HAPOEL HAIFA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 3:1 (2:0). ------------------------------------------------ Hosts: Giovanni Rosso (17 pen, 31 pen), Offer Talker (90). | DUDU AWWAT 7; Talker 6.5, Ben-Shimon 6, A. Halfon 5, Grayib 5.5; Zeituni | 6.5, Ulyanov 6.5, Rosso 6.5, Milenko 6 (Hageage, 90), Basis 6 (Nissim, 71); | Ilan Tal 5 (Ami Azulai, 68). ******** Guests: Offer Levi (63). | Smadja 5; O. Levi 5.5, Feigenbaum 4 (Fletcher, 37 - 5), Fibernik 4.5, Siton | 4; Y. Avihail 5, Schwegger 5.5, Mararo 5 (S. Mizrahi, 75), Madar 5; Shirazi | 6 (R. Asraf, 80), Refua 4. ******** REFEREE: Assaf Keinan (8). AUDIENCE: 13,000, Kiryat-Eliezer Stadium, Haifa. ********
5 weeks before the season ends, the top gap is 11 points, and Hapoel Haifa prepares the champagne bottles, for the first time in the club's history. This time, it wasn't very easy at home vs the determined bottom squad of Bnei-Yehuda, even though Giovanni Rosso converted the 2 early penalties, after the respective fouls of Roman Fibernik and Ronen Feigenbaum on Liron Basis and Ilan Tal. Offer Levi reduced the score with a mighty diagonal shot from the box corner under the hosts' bar, and Dudu Awwat left the leaders in the game with the series of superb saves. In the injury time, when Bnei-Yehuda attacked vigorously in order to get a point, the counterattack of the future Champions developed - Oren Nissim found Offer Talker inside the guests' box, and the defender misled Shaul Smadja and pushed the ball from a hard angle between the keeper and his post, 3:1.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - BEITAR JERUSALEM 1:4 (0:1).
-------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Moris Uzan (47).
| M. Cohen 5; Hader 4, Taib 5, A. Danan 4, Elkaslassi 4 (Caplan, 58 - 5);
| Dudu Dahan 5, Almog Hazan 4.5, Rozosevic 5, Cinka 4 (H. Irmiyahu, 65);
| M. Uzan 5, Culakovic 5 (R. Sagi, 83).
********
Guests: Tamas Sandor (21), Nir Sevilla (67), Istvan Hamar (75),
Jean Talesnikov (83).
| Korenfein 5.5; Bakhar 6, Domb 6, Tretyak 6, E. Mizrahi 6 (R. Deri, 46 - 5);
| JEAN TALESNIKOV 7.5, Abuksis 6.5, M. Hageage 6.5, T. Sandor 6.5, Hamar 6;
| O. Shitrit 5 (Sevilla, 46 - 6).
********
REFEREE: Nir Baabour (9).
AUDIENCE: 3,500, Ironi Stadium, Beit-Shean.
********
After such a game, it's really hard to believe Hapoel Beit-Shean can save itself from relegation; on the other hand, Beitar will probably take the 2nd place, after all. A header of Tamas Sandor was nullified afterwards by the surprising attack of the hosts, finished by Moris Uzan, but here the story of the small team ended. Beitar scored another 3 goals to make the joy complete, with the shots of Nir Sevilla (67), Istvan Hamar (75) and Jean Talesnikov (83), our "Man Of The Game".
