Maccabee Haifa - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:1 (0:1). ----------------------------------------- Hosts: -. | Davidovich 5; Zhano 6.5 (RED, 87), A. Harazi 6, Benado 6, A. Keisi 5.5; | Koppel 5 (Nagar, 65), Benayoun 4.5, Melamed 5, Katan 4.5 (Brzeczek, 46 - | 5.5), R. Harazi 5 (Romatko, 85); Pacha 6. ******** Guests: Offer Talker (4). | Awwat 6; Talker 6.5, Ben-Shimon 6, A. Halfon 6, Grayib 6; Zeituni 7, | DMITRIY ULYANOV 7, Milenko 5.5 (Ben-Margi, 55 - 5.5), Rosso 6 (Hageage, | 78), Basis 6.5 (Jovic, 65); Nissim 5.5. ******** REFEREE: Dani Koren (8). AUDIENCE: 18,000, Kiryat-Eliezer Stadium, Haifa. ********
The result hardly surprised anybody indeed, but the disappointing thing was the poor ability of Maccabee Haifa, in the squad that should fight equally to Lokomotiv Moscow - Radovan Romatko lost his place in the opening 11, Jerzy Brzeczek isn't fully used to Israel yet, Victor Pacha suffered from an awful lack of luck, and Ronen Harazi sucks desperately when he needs to be a creative halfback. Hapoel wasn't very good as well, but scored an early controversial goal, when Najouan Grayib's free kick deflected from Yossi Benayoun's leg to the hand of Offer Talker, and the defender used the present to overplay Davidovich with the referee Dani Koren marking to the central circle. The rest of the opportunities (aside of Giovanni Rosso's fabulous volley shot that missed the frame), until the last minutes, were of Maccabee and mostly of Pacha - and once the forward penetrated throughout the defence and shot a great diagonal bomb from 12 meters that hit the crossbar of Awwat. The last minutes belonged to Hapoel again - Talker's heading goal was disallowed because of an offside, Avishai Zhano (the best player of Haifa) was sent off for a typical yellow-card foul on Najouan Grayib, and just the extraordinary flying save of Nir Davidovich from the cannon free kick of Ran Ben-Shimon (90) saved the Greens from yet the bigger humiliation. 9 points ahead of everybody should be enough for the team of Eli Gutman to take the Championship, with just 13 games to go, and Maccabee will have to fight hard for the European place the next season, as it presumably won't take the Cup Winners' Cup; both teams clearly deserve to be where they are now, that's for sure. Still, Hapoel can't be fully happy with the outcome of the game, as for the close 2 months it lost Goran Milenko to a shoulder injury.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - Beitar Jerusalem 1:1 (0:1). ----------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Rafi Cohen (48). | Y. Mizrahi 5.5; G. Deri 6, Rothem 5.5, T. Eliyahu 6, Albert 5.5; Markicevic | 6 (Shikwa, 78), Pitusi 6 (E. Cohen, 90), A. Brumer 5.5, Capeta 5.5 (Sebeg, | 64), Kabudi 5.5; RAFI COHEN 7. ******** Guests: Nir Sevilla (15). | Korenfein 6; Bakhar 5, Tretyak 5.5 (Abuksis, 30 - 5), Domb 5, E. Mizrahi 5; | Shelakh 5.5, Talesnikov 5.5, Reichman 5.5 (Salloi, 59 - 6), Hamar 5; | Sevilla 6, O. Shitrit 5. ******** REFEREE: Yaacov Ben-Hemo (8). AUDIENCE: 5,000, Superland Stadium, Rishon le-Zion. ********
Catching the 2nd place on Maccabee Haifa's expense, Beitar made it in a slow pace, and this naturally wasn't the outcome the defending Champions were hoping for. It looked promising after just 15 minutes, when Offer Shitrit gave Nir Sevilla an opportunity impossible to be missed, but this was also the only decent moment of the 1st half; immediately after the break, it was a quick attack of Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, and Rafi Cohen equalized after a great goal pass of Nenad Markicevic. Indeed, it was Oren Rothem who twice cleared the ball from the goal-line, but on the other hand, it was Itzhak Korenfein who saved several one-to-one situations. Beitar also suffered an injury loss, as Sergei Tretyak was severely injured in his shoulder and would be absent for around 3 months; a terrible blow for quite a hesitant defence of Beitar.