21 goals, 3 penalties and 8(!) red cards, in the most brutal week for years in the Israeli football - this was the thing I missed live while being in London. The central game in Haifa turned out to be the bloody feast, and to summarize, 6 of the 8 players who were sent off are the key-players of the National and the Olympic teams of Israel. That's about time we start learning to behave ourselves on the pitch, isn't it?
Maccabee Haifa turned out to be the 2nd, and Hapoel Haifa, despite many forecasts, is already the 3rd, playing some pieces of attractive football. Maccabee Tel-Aviv still seems to be in shape, and I'm sure the terrible game in Haifa won't influence them for a long range. And Beitar Jerusalem is the 1st with unstoppable games and the perfect record by now. At the bottom, Bnei-Yehuda shares unexpectedly the last place with Hapoel Kefar-Saba; it seems like "the Syndrome of Bonnie Ginzburg" is still working. Reuven Attar continues to stay "The Best Scorer", and Amir Turgeman scores in the 4th consecutive game, a great achievement by the young forward.
The game between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv was the central of this week, but it turned out to be a bloody nightmare. 33 minutes from the start, Alon Halfon of Haifa brutally entered into Alon Brumer and broke 2 bones of the latter, for what he was immediately sent off. Hearing the screams of his twin, Gadi Brumer rushed towards Alon Halfon and tried to push him, stopped by Tal Banin at the last moment. Nevertheless, he was sent off by Itzhak Ben-Itzhak, the best referee of Israel; a dubious decision of the latter since he could've just booked Gadi, provided the lack of an actual impact and the pain of the twin brother. At this point Avi Nimni turned to be unstoppable and pushed the referee away, cursing him; he was also sent off, right enough. The game restarted after 8 or so minutes, and Amir Turgeman managed to score a clever goal minutes before the break; after the break, Uvarov knocked Turgeman down in the box, was booked, and Reuven Attar converted the penalty into another goal, though Uvarov was very close to reach it. Here Itzhak Zohar was sent off, after saying something brutal to the linesman. That was the game which provided us the bloody drama and the changes on top.
Playing against Hapoel Tel-Aviv away in a delayed game, Maccabee Haifa wasn't sparkling, and Hapoel was quite a lot better. Nevertheless, the great efficiency of Haifa in the attacking line and the lack of luck from Hapoel's side made Haifa the 2nd from the top, the only unbeaten team except Beitar Jerusalem. Sergei Kandaurov managed to score a minute before the break, and then Nissim Avitan equalized. However, Alon Mizrahi (substituting Offer Shitrit) and Haim Revivo seemed to recall their fantastic past in Bnei-Yehuda. 82: Revivo made the pass, Mizrahi was knocked down in the box by Guy Sharabi, and Kandaurov converted the penalty, not far from Jaroslav Baku's arm, 2:1. And 2 minutes later, Krasimierz Muskal lost the ball to Alon Mizrahi, who after a double-pass with Revivo found himself in front of the keeper and scored. 3:1, Maccabee Haifa the 2nd, Hapoel Tel-Aviv the 5th.
Beitar Jerusalem met the newcomer Maccabee Yaffa away, and should've devastated this team completely but saw Boris Beloshapka in the hosts' net. However, even he couldn't help his team in the certain moments. 16: Ohana shot the terrific bomb from 7 meters, Beloshapka managed to do the impossible and to parry it, but Ronen Harazi was the first to head the rebound in. After just 7 minutes it was Istvan Salloi who got the ball from Laszlo Czeh, swang his defender and shot it in, 2:0; Salloi is by now the best player of our League, its best foreign player, one of the best scorers, and by now he didn't miss even once "The Team Of The Week", a fantastic achievement. And then, the minutes between 70 and 72 were the richest with events. 70: Czeh sent Eli Ohana in, and Yossi Bilu kicked him down before the net, a penalty kick and a red card to Bilu. Ohana himself sent the ball strongly and quite precisely to his left corner, but Beloshapka parried it in a fantastic flight. A minute later, a corner by Laszlo Czeh found Arik Benado with a header, 3:0. And then Eli Ohana, nervous a little bit after the missed penalty, sent an ankle towards Nidal Mahamid and found himself sent off as well. Nidal made a great shot to Beitar's bar 2 minutes from time, but it didn't help much. Beitar didn't lose points by now, and Yaffa's nearly at the very bottom.
Shaul Smadja, despite the dozen of goals conceded from Barcelona, still stayed one of the best in Hapoel Beer-Sheva, being the only force to stop Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home to a nil draw, the first one this season. And Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, being down at home to Hapoel Beit-Shean, managed still to score 2 goals in the dying minutes and to win the game. Both of the Petakh-Tikwa's teams do not disappoint by now.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion managed to gain its first points during this season, defeating the bad Bnei-Yehuda squad, 2:0, from a fantastic free kick by Meir Azran and a good shot by Dudu Heffer later on; if Peter Schmeichel scored the goal himself against Rotor Volgograd, Shavit Elimelekh made "just" a goal pass by leg to 70 meters (!). And Herzliya's keeper Shuli Gilardi, risking his life to prevent a bank robbery in the middle of the week, was helpless against Holon, 0:1 from Hezi Shirazi's goal. Offer Mizrahi, the International forward of Herzliya, was sent off after saying something bad to the linesman.
