26 goals, several of them very beautiful; one red card, again for Hapoel Haifa's player; and finally, 3 penalties, 1 scored, 1 missed and 1 undeserved - this was he interesting story of the last weekend. The 4 leaders registered their usual victories, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva slid back under the red line.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv managed to beat Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 1:0 away, through the penalty kick of Offer Shitrit and due to the missed penalty of Sahar Mizrahi. Beitar Jerusalem managed to return to itself in a breathtaking home game vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 4:2. Hapoel Haifa was very convincing vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 4:1; Maccabee Haifa, on the other hand, needed a very dubious penalty awarded by the weak referee Assaf Keinan, and so beat Hapoel Jerusalem at home, 2:1. A draw of 2:2 was registered in Ashdod, where the local Maccabee Ironi levelled the score twice vs the absent-minded Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. Two identical and very important bottom victories were registered in Beit-Shean, where the local Hapoel devastated Maccabee Herzliya, and in Ramat-Gan, where Maccabee Tel-Aviv left no chance to Hapoel Beer-Sheva. And finally, this was a minimal victory of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home over Hapoel Ashkelon to make a gap between those two teams stay of 7 places. Now - let's move to the details.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv started the game in quite a bad way, when Yaacov Hillel kicked Yaniv Offri down inside the leaders' box; however, Shavit Elimelekh stretched well to catch the awful shot produced by Sahar Mizrahi (8), and it became clear this would be Hapoel's day once again. And so it was, with just another 1:0 for the Reds; however, this time the winner came from the penalty kick, when Offer Shitrit beat Rafi Cohen, after Avi Oved's foul on Felix Halfon. In between, those were some saves of Shavit Elimelekh, on one hand, and Rafi Cohen, on the other hand, to leave this goal the winner. Nothing spectacular was shown, but 3 points are still 3 points, aren't they?
The story was totally different in Jerusalem - indeed, Beitar still has to pursue Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but the games of the leaders and the runners-up can't be compared in their beauty and intensity at all. After just 10 minutes of play, Nissan Capeta of the guests advanced and suddenly produced a brilliant shot at half a height, slipping out of the hands of a surprised Korenfein to his right post and in, 1:0 to Rishon le-Zion! A great save of Sagi Strauss from a free kick of Yossi Abuksis (15) and the crossbar after another one (28) left the situation scoreless until nearly the break - a shot of Istvan Pisont from 18 meters saw Strauss in definitely not the best dive of his life, Alon Harazi was on the rebound and shot it mightily into the post, and Istvan Salloi added another digit to the number of his goals (44). 10 minutes in the 2nd half, a brilliant one-touch attack of Abuksis - Amsalem - Salloi gave Beitar a lead; in another 10 minutes, it was a great goal pass of Pisont to Shmuel Levi, and the latter bounced the ball from 20 meters over the advancing Strauss, 3:1. In between, it was Nissan Capeta's corner kick, and Nir Shikwa failed to beat the perfectly placed Korenfein from 3 meters. However, a stupid mistake in Beitar's defence enabled Alon Maya to shoot from a hard angle (82); Korenfein parried the ball, and Nissan Capeta was on the rebound with a volley from 5 meters into an empty net, 3:2. And still, the last word was of Beitar, seconds from time - Yossi Abuksis registered a perfect slalom through the breached wall of the guests' defenders and rolled the ball to Nir Reichman, who had no problems to score the last goal. 4:2, the top fights still go on.
Another team that registers a great and convincing Soccer this season is, no doubt of that, Hapoel Haifa. Indeed, Hapoel Kefar-Saba was yesterday quite a good partner for an interesting game, but Dudu Awwat in Haifa's net registered a superb performance, and Haifa's attacking line made its job as well. Several brilliant saves of Awwat during the first 40 minutes seemed to leave the 1st half scoreless, but 2 minutes before the break, the score was opened into the other net - Miroslav Bicinic bounced a great goal pass into the hosts' box, and Ronen Harazi was there with half-a-scissors kick from 10 meters before the defender and the keeper, what a goal! In the 2nd half, Liron Basis made a goal pass to Offer Talker (49), and then scored one hell of a really strange goal (58) - Dmitriy Ulyanov entered the box and shot, Scheinsinger managed to block the shot, and Michael Zemlinskiy tried to clear it away; however, instead of shooting it away ASAP he tried to dribble near his goal, and Liron Basis sent his diving leg to push the ball in! Oren Zeituni of Hapoel Haifa indeed was sent off with the 2nd yellow card (70), but even this unfortunate event couldn't spoil Haifa's mood and motivation. The only mistake of Awwat came after 74 minutes of play, when he didn't reach the corner of Laszlo Komodi, and Itai Koren headed it home to reduce the score; however, he managed to fix the wrongs later on. 2 minutes from time, Awwat's keeper's shot passed all the defence and reached Offer Talker, and the latter bounced it cleverly over Eran Scheinsinger from 18 meters. 4:1 in the end, and a pleasure to watch the team of Eli Gutman once again.