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 0:3 (0:3). ------------------------------------------------------ Hosts: -. | Goresh 4.5; I. Amar 5, Magamedov 5.5, S. Tsofin 4.5, Partieli 4.5; Malihi | 4.5, Lusek 5, E. Levi 4.5 (G. Itzhak, 46 - 5), Shemariyahu 5 (RED, 78); | Bransi 4.5, S. Avitan 4.5. ******** Guests: Guy Tsarfati (6), Avi Nimni (32 pen), Alexei Kosolapov (38). | Uvarov 6; A. Offir 6 (D. Revivo, 86), Emenalo 7, Ishai 6, Ben-Dayan 6.5; | ALEXEI KOSOLAPOV 7, Tsarfati 6, Edri 6, Nimni 6.5 (O. Haim, 79); Driks 6 | (Luz, 66), Kubica 6. ******** REFEREE: Eyal Tsur (8). AUDIENCE: 4,000, Ironi Stadium, Petakh-Tikwa. ********
Maccabee Tel-Aviv went on with the trend of diminishing its victories (6:0, 5:0, 4:0, 3:0...), but the Yellows can hardly be disappointed - the result was a mirror image of the surprise in Round 1. After only 6 minutes, Guy Tsarfati opened the score with a sharp shot from 22 meters, and Avi Nimni scored 26 minutes afterwards from a penalty spot, after a foul of the young keeper Dudu Goresh on Kefir Edri. 6 minutes afterwards, a shot of Andrzej Kubica after a corner kick was continued from 2 meters by Alexei Kosolapov, 3:0. The 2nd half showed a certain saturation of the guests, but on the other hand, their veteran keeper Alexander Uvarov was hardly ever threatened, also due to the extraordinary skill of the Nigerian defender Michael Emenalo. Many analyses were already made about the failed start of Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but it's still hard to understand what happened to the so promising team of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa from the beginning of the season.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 3:1 (1:0). -------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Shalom Tikwa (20), Sebastian Simerotic (81 pen, 88). | Shallo 6; F. Halfon 6.5, Gershon 6, Kahila 6.5, Hillel 6; Rupenik 5.5 | (Ben-Ami, 80), Idan Tal 6.5, GABOR MARTON 6.5, Tikwa 6.5; Udi 5 (Tuama, | 80), Tubi 5 (Simerotic, 69 - 6). ******** Guests: Manor Hassan (62). | Hess 6; Ihiel 5, Kozoshvili 5, Shamir 5.5, Boaron 5; Badir 5, Stan 6 | (Rosen, 82), Hassan 6, Abrabanel 5 (Makoveyev, 59 - 5), Attar 6; Kakun 5.5. ******** REFEREE: Amit Klein (6). AUDIENCE: 6,000, Bloomfield Stadium, Yaffa. ********
Quite a surprising result, which might bring the Reds of Eli Cohen closer again to the top struggles; they clearly dominated over the team of Giora Spiegel, and most of all, it was a sweet revenge of Gabor Marton, the man who departed from Petakh-Tikwa after conflicting so much with his controversial coach. After 20 minutes and several cool saves of Shai Hess, Shalom Tikwa used a mistake of Avi Ihiel, entered the box and rolled the ball past the keeper. Still, even the clear advantage of the hosts wasn't exploited, and the guests user a rare counterattack to equalize; Moti Kakun assisted this time, instead of scoring himself. And then, the substitutes Sebastian Simerotic and Salim Tuama made the difference... Seconds in the game (81), Tuama sent a brilliant ball to Gabor Marton, who rushed into the box and was knocked down there by Hess; Simerotic coolly converted the penalty, 2:1. And seconds from time, a pass of Idan Tal left Simerotic alone in the guests' box, and the Slovenian forward passed Hess and rolled the ball in between the 2 defenders, 3:1.