Beitar Tel-Aviv defeated Kefar-Saba 4:1 away, a good achievement for the weak Tel-Aviv team. 2 great goals were produced there. 73: Yaniv Sharabi sent the ball to Yaniv Avvargeal, who in one touch swang his defender, stopped it on the chest and sent an unstoppable bomb to his high corner, 4:0. And then it was the Hungarian Gabor Marton who shot greatly from 20 meters, 4:1. Despite that goal, Kefar-Saba should start thinking about its future, which is really far from being pink.
The next round brings us the central game of Beitar Jerusalem against Hapoel Beer-Sheva. And also: will Maccabee Haifa be able to beat Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, after the previous year with two disappointing 1:1 draws? Befors that round in a fortnight, we have to see our guys making it against Azerbaijan, in EC'96 preliminaries. GOOD LUCK!!!
Maccabee Yaffa - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:3 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Ronen Harazi (16), Istvan Salloi (23), Arik Benado (71).
RED: Yossi Bilu, defender, Maccabee Yaffa, 70.
Eli Ohana, forward, Beitar Jerusalem, 72.
THE BEST: Laszlo Czeh, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
On the 70th minute Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) missed a penalty kick -
Boris Beloshapka saved.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - MACCABEE HAIFA 1:3 (0:1). [Played on 02/10]
---------------------------------------------
Hosts: Nissim Avitan (70).
Guests: Sergei Kandaurov (44, 82 pen), Alon Mizrahi (84).
THE BEST: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 3:0 (2:0).
---------------------------------------------
Hosts: Nir Sokher (8), Amir Turgeman (45), Reuven Attar (49 pen).
Guests: -.
RED: Alon Halfon, defender, Hapoel Haifa, 33.
Gadi Brumer, defender, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 33.
Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 33.
Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 48.
THE BEST: Felix Halfon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
----------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Shaul Smadja, keeper, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:1 (0:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Roman Filipchuk (84), Najouan Grayib (90).
Guests: Hannah Farhoud (59).
THE BEST: Morad Abu-Kishak, defender, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Maccabee Herzliya - HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON 0:1 (0:0).
-------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Hezi Shirazi (51).
RED: Offer Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Herzliya, 64.
THE BEST: Oren Zeituni, midfielder, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - BEITAR TEL-AVIV 1:4 (0:2).
------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Gabor Marton (85).
Guests: Moshe Eisenberg (4), Yaniv Avvargeal (10, 73), Ronen Schweig (53).
THE BEST: Yaniv Avvargeal, forward, Beitar Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 2:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Meir Azran (51), Dudu Heffer (76).
Guests: -.
RED: Offer Levi, defender, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 58.
THE BEST: Dudu Heffer, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
THE ROUND'S TEAM:
-----------------
Sagi Strauss
(Beitar Tel-Aviv)
Felix Halfon Yehuda Amar Morad Abu-Kishak David Amsalem
(Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Oren Zeituni Laszlo Czeh Ronen Schweig Istvan Salloi
(Tsafririm Holon) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Yaniv Avvargeal Moshe Eisenberg
(Beitar Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Tel-Aviv)
NOTE: Had the list been registered on Tuesday, it would've been Alon Mizrahi
(Maccabee Haifa) instead of Moshe Eisenberg.
Beitar Tel-Aviv - 4.
Beitar Jerusalem - 3.
Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon,
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Beit-Shean - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2-3) Beitar Jerusalem 04 4 0 0 10- 3 12
2 (4) Maccabee Haifa 04 3 1 0 9- 3 10
3 (5) Hapoel Haifa 04 3 0 1 10- 3 9
4 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 04 3 0 1 9- 5 9
5 (2-3) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 04 3 0 1 8- 6 9
6 (6) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 04 2 1 1 7- 5 7
7 (7) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 04 2 1 1 10- 9 7
8 (8) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 04 1 2 1 5- 5 5
9 (12) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 04 1 1 2 8-10 4
10 (9) Hapoel Beit-Shean 04 1 1 2 5- 7 4
11 (15) Beitar Tel-Aviv 04 1 1 2 6- 9 4
12 (16) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 04 1 0 3 4- 5 3
13 (11) Maccabee Herzliya 04 1 0 3 1- 5 3
14 (10) Maccabee Yaffa 04 1 0 3 6-11 3
15 (13) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 04 0 1 3 4-10 1
-- (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 04 0 1 3 4-10 1
BEST PLAYER: Laszlo Czeh, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 5(2) 1(1)
*********************************************************
Nissim Avitan (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 4(0) 1
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 4(0) 1
*********************************************************
Hezi Shirazi (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) 3(0) 1
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 3(0) 1
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 3(0) 1
Guy Itzhak (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 3(0)
Manor Hassan (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 3(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 3(1) 2(1)
Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) 3(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 3(1)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (8) |
| Maccabee Haifa (2) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (15-16) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (4) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (15-16) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (9) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) | Maccabee Herzliya (13) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (11) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (7) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (10) | Maccabee Yaffa (14) |
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