It can't be said that the Greens of Maccabee Haifa were as enjoyable as their city rivals; however, the team of Giora Spiegel still managed to take all the points. In the 1st half, Maccabee had just 2 wasted opportunities of Alon Mizrahi and Vladimir Niederhaus, and the far-ranger of Hezi Shirazi parried well by the flying Liran Strauber; as for the rivals, Hapoel Jerusalem, they failed to exploit the combined mistake of the keeper Nir Davidovich and the defender Sergei Belianchuk (20). 20 minutes in the 2nd half, a great penetration and a good pass of Alon Mizrahi to Ibrahim Doro were registered; the Bosnian, who returned finally to the opening line-up, rushed into the box and elegantly rolled the ball past Strauber, 1:0. The following 2 goals, one for each side, were ridiculous somehow. In 4 minutes, Salman Amar bounced a very amateurish free kick into the box, the fresh National keeper Nir Davidovich took hold of the ball and then suddenly slipped it down, and the fresh National defender Moti Ohayon, coming up to support the attack, didn't need anything more and pushed the ball home, 1:1. And still, Haifa won the game in another 5 minutes, when Salman Amar and Hezi Shirazi raised into the air, Shirazi fell down, and the referee Assaf Keinan pointed onto the penalty spot - the arguments were hot, Hapoel's coach Yossi Mizrahi was sent off, and his surname-sake Alon Mizrahi bought himself "The Best Of The Game" award, calmly scoring a winner.
In Ashdod, a score was opened after just 10 minutes of play, as Victor Genish tried to clear away the centered pass of Eli Abrabanel, but instead headed it home; his keeper Akakiy Devadze reacted instantly, but failed to reach the ball even in his acrobatic flight, 1:0 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod and the 8th own goal this season. Ashdod managed to react in another 16 minutes, when Igal Zrihen penetrated at the right wing and centered the ball to the head of Tibor Balog, who headed it in. Two headers of Moti Kakun were registered later on (45, 61); the first saw the acrobatic save of an excellent Devadze from the goal-line, while the second went in after Gabor Marton's preparation. But Ashdod still didn't lose hope, and managed to equalize 21 minutes from time, through the best goal of this game. A free kick was awarded, 25 meters from Petakh-Tikwa's net; Tibor Balog bent towards the ball in order to hide it from the wall, and the instant he straightened and stepped away, Yossi Madar shot the curved ball over the wall and precisely under the bar of the flying Shai Hess. Ashdod should've had a good opportunity to win the game, but the referee Alon Yaffet failed to see the clear foul on Amir Turgeman in Petakh-Tikwa's box (89). And so, the game ended 2:2.
Another keeper to show miracles yesterday was the veteran Alexander Uvarov of Maccabee Tel-Aviv - his flying beauty of a save from Marco Di Constanza's 28-meters-ranged shot is my "Save Of The Week", and his flying right hand to deflect the curved ball of Alon Riff over the bar is also to be mentioned. However, Hapoel Beer-Sheva wasn't that threatening, and most of the events happened near the other net. Moshe Glam, "The Player Of The Week", opened the score after 34 minutes of play, after a precise header from the preparation of Offer Levi. During the 2nd half, it already seemed that the game became finally equal, but then it was another goal of Glam to shatter Beer-Sheva's hopes - Elek Nyilas passed a great ball into the box, and there Glam left Shaul Smadja on the ground and rolled the ball in (71). 4 minutes later, the best goal of the game (and one of the week's best goals) was scored, to become also the last one - Glam jumped over the ball, and Alon Offir curved a brilliant free kick from 20 meters to the bar of Smadja and in, 3:0. 4 minutes from time, Glam overplayed Smadja and shot a clever ball, but the diving leg of Ehud Kahila sent the ball against all odds to the right post and outside, another good save which wasn't even registered by a keeper. And so, Maccabee Tel-Aviv got some points to breathe, while Hapoel Beer-Sheva slid again under the red line.
Another important bottom game registered in another 3:0 to the hosts; however, this time the winners were Hapoel Beit-Shean, and the defeated squad of Maccabee Herzliya showed nothing but a total boredom. After just 12 minutes of play, there came the goal pass of Shimon Danan to the header of Sergen Culakovic from 6 meters to open the score; 18 minutes from time, it was Yehuda Amar's shot at half a height from 20 meters to seal the score. In between, 4 minutes before the break, there was scored the best goal of the game - Vassili Ivanov cleared the header of Meir Melika from the goal-line with his hand, and while the ball was cleared away and Beit-Shean's players were protesting before the referee Haim Yaacov, there came a volley shot of Eitan Taib from 22 meters under the bar of Gilardi. Several more chances of Beit-Shean found Gilardi well-prepared, but at the end, Herzliya's keeper stated boldly: "We were the total zeroes and therefore have no right to talk", despite the fact he himself wasn't the worst part of his team.