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 3:2 (1:2). ---------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Reuven Attar (7), Michael Zandberg (50), Moti Kakun (55 pen). | Hess 6.5; R. Amar 6, Kolosevic 7, Ihiel 6.5, I. Boaron 6; Kozoshvili (RED, | 25), Badir 6.5, MICHAEL ZANDBERG 7.5 (Stan, 87), Makoveyev 7, Attar 6 | (Maya, 46 - 6); Kakun 6 (I. Hillel, 90). ******** Guests: Avi Nimni (29), Alexei Kosolapov (45). | Uvarov 5; G. Brumer 6, Emenalo 4 (RED, 55), Balbul 4.5, Ben-Dayan 4 (O. | Haim, 85); Kosolapov 5.5, D. Revivo 5 (Driks, 76) (RED, 83), Nimni 5.5, | Edri 4.5 (I. Zohar, 76), Glam 5; Kubica 5.5. On the 45th minute Alexei Kosolapov missed a penalty kick - Shai Hess saved. Kosolapov was the first on the rebound to push it home. ******** REFEREE: Eitan Tavrizi (8). AUDIENCE: 6,500, Ironi Stadium, Petakh-Tikwa. ********
A brilliant game, one of the best this season. Maccabee Tel-Aviv needed the points in order to stay the runners-up, and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa seemed to have no League aspirations left - and still, the team of Giora Spiegel gave a fantastic performance and finally took all the points, helping the Red Devils of Haifa. The game had 2 comebacks, 5 goals (3 of them extremely, really extremely, beautiful), 2 penalties, 3 red cards, one truly miserable person (the young Olympic defender Dedi Ben-Dayan) and a lot of truly great moments. Let such games happen much more often!
Out of 50 Best National League scorers ever, 5 were participating in this huge performance, and 3 scored. 7 minutes from the start, the hosts surprised with opening the score. It was a corner kick of Reuven Attar to find several undecisive headers, and finally, Ben-Dayan tried to clear the ball away, but headed it only to the edge of the keeper's box. Nobody could see the danger coming from the approaching Attar, but the experienced veteran Alexander Uvarov, who moved all his mighty frame towards the close corner; however, Attar raised his left foot and sent a stinging volley between the fence of legs and past Uvarov to his far post and in! The frustration on Uvarov's face was mixed with an admiration one talented professional can always feel to another. And this goal of Attar couldn't help raising again the question of his half-wasted career. I think only one player in Israel, at least in the last 10 years, was as skillful as Attar and could take as bold and masterful the initiatives; and while Attar stayed in the land of sea and sababa, this player grew into a real superstar, giving some great performances against Roberto Carlos rather than Dedi Ben-Dayan...
Petakh-Tikwa, glad with leading, still lost the initiative, when Beni Kozoshvili got a really redundant 2nd yellow card for tackling Moshe Glam near the midcircle. 4 minutes afterwards, there came a time of another masterpiece - Alexei Kosolapov tried to pass Avi Ihiel, and the ball deflected to Avi Nimni, who threw it into the air with his left and continued with a brilliant left-footed arched volley from 30 meters that left Shai Hess stunned, 1:1. What a beauty! And in the injury time of the 1st half, the story seemed to be over, as Andrzej Kubica, quite mediocre during the last games, managed to earn a penalty after Ihiel's foul on him. Both Nimni and Kubica were too hesitant to take the responsibility, in the light of their last misses, and so Kosolapov shot - his ball was stopped as well, but no one came to add to the heroic effort of Shai Hess, and Kosolapov rebounded it home. It seemed Petakh- Tikwa was broken, with 1 man and 1 goal down in the critical minutes.
What happened in the beginning of the 2nd half was simply a miracle. 5 minutes after the break, the young Olympic player Michael Zandberg, given a rare opportunity to play, made a move that earned him "The Player Of The Week" award. Taking a ball near the midline, he started with a sprint and passed the ball to Moti Kakun at the left wing; Kakun immediately passed it to the young Igor Makoveyev, and the latter returned it to Zandberg, accelerating even more by then. Zandberg cut to the center, passed one defender and released an incredible shot from 18 meters, before approaching the 2 others. Uvarov took off on time, but no interception happened. 2:2.
5 minutes later, the story was over in a mix of European moves from the recent past. Dedi Ben-Dayan, hesitant even more than usual, lost the ball to the fresh substitute Alon Maya, who rushed undisturbed into the box. Michael Emenalo, reacting lately to Ben-Dayan's bug, cut Maya short close to the box, as Pfeffer did to Alon Mizrahi in Austria - Israel game this September, and the referee Eitan Tavrizi bought those several centimeters and pointed to the penalty spot; though the red card shown to Emenalo was completely justified, Maccabee can see itself robbed a bit. The penalty, taken naturally by Moti Kakun, reminded of Stoichkov - Zubizarreta duel in Euro'96. The forward took a shot, Uvarov guessed the corner and dived close to perfection with all his experience and height, the ball kissed his fingertips and hit the post, and 6,500 fans of Petakh-Tikwa skipped a beat or two until it passed the line. It finally did, 3:2.
