29 goals, 4 red cards and 1 penalty scored out of 3 - this was the very interesting story of the last weekend, in which the Haifa foreigners Miroslav Bicinic (Hapoel) and Vladimir Niederhaus (Maccabee) could finally show their numerous skills. However, the most meaningful story, unfortunately, wasn't fully sportive - the game of Beitar Jerusalem vs Hapoel Beit-Shean in Kiryat-Eliezer was defined as "scandalous", "stinking" and "bizarre"; I won't use those words, but I'll talk in a detailed way about this game, which leaves tons of unsolved questions.
And so, Beitar Jerusalem managed to defeat Hapoel Beit-Shean away during the dying seconds, 3:2; Hapoel Tel-Aviv, on the other hand, made its best to defeat a surprisingly good Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 1:0, but it may not suffice a week from now, at the finishing line of the Championship struggle. The question of the 2nd relegating team will be solved during the last week, too - Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 1:0 at home through a great strike of a defender Arik Sason, and Hapoel Haifa devastated Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv away, 4:1. Maccabee Haifa made a good training of its attacking line towards the Cup final, but its defence should be checked thoroughly - 5:3 at home, over Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away, 2:0; Maccabee Herzliya achieved the home victory with an identical score over the relegated Hapoel Ashkelon. And finally, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod lost its 4th game in a row, this time 1:4 at home to Hapoel Kefar-Saba. And now - to the details.
The game between Hapoel Beit-Shean and Beitar Jerusalem was transferred to Kiryat-Eliezer in Haifa, where "a decent amount" of Beitar's fans could come and watch the crucial match. In addition, the referee Eyal Tsur fell a victim to the TV officials' pressure, and therefore, the game started only 9 minutes after the parallel crucial matches. Nevertheless, the first minutes didn't give a single clue to what was about to happen. Beit-Shean started running amok all over the pitch, pressing Beitar everywhere, and after just 4 minutes of play Sergen Culakovic rolled the ball to Zadko Adic, who shot it from the box edge to the body of Sergei Tretyak and in, 1:0! And moreover, 7 minutes before the break, Shmuel Levi dived in order to save the shot of Shimon Danan from the goal-line; he indeed stopped the ball with a diving chest, but the ball fell into his hand (I believe, involuntarily) later on, and the referee Eyal Tsur had to stick to the Soccer law book. A red card and a penalty.
Pay attention to the lack of synchronization! Hapoel Beer-Sheva was trailing by one goal in Jerusalem, and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv was left at home without its first keeper and with a deficit of 4 goals. And in this situation, when Beit-Shean wasn't threatened by relegation that much anymore, its best scorer and penalty taker Eitan Taib put the ball onto the white spot. Was his first miss in the career a matter of bad luck, or did he deliberately send the ball into the skies? Nobody knows... And if it wasn't enough, seconds before the break it was the high ball of Yossi Abuksis, and Istvan Salloi jumped above the hesitant Meir Cohen and headed an equalizer in, 1:1. 18 minutes after the break, a free kick of Yossi Abuksis from 17 meters went to the bar of Meir Cohen and in, a wonderful effort that finished the comeback, 2:1 to Beitar.
Indeed, Beit-Shean wasn't exactly as sparkling as during the opening minutes, but the dangerous moments were created near the both nets. 82 minutes in the game, the game in Jerusalem ended with Hapoel Jerusalem's victory over the pathetic Hapoel Beer-Sheva, and it was clear Beit-Shean stayed in the League for another season; the speed of the game from the side of the "hosts" was drastically reduced - after all, the result was satisfactory for both sides. And then the shock came... Gala Pancheladze sent Meir Melika forward, and the latter rolled the ball to the young substitute Almog Hazan, coming at the right wing; Hazan sped up and, without stopping, sent a killing right-footer from 17 meters diagonally under the right crossbar of a desperately flying Korenfein. The goal of this incredible beauty sent the whole stadium into the minute of silence, including ... the players and the bench of Beit-Shean! Was it an inability to believe that made them react that way, or the fear not to leave the stadium alive?.. Was the movement of Sergen Culakovic, who seized his head in disbelief, caused by the extraordinary beauty of the goal scored by a substitute, or probably by the "shit, he ruined all the deal" attitude?.. Who will ever know that, even after the investigation?