HAPOEL JERUSALEM - Hapoel Beit-Shean 3:2 (1:1). ------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Shlomi Danino (7, 46), Tomer Azulai (72). | Strauber 5; S. Amar 5 (Liani, 46 - 5.5), Mihei 5, A. Sason 5.5, T. Azulai | 6, SHLOMI DANINO 6; Shnorman 5.5 (Aharon, 58 - 5), Costelnik 5 (Gola, 75), | Zeladzevic 5; Valentinic 5.5, Menakhem 5. ******** Guests: Dudu Dahan (38, 53 pen). | M. Cohen 5; A. Danan 5.5 (H. Irmiyahu, 75), Taib 5.5 (RED, 49), Dudu Dahan | 6, Sapir 5, Gili Levi 5 (Hader, 49 - 5); Rozosevic 5 (Caplan, 88), | Pancheladze 5, Cinka 5.5 (RED, 88), M. Uzan 6; Culakovic 5. ******** REFEREE: Yosef Benishti (6). AUDIENCE: 2,000, Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem. ********
Beit-Shean, hoping to start a totally new way after a surprising victory over Maccabee Haifa, was badly surprised after just 7 minutes, when a 25-meters-ranged bomb of Shlomi Danino entered under the right crossbar of a flying Meir Cohen, 1:0 to the hosts. The guests equalized half an hour later, as a confusion in the box was fully exploited by Dudu Dahan (38). 18 seconds in the 2nd half, it was Danino again with a penetration into the box and a flat shot home, but 7 minutes afterwards, he caused a penalty on Marius Cinka, coolly converted by the same Dudu Dahan, 2:2; in between, Beit-Shean stayed in 10 men after a 2nd yellow card shown to Eitan Taib. 18 minutes from time, it was a young substitute Dudu Liani with a clever ball to Tomer Azulai and the latter's winner, 3:2. A nervous Marius Cinka, being a true hero of Beit-Shean just a week ago, threw a ball towards the referee Yosef Benishti, trying to argue with one of his decisions, and found himself red-carded.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - Maccabee Yaffa 1:1 (0:0). ---------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Samson Siasiah (82). | Pashko 5.5; Flash 5, Fur 5, Sokher 5, B. Hadad 5.5; Shlomi Dahan 5, | Ben-Barukh 5.5, Daraselia 5, Buzaglo 5 (Khen, 66), D. Kabeda 5 (Zaric, | 46 - 4.5); Siasiah 5 (Tsafrir, 90). On the 55th minute Georgi Daraselia missed a penalty - Irakliy Zoidze saved. ******** Guests: Uzi Ohayon (90). | Zoidze 6; Vaaknin 5, Dan Levi 5.5, Moyal 5 (N. Cohen, 67), Hershlikovich | 5.5, Abu-Kishak 5.5; UZI OHAYON 6, Elmakeis 5.5, Djilovski 5 (Rabinovich, | 86), Mahamid 5.5; Bukhari 5 (Afek, 56 - 5.5). ******** REFEREE: Lior Korenfeld (7). AUDIENCE: 500, Ironi Stadium, Holon. ********
The game of a real low quality, though with some remarkable moments, and a huge frustration for the hosts. 10 minutes after the break, a clearly superior side of Holon, failing to score time after time, got a golden opportunity from the penalty spot after a foul of Dan Levi on Ezra Buzaglo; Georgi Daraselia took a good shot to his right corner at half a height, but his countrymate Irakliy Zoidze parried the ball to a corner in an incredible flight. Very encouraged, Yaffa heroically defended its net until the 82nd minute, when a touch of the Nigerian forward Samson "I scored against Maradona" Siasiah made us feel a nostalgy to that World Cup - a combination of Daraselia - Ben-Barukh - Flash finally brought the ball to Siasiah, who from 8 meters performed a flawless back-scissors kick leaving Zoidze speechless, "The Goal Of The Week". And still, this wasn't the day of Holon, as Yaffa managed to equalize during the dying seconds of play - this was the 43.5-years-old Nissim Cohen, who celebrated his return to the pitch with a pass to Uzi Ohayon, and the latter shot under the bar, 1:1.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 1:1 (1:0). ------------------------------------------------------ Hosts: Amir Turgeman (23). | Devadze injured (Zelig, 18 - 5); Hazut 5.5, Masouli 5, Almoshnino 5.5 | (Fadida, 79), Spire 5 (Tobol, 46 - 5.5); Balog 5.5, Y. Offir 5, Dego 5.5, | A. Sharabi 5, Naveda 5; AMIR TURGEMAN 6. ******** Guests: Shimon Danan (78). | Rosenberg 5; Koren 5 (Shem-Tov, 60 - 5.5), Catalyn 5.5, Netser 5.5, Shum | 4.5 (RED, 35); Ben-Haim 5.5 (S. Danan, 77), Masterovic 5, A. Itzhak 4.5 | (Ganon, 38 - 5), Niv Tal 6; Avvargeal 5, Ungur 5.5. ******** REFEREE: Alon Yaffet (8). AUDIENCE: 1,500, Yud-Alef Stadium, Ashdod. ********
If there is a definition of "robbery" in Soccer, this game will fairly suit it - Shimon Danan, just seconds on the pitch, performed a great free kick and denied Ashdod the 3 points it most fully deserved. Even staying with a reserve keeper, Ashdod scored with a great shot of Amir Turgeman (Kefar-Saba's keeper, Sagi Strauss, was benched, and the chance was given to Ami Rosenberg), and later on Turgeman scored twice more, both goals disallowed because of the offsides. Idan Shum of Kefar-Saba was sent off (35) with a 2nd yellow card, for a handplay in the rival's box, and Ashdod had all the chances in the world to take those well-needed 3 points; but Kefar-Saba can hardly be considered a good team, and it seemed to stop the team of Nir Levin - like a real Robin Hood, it takes the points from the rich and given those to the poor. But this is the point I once mentioned already, isn't it?
