20-21 22
7 (8) Hapoel Jerusalem 16 5 7 4 21-22 22
8 (6) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 16 5 7 4 21-23 22
9 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 16 4 6 6 20-20 18
10 (11) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 16 4 5 7 17-20 17
11 (12) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 16 3 8 5 10-14 17
12 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 16 4 5 7 19-25 17
13 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 16 3 5 8 16-25 14
14 (13) Hapoel Ashkelon 16 3 4 9 16-27 13
15 (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 16 2 6 8 13-21 12
16 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 16 1 6 9 16-32 9
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Istvan Salloi, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 10(0) 1
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 10(1)
***********************************************************
Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
***********************************************************
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(1) 3
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(4)
***********************************************************
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(0) 1
Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 7(0)
***********************************************************
Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 6(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 6(1) 1
***********************************************************
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0)
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(0)
Laszlo Czeh (Hapoel Jerusalem) 5(0)
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 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 week):
| Hosts |
Guests |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) |
Maccabee Tel-Aviv (10) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) |
Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (14) |
Maccabee Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Haifa (4) |
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (15) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (9) |
Hapoel Jerusalem (7) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) |
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (11) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16) |
Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) |
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