And then the 8 famous minutes started, "the 8 minutes of disgrace" as they were nicknamed in every Israeli newspaper... During those moments, Beit-Shean wasn't exactly interfering with Beitar that just created a goal situation after a goal situation; the keeper Meir Cohen saved his net 5 times (!) during those minutes, standing alone against the defending Champions, and 3 more times Beitar's players were imprecise. On the other hand, Beit-Shean registered a brilliant counterattack, but Sergen Culakovic failed to overplay Itzhak Korenfein in one-to-one from 14 meters (casually, or deliberately?). And then the 93rd minute came... Yossi Abuksis performed a short corner with David Amsalem and started going undisturbed into the box; finally, he released the ball to the head of Tomer Azulai, and from there to the totally undisturbed ... Itzhak Korenfein! Beitar's keeper, who'd once confessed his biggest Soccer aspiration was to score a goal once, shot without a pressure from 8 meters, and Meir Cohen saved it again; however, the bad clearing of Jamil Hader reached Istvan Pisont who finally pushed the ball in. 3:2! Thousands of spectators penetrated the pitch then, and Beit-Shean's players found it better to escape to the restrooms; it took the referee 10 minutes to restore the order, and then he renewed the game officially just to stop it after the 2 touches of Beit-Shean's players. Beitar won.
Numerous versions of the game in Kiryat-Eliezer will be still thought of, and the official criminal investigation launched in those days will come to the conclusions of its own. I have not seen the game, but I'm sure - despite the numerous question marks, nothing was illegal; it's highly probable the players of the outsiders were just cautious not to harm themselves, and the reduced pressure and the tiredness against the much better team were the factors as well. After all, who'll score 4 minutes from time, if the only wish of Beit-Shean was to stay alive and to make Beitar finally win? Indeed, the questions may be asked, but the matter is exaggerated, and there are certain people who will do anything to give this game an evil political connection. Until now, the irreversible harm has already been done, as numerous people were injured in violent demonstrations, and Beitar's Chairman Moshe Dadash resigned as a protest against "the violent and unstoppable instigations" against his team. I'm not the fan of Beitar, but one fact is sure - the Yellow-Blacks have hardly anything to do with any suspicions against Beit-Shean, whether justified or not, and Dadash, even considering all of his disadvantages, is still one of the best Soccer Chairmen Israel ever had, making Beitar the most attractive and the most "European" team in Israel. Still, the players of Beit-Shean have to look deep into their souls, to discover their the sportive spirit once again.
And now - to the top rivals of Beitar, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, whose fans and officials were standing beyond all the scandal most of all. The team itself made everything to take all the points, and finally managed to do that, 14 minutes from time - Shalom Tikwa, "The Man Of The Week", made a pass to the substitute Kefir Udi, and the latter entered the box and rolled the ball past Shai Hess. Hess, "The Keeper Of The Week", made everything depending on him to stop the Red forwards time after time, saving amongst the rest a great shot of Eyal Ben-Ami (74); Petakh-Tikwa was surprisingly good and had its own counterattacks as well, and in one of those Gabor Marton (18) shook the bar of Shavit Elimelekh. The referee Sabi Elnekave was decisive and brave as usual; 5 minutes in the 2nd half, he showed a 2nd yellow card to Ilan Boaron of Petakh-Tikwa, for a foul on Masterovic, and in another 8 minutes, a back foul of Offer Shitrit on Beni Kozoshvili near Petakh-Tikwa's box (!) resulted in an immediate red card to the forward (!). Hapoel goes the next week to Ashkelon and has no doubts about its victory there; in addition, the Reds hope that either Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa or the Israeli Football Association will deny Beitar the Championship. None seems to be probable, though.
