18 goals, no penalties, 1 own goal and 1 red card - this was the story of the last weekend, full of extremely important results. Pay attention to the following facts - Hapoel Ashkelon is the most possible relegating squad, and Beitar Jerusalem are the most possible Champions; Hapoel Haifa presents one of the best performances ever seen this season in Israel and is still very disappointed as the victory comes late; half of the League is suddenly threatened with the relegation danger, while Hapoel Rishon le-Zion catches the 6th place; 5 people score for the first time this season, and 4 goals are scored from the free kicks... And of course, one surname was the most important for the top developments, carried by two different persons who nevertheless helped immensely to the same team - Harazi, Alon and Ronen.
And so, Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Jerusalem in the home derby, 2:1, and enjoyed a magnificent performance by Ronen Harazi and his team-mates, as Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 2:0 at home. Maccabee Haifa lost all of a sudden to Maccabee Tel-Aviv away, 1:2, and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa finally found the points, 1:0 in Kefar-Saba through the goal of the young Michael Zandberg. A very beautiful goal of Alon Maya made Hapoel Rishon le-Zion jump to the 6th place (!), 1:0 at home over Maccabee Herzliya. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa's defender Morad Magamedov headed the ball into the vulnerable net of Meir Cohen and won the game vs Hapoel Beit-Shean, 1:0. And the most important bottom results were the victories of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (2:1 away, over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod which is paying much more attention to the upcoming Cup semifinals) and of Hapoel Beer-Sheva (3:1 at home, over the hopeless Hapoel Ashkelon; and again, those were the experienced Marco Di Constanza and the young Yossi Benayoun who made the difference). And now - to the details.
Coming to the derby as the leaders after a long absence from the top, Beitar Jerusalem showed from the very beginning who was the boss; however, Hapoel Jerusalem didn't intend to give up without a decent fight, and so the game was quite interesting. Hapoel's keeper Liran Strauber was working some extra-hours to preserve his net, but 27 minutes from the start, even he couldn't do anything - Istvan Pisont got the ball from Yossi Abuksis in a dubious offside position, the referee Haim Lipkovich marked to go on playing, and Pisont ran towards the net and left the ball with an utter generosity to Istvan Hamar, who had no problems to score. The header (44) of Alon Harazi, "The Man Of The Game", after a corner kick performed by the same Pisont, was about to make everything sure; however, a reducer of Laszlo Czeh in the stoppage time of the 1st half made Beitar sweat during the 2nd half win the game. Pisont registered a terrible miss in front of Liran Strauber (72), and on the other side, Chaba Horvath failed to find the frame from 18 meters (89). Finally, it was the justified result and the justified division of points. Hapoel rolled down to the 10th place and is in quite a dangerous position which came on the team of Yossi Mizrahi as a thunder in a sunny day; Beitar is at the same place, but without the tailing zero, and now it has also the extra-points and not only the goal difference. Indeed, the Championship story seems to be over.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv didn't know about Beitar's result (the games took place simultaneously), but no matter Jerusalem, it had to register a victory in order to stay tuned to the Champions' wave. Unfortunately for the team of Eli Cohen, it lost its 2nd consecutive game without even scoring a goal; unfortunately for the very attractive team of Eli Gutman, it seems still to stay without Europe the next year, as this victory comes too late for the 2nd place fight. The runners-up lacked their 2 key players, the yellow-carded midfielder Shalom Tikwa and the red-carded goalkeeper Shavit Elimelekh; the top team couldn't combine a good game, and the 2nd keeper Cobi Shallo, despite his experience in the Israeli young National team, lacked the confidence and could be blamed for the goals he had conceded. And as for the hosts, they were just incredible - starting with the reliable Dudu Awwat in their net (as Avi Perets's broken his finger), going on with the deadly penetrating wingers Offer Talker and Najouan Grayib, passing through the incredible Giovanni Rosso and the effective Miroslav Bicinic, and ending with the Executive Officer Ronen Harazi in his best game this season. They can argue in Salamanca now whether the parting from Harazi harmed the bottom Spanish team or not; one thing is sure, though - Hapoel Haifa gained a wonderful forward who didn't have to prove anything in Israel, he had just to play. And God, he knows how to play!
Cobi Shallo was mistaken for the first time after just several minutes of play, and he was extremely lucky when the referee Meir Levi overlooked his foul on Ronen Harazi inside the box. However, 32 minutes from the start, Haifa expressed its clear superiority on the scoreboard as well - Najouan Grayib's bounce was cleared away to Miroslav Bicinic, the Croatian midfielder immediately bounced it back into the box, Ronen Harazi rushed there to stop the ball on the chest and released a magnificent volley under the bar, pressed in vain by Asi Domb and the hesitant Shallo, 1:0! Hapoel Tel-Aviv registered several attacks during the 2nd half, through Offer Shitrit, Pinney Balili and Sebastian Simerotic, but Awwat was very secure, and it was Haifa's day. In one of the last counterattacks, Grayib sent a very long arched ball towards the guests' net, as Ronen Harazi rushed there; Demian Geiser's desperate back header wasn't powerful enough, and Harazi entered the box, passed the miserable Shallo and from a hard angle rolled the ball into an empty net, 2:0.
Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv of this season, especially the latter, don't remind a bit of those theratening Empires from 2-3-4 years back; still, the games between them are always interesting, even if just out of the historical reasons. Yesterday, Haim Hageage opened the score after a huge mistake of the young Guy Melamed (7) - Moshe Glam performed a free kick from the left wing, Melamed deflected the ball to the dead-zone, and Hageage had no problems to beat Nir Davidovich from there. Haifa equalized in just 10 minutes - it was a free kick of its own, and Itzhak Zohar (remember him?) sent a threatening ball from 22 meters at half a height past the slowly and agingly diving Alexander Uvarov to his left corner, 1:1. Nir Klinger found Nir Davidovich well-prepared (31), and Hezi Shirazi couldn't overplay the experienced Uvarov (34); and during the 2nd half, Alon Mizrahi failed to find a frame from a very good position. 20 minutes from time, Alon Brumer headed the ball wide in Haifa's box, and the substitute Dedi Ben-Dayan raised his knee to score one of the strangest goals of this season, past the stunned Davidovich. Haifa had a golden opportunity to equalize 9 minutes from time, after a good penetration of Jiri Weora on the right wing and a shot of Vladimir Niederhaus without any delays; however, Alexander Uvarov was alert enough to dive with an instinct and to fist the ball away from beneath the fence of legs, "The Save Of The Week".
After 4 consecutive losses, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa finally found a bit of consolation for a wasted season in its away victory over Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 1:0. It was a dull game, in which the terrible misses of Moti Kakun, on one hand, and Yaniv Avvargeal, on the other hand, as well as the reliable keeping of Eyal Abramov, left the score nullified until the 65th minute. Manor Hassan, a very bright spot of light in Petakh-Tikwa's gray existence, passed then a clever ball into the box, and the young Michael Zandberg rushed inside and didn't even stop to shoot a sharp diagonal ball which surprised the usually alert Eran Scheinsinger. And Kefar-Saba surprisingly found itself at the bottom part of the table as well; who would've thought?..
Another team from Petakh-Tikwa has also registered a victory, also 1:0 and also in the middle of the 2nd half. Again, it was the player with his opening goal this season. 64 minutes in the game between Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (the hosts) and Hapoel Beit-Shean, it was Haim Silbas with a free kick from a left wing - the ball was raised, both the keeper Meir Cohen and the forward Roman Filipchuk missed it, the ball ricochetted slightly backwards, and there it was a tall Azerian defender Morad Magamedov with a winning header. After the game, Magamedov released the following outstanding short statement: "I am glad about my 1st goal, which is also the winner. This was my Passover present. Happy Passover to the people of Israel". And as for the game itself; let's better skip it.
The game between Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Maccabee Herzliya, on the contrary, was full of opportunities, despite the identical result of just 1:0 to the hosts. The shot of Evgeniy Kashentsev (3) missed the frame, and on the other hand, Santos Sierra of Herzliya (8) had already passed the keeper, but saw his ball hitting just the post. Herzliya's keeper Yehuda Boaron parried the shot of Alon Maya (37) and reached his peak after 68 minutes of play - Eyal Cohen's pass resulted in Nir Shikwa's mighty flying header, but Boaron in an incredible instinct managed to throw the ball away from the goal-line. And still, Rishon scored the only goal - 8 minutes from time, Alon Maya turned around in Herzliya's box and tried to find somebody's head with a curved ball, but the unexplicable trajectory made it pass over the stretched hands of the flying Boaron under his left crossbar, "The Goal Of The Week". And Rishon is already the 6th, can you believe that?..
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod should've crashed Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv at home, but it seems Ashdod's concerns about the Cup semifinals and Bnei-Yehuda's vital necessity to take the points were those factors that made the result the opposite. 22 minutes from the start, Guy Sharabi's miserable back header found the stretched leg of the half-flying Cobi Refua who volleyed it diagonally under the right crossbar of Akakiy Devadze, 1:0. 20 minutes in the 2nd half, it was a great free kick of Aharon Siton, and the badly-timed wall of Ashdod misled Devadze again, 2:0. Ashdod was attacking vigorously all the time, but Rafi Cohen and his defence were unpenetratable, and even the curved ball of Yossi Madar under the right crossbar of Bnei-Yehuda found there the header of Ron Nakhman parrying the danger. Ashdod still managed to reduce the score through a great flying header of Igal Zrihen (72), after Assif Ben-Ishai's preparation, but it didn't change much - Bnei-Yehuda didn't pass the red line, but managed to gain the vital points.