The rest of the game was totally one-sided, with Maccabee having no chances anymore. Uvarov used all his experience to stop the lethal penetration of Walid Badir (61), and close to the end, Maya and Kakun managed to overplay the Russian giant, but their arched balls went too high. The only thing Maccabee managed to do was to throw the experienced Itzhak Zohar and Eli Driks to the pitch; just 8 minutes afterwards, Driks was sent off for punching Ilan Boaron in a fight for the ball. Maccabee lost the 2nd place, and its tough fight for it will continue until the very end, that's for sure.
HAPOEL JERUSALEM - Maccabee Haifa 1:0 (1:0). ---------------------------------------------- Hosts: Mahmoud Salman (20). | Strauber 6; S. Danino 6, STEPHAN MIHEI 6.5, A. Sason 6.5, Oka 6 (S. Amar, | 90); Gola 6, E. Avrahami 6.5 (Shnorman, 90), Y. Avrahami 6.5 (RED, 90), M. | Menakhem 6 (RED, 54), Zeladzevic 6; M. Salman 6.5 (Costelnik, 81). ******** Guests: -. | Vakrat 5.5; Romatko 5, A. Harazi 6, Benado 6, A. Keisi 5; Koppel 5.5 | (Silbas, 46 - 5.5), Nagar 5, Brzeczek 5, Katan 5, Doro 5 (Pacha, 46 - 5); | R. Harazi 5. ******** REFEREE: Meir Levi (5). AUDIENCE: 3,000, Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem. ********
Unbelievable, but true - Maccabee Haifa lost its 2nd game in a row to a team clearly inferior to the Greens. 20 minutes in the game, Mahmoud Salman, the young talent of the capital team, got a ball from Ednan Zeladzevic, let Radovan Romatko fall on the ground and then beat Eyal Vakrat. This was the only goal of the game, although Haifa scored twice - the goal of Ronen Harazi, soon after Salman's, was disallowed because of the dubious offside, and the dying seconds gave Haifa the header of Benado, disallowed for no apparent reason at all. Meir Levi, usually a very reliable referee, had a very queer game, and the home team was full of disagreements with him as well - 2 red cards were shown to Jerusalem players (actually, the 2nd yellow cards both times), and though they were justified, it wasn't completely clear why Eyal Vakrat wasn't sent off together with Moti Menakhem, after their fisting in the box.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 6:1 (1:0).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Kefir Udi (42), Davor Rupenik (67), Shalom Tikwa (69),
Idan Tal (80), Salim Tuama (83), Assaf Tubi (90 pen).
| Elimelekh 5.5; Israel Cohen 5.5, Gershon 5.5, M. Ohayon 5.5, Ben-Ami 5
| (Marton, 70); Hillel 5.5, Rupenik 6.5, Idan Tal 6.5, Udi 5.5 (Tuama, 51 -
| 6); ASSAF TUBI 7, Walnerman 5 (Tikwa, 34 - 6).
********
Guests: Nissan Capeta (53).
| Y. Mizrahi 4; G. Deri 4 (Agassi, 77), Rothem 4, Y. Amar 4, Albert 4.5;
| Sebeg 5, Pitusi 5, A. Brumer 5 (E. Cohen, 54 - 5), Capeta 6, Kabudi 4.5;
| Shikwa 4.5 (Rafi Cohen, 67).
********
REFEREE: Shmuel Steiff (6).
AUDIENCE: 4,000, Bloomfield Stadium, Yaffa.