For Offer Shitrit, the season is over, and it seems like Alon Mizrahi will become "The Best Scorer" for the 4th time in 1990s; yesterday, helped immensely by Vladimir Niederhaus and Avishai Zhano, "The Plane" reconquered the top of "The Best Scorers' List". 6 minutes before the break, Mizrahi got a ball from Avishai Zhano and, from a hard angle and pressed by the defender, managed to release the ball to the close corner of the substituting keeper Yaniv Mizrahi, 2:1. And 3 minutes after the break, his double-pass with Vladimir Niederhaus was nearly cut short by the defender, but Mizrahi managed to reach the ball before the keeper and to put it in, 3:1. Earlier yet, Mizrahi missed several brilliant opportunities as well - one was after 34 minutes of play, as the forward got a brilliant ball from Niederhaus and rolled it from 12 meters without stopping past the keeper, but the ball kissed the right post and went out, what a miss!
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion opened the score after just 9 minutes, when a wonderful volley of Alon Maya in a turn, from 9 meters after a pass of Assaf Maduel, left Nir Davidovich helpless. Maccabee Haifa equalized in another 11 minutes, when a great solo penetration of Niederhaus resulted in a well-produced flat shot to the right corner of Yaniv Mizrahi. A double pass of Avi Pitusi and Nissan Capeta let Pitusi enter the box and score the reducer (51), 2:3; in 12 minutes, Haifa's coach Daniel Brailovsky substituted the mediocre Ibrahim Doro with Itzhak Zohar. It took Zohar just 3 minutes to produce a 1st meaningful shot that went out of the keeper's reach and hit the left post; Vladimir Niederhaus was the first on the rebound and made the score 4:2. And in another 3 minutes, it was a goal pass of Avishai Zhano from the right wing and and a cannon header of Zohar from 8 meters under the bar, 5:2.
Haifa was sure of its victory, and Rishon made some attempts to attack in the last minutes. 7 minutes from time, Adoram Keisi fouled Alon Maya in Haifa's box; however, Noam Shoham's penalty kick to his right found Nir Davidovich in a breathtaking dive, and the rebound wasn't successful as well. And finally, during the dying seconds, Rafi Cohen got the ball from Dani Albert and managed to overplay the keeper, 5:3. For Rishon, the season is over, and Haifa will still have to play in the Cup final after the next meaningless tour in the League.
And if Rafi Cohen of Rishon was successful in scoring, Rafi Cohen of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv found himself unlucky to be sent off after just 10 minutes of play - a huge mistake of Yuval Naim, passing a high ball back to his keeper who was running towards the ball himself, and Cohen had to jump and to prevent a certain goal by handplaying the ball outside the box. Then, the score had already been 1:0 to the guests, Hapoel Haifa, after a preparation of Giovanni Rosso and an undisturbed header of Sharon Avitan; after this miserable red card and with the unexperienced Yaniv Wahaba in the net and the forward Yaniv Offri on the bench, Bnei-Yehuda didn't have a single chance to survive the game with some points taken. Miroslav Bicinic registered 2 resultive shots of his own (17, 24), after the preparations of Najouan Grayib and Giovanni Rosso, respectively; Cobi Danino used the pass of Oren Zeituni and made the score 4:0 (37). 4 minutes after the break, Bnei-Yehuda managed to reduce the score with a good flat shot of the substitute Sahar Mizrahi, but this was too little and too late. 4:1 to the team of Eli Gutman that wants to show us time after time its lack of participation in the European Cups the next year was a miserable misunderstanding.
Sharon Avitan, the first goal scorer for Hapoel Haifa, stated after the game: "Indeed, I come from Beer-Sheva, but I had no sentiments - I can't do the job for them, if they can't do their part". Indeed, the loss of Bnei-Yehuda preserved the status-quo at the bottom, but the time is playing for Bnei-Yehuda, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva can't take its needed points. In a game of make or break in Jerusalem, the only goal was scored by Hapoel the hosts into Beer-Sheva's net; that happened after 37 minutes of play, as Laszlo Czeh rolled the ball aside after a free kick, and Arik Sason sent an incredible killer from 26 meters under the right crossbar of Shaul Smadja, "The Goal Of The Week" and a very important winner. Beer-Sheva indeed tried to do something, but its attempts were pathetic, and Liran Strauber was always placed well.