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 3:2 (1:1). ----------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Yair Simhon (7), Igal Entebbi (68), Oleg Naduda (80). | SHULI GILARDI 7; A. Levi 6, Ivanov 6.5, Y. Koretski 6, Mishal 6, Entebbi 7; | Guy Gat 6.5, Naduda 6, Shabo 6 (Mchitarian, 55 - 6); Vilner 6 (Asulin, 76), | Simhon 7 (Barmecher, 88). ******** Guests: Cobi Refua (32), Yossi Madar (90 pen). | Smadja 5; O. Levi 6, Y. Abuksis 5, Ballas 5.5, Y. Avihail 5.5; Schwegger 5, | Fibernik 5, Liberman 5 (Galili, 71), Madar 6; Shirazi 5.5, Refua 5.5. On the 49th minute Yossi Madar missed a penalty kick - Shuli Gilardi saved. ******** REFEREE: Haim Lipkovich (9). AUDIENCE: 2,500, Ironi Stadium, Herzliya. ********
The first victory of Herzliya after 11 gloriless games was achieved due to the squad changes, the command game, some luck and Shuli Gilardi in its net. After just 7 minutes of play, the weak shot of Haim Shabo finally served a good pass to Yair Simhon, 1:0; however, Bnei-Yehuda equalized 25 minutes later on, with a goal pass of Hezi Shirazi and a close-ranger of Cobi Refua. 4 minutes after the break, it was the crucial moment of the game, as Offer Levi earned the penalty kick, after the foul of Vassili Ivanov; Yossi Madar shot a good ball to his left corner at half a height, but Gilardi made a save Ravelli or Taffarel wouldn't be ashamed of. 20 minutes later on, a good pass of the Armenian substitute Hamlet Mchitarian found the head of Igal Entebbi, giving Herzliya an advantage again, and 10 minutes from time, it was Yair Simhon with a little touch and Oleg Naduda with a bomb under the left crossbar of Shaul Smadja, 3:1. During the dying seconds, it was another foul of Ivanov and another penalty, this time converted by Madar - but it didn't change a thing, and Madar could only be more disappointed about the earlier miss. For Herzliya, it was the 3rd consecutive unbeaten game, and it finally left the red zone, even if just by a narrow margin of goal difference.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Shuli Gilardi
(Maccabee Herzliya)
Offer Talker Michael Emenalo Ehud Kahila Igal Entebbi
(Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Herzliya)
Gabor Marton Oren Zeituni Alexei Kosolapov Dmitriy Ulyanov
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa)
Rafi Cohen Yair Simhon
(Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) (Maccabee Herzliya)
Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Herzliya - 3.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 2.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Haifa 17 14 2 1 37- 6 44
2 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 17 11 2 4 46-21 35
3 (2) Maccabee Haifa 17 11 2 4 37-14 35
4 (5) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 17 10 3 4 42-18 33
5 (4) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 17 10 1 6 33-23 31
6 (6) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 17 8 5 4 26-18 29
7 (9) Hapoel Jerusalem 17 8 2 7 26-29 26
8 (7) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 17 6 6 5 23-14 24
9 (8) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 17 6 5 6 27-25 23
10 (10) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 17 5 6 6 26-31 21
11 (11) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 17 5 3 9 21-40 18
12 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 17 4 5 8 26-39 17
13 (14) Maccabee Herzliya 17 4 3 10 17-27 15
14 (13) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 17 4 3 10 23-38 15
15 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 17 3 2 12 15-50 11
16 (16) Maccabee Yaffa 17 1 2 14 9-41 5
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Dmitriy Ulyanov, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Offer Shitrit (Beitar Jerusalem) 15(1)
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Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 14(1)
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 14(2)
Amir Turgeman (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 14(6) 1(0)
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Andrzej Kubica (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(3)
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Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 10(3) 1(1)
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Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0) 1(0)
Victor Pacha (Maccabee Haifa) 9(0)
(9 goals in Hapoel Jerusalem)
Giovanni Rosso (Hapoel Haifa) 9(3)
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Samson Siasiah (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) 8(0) 1(0)
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 8(0) 1(0)
Cobi Refua (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 8(0) 1(0)
Yossi Benayoun (Maccabee Haifa) 8(0)
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Adrian Ungur (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 7(0)
Udi Kabudi (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 7(0)
Rajid Bransi (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(2)
Sebastian Simerotic (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 7(4) 2(1)
Yaniv Avvargeal (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 7(4)
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 Haifa (1) | Hapoel Jerusalem (7) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Maccabee Haifa (3) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (4) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (8) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (11) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (9) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (10) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (16) | Maccabee Herzliya (13) |
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