********
4 goals and 5 goal passes - not a bad harvest even for the whole season, right? Well, this is the productivity of Assaf Tubi from only the 2 games vs Rishon le-Zion this year. The 1st half never gave a hint for the continuation, as the hosts opened the score just before the break - Tubi's pass was continued from a close range by Kefir Udi; however, soon afterwards Nissan Capeta equalized with a beautiful arched header under the left crossbar of Shavit Elimelekh, after a preparation by Udi Kabudi. In the light of those developments, it's completely unclear how Rishon could break down so awfully in just 25 minutes. Two passes of Tubi for the mighty far-ranger of Davor Rupenik and the clever bounce of Shalom Tikwa made the trend clear, and the game was still young. 10 minutes from time, Idan Tal showed the Rishon's wall he was about to shoot a free kick, but then he passed one defender, misled the other and finally sent the mighty killer from the box line, under the right crossbar of Yaniv Mizrahi; 3 minutes afterwards, the goal pass of Gabor Marton was continued with a great shot of Salim Tuama (very similar to Rupenik's goal). The hero of the game was of course Tubi, and he was the one to take the penalty therefore, after Kefir Agassi had knocked him down during the dying seconds. 6:1 to the Reds, a good preparation to the Cup battle.
HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 2:0 (0:0). ----------------------------------------------------------- Hosts: Samson Siasiah (57), Ephraim Tsafrir (61). | Pashko 5; Flash 5.5, Khen 6, Sokher 6, Avigdor 5.5; Shlomi Dahan 5.5 | (Postacci, 56 - 5.5), Zaric 5.5, Beni Hadad 6, GEORGI DARASELIA 6.5; | Siasiah 5.5 (D. Kabeda, 76), Tsafrir 6.5 (Buzaglo, 83). ******** Guests: -. | Goresh 5; I. Amar 5, Magamedov 5.5, S. Tsofin 5, E. Levi 6; Ben-Yosef 5 (R. | Sharabi, 78), Shemariyahu 5.5, Lusek 5 (RED, 59), G. Itzhak 5.5; Bransi | 4.5, S. Avitan 5. ******** REFEREE: Haim Lipkovich (8). AUDIENCE: 1,500, Ironi Stadium, Holon. ********
In a dull game with no clear opportunities for any of the sides, the result was decided in 5 minutes, around one hour of play. It was a red card shown to Miroslav Lusek, for a brutal foul on Oren Flash, and it happened between the 2 goals - after a combination of Daraselia - Flash - Daraselia - Tsafrir - Siasiah, and after a combination of Daraselia - Hadad - Tsafrir. It was the first victory of Holon in 10 games.
Maccabee Yaffa - HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA 1:4 (1:2). ----------------------------------------------- Hosts: Imad Bukhari (15). | Davidoff 4; E. Sayag 4 (M. Sason, 46 - 5), Mahamid 4, Rabinovich 4.5, Moyal | 4, Lupo 4; G. Hershlikovich 5.5, N. Cohen 5.5 (Shakruka, 55 - 4.5), | Djilovski 5.5; Afek 4.5, Bukhari 6 (Rishti, 83). ******** Guests: Niv Tal (37, 53), Yaniv Avvargeal (42, 80). | Strauss 6; Ganon 6, Ben-Haim 5.5, Netser 6, A. Cohen 5 (S. Danan, 41 - | 5.5); Shum 5 (NIV TAL, 26 - 7), A. Itzhak 6, Masterovic 5.5 (Chichian, 87), | Shem-Tov 6; Ungur 6.5 (RED, 81), Avvargeal 7. ******** REFEREE: Amihai Moses (7). AUDIENCE: 250, Gaon Stadium, Yaffa. ********
The young Imad Bukhari scored his 2nd goal this season, and again vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba; however, it didn't help much to his team which relegated anyway. Despite the very egoistic game of Yaniv Avvargeal, he scored 2 goals, and another 2 were contributed by the substitute Niv Tal, "The Man Of The Match". It was only unfortunate that Adrian Ungur, the Romanian forward of Kefar-Saba who gave another good game and set a goal, was sent off 9 minutes from time, for an unexplicable foul on Zeev Lupo near the midline without the ball.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 3:1 (3:1). ------------------------------------------------------ Hosts: Yair Simhon (15), Liron Vilner (29), Guy Gat (35). | Gilardi 6; E. Arbel 5.5, Barmecher 6, Y. Koretski 6.5, Entebbi 5.5; Mishal | 6.5, Gat 6.5, Ivanov 7, Naduda 7, YAIR SIMHON 7 (Shabo, 90); Vilner 6.5 | (L. Asulin, 80). ******** Guests: Barukh Dego (13). | Devadze 6; Hazut 5, Masouli 4.5, Fibakh 4.5, Spire 5 (Tobol, 62); Y. Offir | 4.5 (Fadida, 62), A. Sharabi 5, Balog 5, Dego 5.5; Zrihen 4.5, Turgeman 5. ******** REFEREE: Haim Yaacov (9). AUDIENCE: 2,500, Ironi Stadium, Herzliya. ********