And now - to the games that didn't matter much. In Petakh-Tikwa, the local Maccabee hosted Maccabee Tel-Aviv, and the guests were attacking most of the time; for example, 20 minutes before the break, it was a great diagonal shot of Guy Nakhman from 15 meters, but Golan Malul flew incredibly well and parried the ball with his fingertips from under his crossbar, "The Save Of The Week". However, Malul was substituted by the young Ohad Cohen (65), and there the Yellows finally managed to score. First, Ben Luz sent Guy Tsarfati into the box, and the youngster shot a great ball from a hard angle under the bar of a helpless keeper (76). And the other goal was scored, as another 2 of this week already described above, during the last seconds of play. Guy Tsarfati sent Dedi Ben-Dayan into the box, and the latter turned around with an utter elegance and rolled the ball past a misled keeper after performing a clever dummy on him. 2:0, and the highest place of Maccabee Tel-Aviv this season - the 7th... Who could've thought?
The same result was achieved in Herzliya, where Maccabee hosted a pathetic Hapoel Ashkelon. 16 minutes in the game, Yair Asayag was knocked down inside the guests' box by Janucz Tomka, and Vassili Ivanov converted the penalty into Herzliya's opener. And 17 minutes from time, it was again a penetration at the right wing - this time, Ivanov rolled a ball back to Oleg Naduda, and a former Spartak Moscow player had no problems to score from such a situation, 2:0. All Ashkelon was able to achieve was a great penetration of Sagi Eini into Herzliya's box (84); his shot beat Shuli Gilardi, but hit the bar. Another season of Herzliya in the National League has been promised.
And finally, Hapoel Kefar-Saba took the 6th place once again, after defeating Maccabee Ironi Ashdod away, 4:1; without the injured keeper Akakiy Devadze, the suspended defender Guy Sharabi and the forward Naor Galili, and Alon Hazan who left for Watford before Round 2, Ashdod is no longer the team it used to be. Yaniv Avvargeal, in a game that reminded us of him after his long and unexplicable disappearance, opened the score after 7 minutes of play, when his penetration and flat shot from 17 meters found the left post of Guy Nakhshon and went in. Ashdod managed to perform a good attack and to equalize, when a goal pass of Amir Turgeman found a flying header of Igal Zrihen before an empty net (27), 1:1. However, in the 2nd half there was just one team on the pitch - the guests. Avvargeal was the scorer again, when he turned around and sent a bomb from 17 meters under the left crossbar of the moveless Nakhshon (58); in another 5 minutes, the Hungarian midfielder Laszlo Komodi shot from a hard angle between the hesitant Nakhshon and his left post. The peak of Nakhshon's dizziness was registered in another 2 minutes, in a move that signed up the score - Tamir Ben-Haim shot a weak, but precise ball horizontally from 30 meters, and Nakhshon's dive to his left corner was too late. 4:1 to the team of Avi Cohen.
NEXT ROUND (and a last, in a week): those will be the last games of the season, and as a result, we pay the biggest attention to the meaningful games, both for the Championship and for the relegation stories. Beitar Jerusalem (1) hosts Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (8), and Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) goes to meet Hapoel Ashkelon (16) away. As for the 2nd relegating squad - Hapoel Beer-Sheva (15) will host Maccabee Haifa (4), and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14) will go to play away vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (9).
Hapoel Beit-Shean - BEITAR JERUSALEM 2:3 (1:1).
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Hosts: Zadko Adic (4), Almog Hazan (86).
Guests: Istvan Salloi (45), Yossi Abuksis (63), Istvan Pisont (90).
RED: Shmuel Levi, defender, Beitar Jerusalem, 38.