And finally, it was the game of make or break in Beer-Sheva, between the local Hapoel and Hapoel Ashkelon. Those were the guests who opened the score, with a greatly performed free kick of Georgi Anchavadze from 17 meters (18); however, Beer-Sheva reacted with a free kick of its own, when Marco Di Constanza equalized after a foul made on Yossi Benayoun at the box edge (42). Beer-Sheva had more opportunities throughout the game and "enjoyed" time after time the good skill of Asi Rakhamim; however, the red card shown to David Kazelashvili (61) of Ashkelon, for hitting the hosts' defender Sharon Bukhnik, decided the game. 4 minutes after that moment, Alon Riff's pass into the box found there Yossi Benayoun, who stopped the ball on the chest and shot it under the bar of Rakhamim, 2:1. And during the dying seconds, when Ashkelon desperately tried to gain at least one point, it was the counterattack of the Negev Princes in which Alon Elbaz of Ashkelon unfortunately found his own net. 3:1, and Beer-Sheva's hopes become bigger and better based.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): The game between Maccabee Haifa (4) and Beitar Jerusalem (1) is NEVER TO BE MISSED!!! Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) hosts Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (6), while Hapoel Haifa (3) goes to Jerusalem to meet Hapoel (10) there. And there're the 2 very important bottom games; Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (15) vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11), and Maccabee Herzliya (12) vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva (14).
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Jerusalem 2:1 (2:1).
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Hosts: Istvan Hamar (27), Alon Harazi (44).
Guests: Laszlo Czeh (45).
THE BEST: Alon Harazi, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Ronen Harazi (32, 88).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Ronen Harazi, forward, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Haifa 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Haim Hageage (7), Dedi Ben-Dayan (70).
Guests: Itzhak Zohar (17).
THE BEST: Haim Hageage, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Michael Zandberg (65).
THE BEST: Manor Hassan, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Maccabee Herzliya 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Alon Maya (82).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Alon Maya, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV 1:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Igal Zrihen (72).
Guests: Cobi Refua (22), Aharon Siton (65).
THE BEST: Aharon Siton, defender, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Morad Magamedov (64).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Morad Magamedov, defender, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Hapoel Ashkelon 3:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Marco Di Constanza (42), Yossi Benayoun (65), OG (Alon Elbaz, 90).
Guests: Georgi Anchavadze (18).
RED: David Kazelashvili, midfielder, Hapoel Ashkelon, 61.
THE BEST: Marco Di Constanza, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Eyal Abramov
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Offer Talker Aharon Siton Alon Harazi Najouan Grayib
(Hapoel Haifa) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Haifa)
Yossi Abuksis Manor Hassan Giovanni Rosso Marco Di Constanza
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Yossi Benayoun Ronen Harazi
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Haifa)
Hapoel Haifa - 4.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 2.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Alon Maya.
ALSO - Ronen Harazi (the 1st), Yossi Benayoun,
Cobi Refua, Igal Zrihen, Itzhak Zohar.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Alexander Uvarov, from Vlad. Niederhaus, 81.
ALSO - Yehuda Boaron, from Nir Shikwa, 68.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 26 17 8 1 64-30 59
2 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 26 17 5 4 30-13 56
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 26 14 9 3 49-23 51
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 26 13 6 7 43-30 45
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 26 10 6 10 35-34 36
6 (9) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 26 9 6 11 33-38 33
7 (6) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 26 8 9 9 34-40 33
8 (10) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 26 7 11 8 22-24 32
9 (7) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 26 8 7 11 30-33 31
10 (8) Hapoel Jerusalem 26 7 10 9 31-36 31
11 (13) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 26 7 9 10 29-31 30
12 (11) Maccabee Herzliya 26 7 8 11 29-34 29
13 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 26 7 7 12 27-38 28
14 (14) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 26 6 8 12 33-49 26
15 (15) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 26 6 7 13 20-34 25
16 (16) Hapoel Ashkelon 26 4 6 16 20-42 18
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Ronen Harazi, forward, Hapoel Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 15(2)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(2)
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Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0)
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(0)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 12(3) 1
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 11(2)
Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 11(3)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 11(6)
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Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 8(0) 1
[3: Hap. Haifa] Sergen Culakovic (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 8(0)
Yossi Madar (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 8(2)
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 (4) | Beitar Jerusalem (1) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (6) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (10) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (16) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (7) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (8) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (15) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (12) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (14) |
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