In a very important bottom game between the teams adjacent to the red line from the different sides, Ashdod opened the score after a determined attack of the young Barukh Dego, who beat Shuli Gilardi in the 2nd attempt. It took Herzliya only 2 minutes to equalize, when Oleg Naduda sent a clever ball to the head of Yair Simhon. 14 minutes afterwards, the guests' defence failed to clear the ball away, and Liron Vilner curved it from 18 meters under the bar of Akakiy Devadze, a comeback. The last goal of the game came in another 6 minutes, when Devadze parried 2 balls, but could do nothing against the 3rd rebound of Guy Gat, with Ashdod defence standing and watching curiously. The score could've been even higher, but Devadze performed a breathtaking save from Naduda's shot under the bar (61). The new coach of Ashdod, Nissim Bakhar (Nir Levin was fired, and he will coach Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa the next season), expressed a cautious optimism and said he believed the team could stay in the League; Shiya Feigenbaum, on the other hand, led his team to an important victory. And by the way, this was the meeting between the only teams defeating Hapoel Haifa this year in the League; both wins came after the impressive comebacks...
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Dudu Awwat
(Hapoel Haifa)
Offer Talker Viadin Kolosevic Yaacov Koretski Itzhak Oka
(Hapoel Haifa) (Hap. Petakh-Tikwa) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Jean Talesnikov Yair Simhon Niv Tal Michael Zandberg
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hap. Kefar-Saba) (Hap. Petakh-Tikwa)
Assaf Tubi Yaniv Avvargeal
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)
Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa,
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Maccabee Herzliya - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Haifa 25 20 3 2 54-11 63
2 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 25 16 4 5 58-24 52
3 (2) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 25 16 3 6 61-25 51
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 25 15 3 7 52-23 48
5 (5) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 25 13 7 5 40-23 46
6 (6) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 25 13 4 8 47-35 43
7 (9) Hapoel Jerusalem 25 10 3 12 31-45 33
8 (10) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 25 9 5 11 35-52 32
9 (11) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 25 7 9 9 31-28 30
10 (7) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 25 8 6 11 36-39 30
11 (8) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 25 8 6 11 42-54 30
12 (13) Maccabee Herzliya 25 8 4 13 27-35 28
13 (12) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 25 7 5 13 33-47 26
14 (14) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 25 6 7 12 31-44 25
15 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 25 5 3 17 23-67 18
16 (16) Maccabee Yaffa 25 1 4 20 12-61 7 Relegated
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Michael Zandberg, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
TOP SCORERS: Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 19(3) 1(1)
**********************************************************
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 17(4) 1(0)
Andrzej Kubica (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 17(4)
**********************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Beitar Jerusalem) 16(1)
**********************************************************
Amir Turgeman (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 15(7)
**********************************************************
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 14(2)
**********************************************************
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0) 1(0)
Samson Siasiah (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) 12(0) 1(0)
Cobi Refua (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 12(0)
Yossi Benayoun (Maccabee Haifa) 12(0)
Victor Pacha (Maccabee Haifa) 12(0)
(9 goals in Hapoel Jerusalem)
Giovanni Rosso (Hapoel Haifa) 12(5) 2(2)
**********************************************************
Yaniv Avvargeal (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 11(6) 2(0)
**********************************************************
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 10(0)
Adrian Ungur (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 10(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 10(1) 1(1)
**********************************************************
Nissan Capeta (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 9(3) 1(0)
Rajid Bransi (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(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 |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Hapoel Haifa (1) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (3) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (8) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Jerusalem (7) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (9) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) | Maccabee Herzliya (12) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (14) | Maccabee Yaffa (16) |
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