THE BEST: Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
On the 38th minute Eitan Taib (Hapoel Beit-Shean) missed a penalty kick -
the ball went above the bar.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Kefir Udi (76).
Guests: -.
RED: Ilan Boaron, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 50.
Offer Shitrit, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 58.
THE BEST: Shalom Tikwa, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL HAIFA 1:4 (0:4).
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Hosts: Sahar Mizrahi (49).
Guests: Sharon Avitan (8), Miroslav Bicinic (17, 24), Cobi Danino (37).
RED: Rafi Cohen, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 10.
THE BEST: Miroslav Bicinic, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 5:3 (2:1).
---------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Vladimir Niederhaus (20, 66), Alon Mizrahi (39, 48),
Itzhak Zohar (69).
Guests: Alon Maya (9), Avi Pitusi (51), Rafi Cohen (90).
THE BEST: Avishai Zhano, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
On the 83rd minute Noam Shoham (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) missed a penalty
kick - Nir Davidovich saved.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA 1:4 (1:1).
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Hosts: Igal Zrihen (27).
Guests: Yaniv Avvargeal (7, 58), Laszlo Komodi (63), Tamir Ben-Haim (65).
THE BEST: Yaniv Avvargeal, forward, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Guy Tsarfati (76), Dedi Ben-Dayan (90).
THE BEST: Guy Tsarfati, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL JERUSALEM - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Arik Sason (37).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Stephan Mihei, defender, Hapoel Jerusalem.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Hapoel Ashkelon 2:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Vassili Ivanov (16 pen), Oleg Naduda (73).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Vassili Ivanov, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Shai Hess
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Amit Levi Stephan Mihei Asi Domb Najouan Grayib
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Jerusalem) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa)
Avishai Zhano Yossi Abuksis Miroslav Bicinic Shalom Tikwa
(Maccabee Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Yaniv Avvargeal Alon Mizrahi
(Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Maccabee Haifa)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Haifa - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa,
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Hapoel Jerusalem, Maccabee Herzliya - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: Yossi Abuksis, Arik Sason, Almog Hazan,
Itzhak Zohar, Yaniv Avvargeal (the 2nd).
MO: Arik Sason.
ALSO - Almog Hazan, Yossi Abuksis, Alon Maya.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Golan Malul, from Guy Nakhman, 25.
ALSO - Nir Davidovich, from Noam Shoham, 83.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 29 19 9 1 70-33 66
2 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 29 20 5 4 41-14 65
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 29 16 9 4 54-25 57
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 29 15 7 7 49-33 52
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 29 11 6 12 38-39 39
6 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 29 10 8 11 38-37 38
7 (9) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 29 9 9 11 35-34 36
8 (6) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 29 8 12 9 27-30 36
9 (7) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 29 10 6 13 41-50 36
10 (11) Hapoel Jerusalem 29 8 10 11 33-42 34
11 (13) Maccabee Herzliya 29 8 9 12 35-39 33
12 (10) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 29 8 9 12 38-50 33
13 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 29 8 7 14 33-46 31
14 (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 29 7 7 15 24-41 28
15 (15) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 29 6 9 14 37-57 27
16 (16) Hapoel Ashkelon 29 5 6 18 24-47 21
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Shalom Tikwa, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 18(3) 2
***********************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 17(6)
***********************************************************
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 16(2) 1
***********************************************************
Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 14(0)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 14(4)
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Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0)
***********************************************************
Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 11(2)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 11(6)
***********************************************************
Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 10(0) 1
***********************************************************
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 9(0) 1
***********************************************************
Istvan Hamar (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0)
[3: Hap. Haifa] Sergen Culakovic (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 8(0)
Yossi Madar (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 8(2)
Eitan Taib (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 8(5)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
THE NEXT ROUND (and the last, in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (8) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (16) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) |
| Hapoel Haifa (3) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (15) | Maccabee Haifa (4) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Jerusalem (10) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) | Maccabee Herzliya (11) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (7) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (12) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (9) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14) |
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