And finally, another show of Asi Rakhamim of Hapoel Ashkelon didn't save this team from losing to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 0:1 away. As it was said in "Ha'Daka Ha'91", "Hapoel Ashkelon in its present line-up can hardly call itself a team, excluding the keeper Asi Rakhamim and the midfielder Georgi Anchavadze". The only goal was scored just before the break, when a great penetration of Ismail Amar at the right wing resulted in a good flat pass into the box, and Tsakhi Shemariyahu was there to push the ball in and to score a winner. Petakh-Tikwa was also quite dull, but against Hapoel Ashkelon this skill was totally enough to collect all the 3 points.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): The top teams meet the bottom teams, and it hardly seems any rivalry worth mentioning can be developed there; the only decent rival of the top team is Hapoel Kefar-Saba (7), going to Haifa to meet Maccabee (4) there. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) hosts Maccabee Tel-Aviv (10), and there is also a meeting between the two newcomers, Hapoel Ashkelon (16) and Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8).
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Offer Shitrit (35 pen).
THE BEST: Shavit Elimelekh, keeper, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
On the 8th minute Sahar Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) missed a penalty
kick - Shavit Elimelekh saved.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 4:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Istvan Salloi (44, 55), Shmuel Levi (65), Nir Reichman (90).
Guests: Nissan Capeta (10, 82).
THE BEST: David Amsalem, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - HAPOEL HAIFA 1:4 (0:1).
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Hosts: Itai Koren (74).
Guests: Ronen Harazi (43), Offer Talker (49, 88), Liron Basis (58).
RED: Oren Zeituni, defender, Hapoel Haifa, 70.
THE BEST: Offer Talker, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Jerusalem 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Ibrahim Doro (65), Alon Mizrahi (74 pen).
Guests: Moti Ohayon (69).
THE BEST: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 2:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Tibor Balog (26), Yossi Madar (69).
Guests: OG (Victor Genish, 10), Moti Kakun (61).
THE BEST: Tibor Balog, midfielder, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Ashkelon 1:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Tsakhi Shemariyahu (45).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Idan Tal, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Maccabee Herzliya 3:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Sergen Culakovic (12), Eitan Taib (41), Yehuda Amar (72).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Shimon Danan, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 3:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Moshe Glam (34, 71), Alon Offir (75).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Moshe Glam, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Shavit Elimelekh
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Avi Danan Eitan Taib Ran Ben-Shimon David Amsalem
(Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Yehuda Amar Offer Talker Tibor Balog Shimon Danan
(Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Haifa) (Mcb. Ironi Ashdod) (Hapoel Beit-Shean)
Moshe Glam Nissan Capeta
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Hapoel Beit-Shean - 4.
Hapoel Haifa - 2.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod,
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: Alon Offir.
ALSO - Nir Reichman, Moshe Glam (the 1st), Ronen Harazi, Yossi Madar.
MO: Ronen Harazi.
ALSO - Eitan Taib, Offer Talker (the 2nd), Yossi Madar, Alon Offir.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Alexander Uvarov, from Marco Di Constanza, 58.
ALSO - Alexander Uvarov, from Alon Riff, 83.
Akakiy Devadze, from Moti Kakun, 45.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 20 13 5 2 20- 8 44
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 20 11 8 1 47-22 41
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 20 10 8 2 37-19 38
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 20 11 4 5 34-22 37
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 20 9 5 6 29-23 32
6 (7) Hapoel Jerusalem 20 6 8 6 23-25 26
7 (6) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 20 7 5 8 23-27 26
8 (8) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 20 6 8 6 26-32 26
9 (10) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 20 5 9 6 15-19 24
10 (12) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 20 5 7 8 22-23 22
11 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 20 5 7 8 23-27 22
12 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 20 5 5 10 25-34 20
13 (13) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 20 4 7 9 17-23 19
14 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 20 4 7 9 19-28 19
15 (14) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 20 3 7 10 22-37 16
16 (16) Hapoel Ashkelon 20 3 6 11 16-29 15
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Moshe Glam, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 11(0)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 11(1) 2
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 11(1) 1(1)
***********************************************************
Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 10(0) 1
***********************************************************
Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(4) 1
***********************************************************
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0)
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Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 7(0)
Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 7(2) 1(1)
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Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 6(1)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(2)
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Nissan Capeta (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(0) 2
[3: Hap. Haifa] Sergen Culakovic (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 5(0) 1
[4: Beit-Shean] Moris Uzan (Maccabee Herzliya) 5(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0)
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(0)
Laszlo Czeh (Hapoel Jerusalem) 5(0)
Yossi Madar (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 5(1) 1
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 |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (15) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (7) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Maccabee Te-Aviv (19) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (6) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (16) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (11) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (9) |
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