19 goals, just one red card and one missed penalty - this was the story of this weekend, with a status-quo preserved at the top and changed a little bit at the bottom. One nil draw was also registered, as nearly usual, in the game of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv devastated Holon away (as a matter of fact, it was at Maccabee's home stadium of Bloomfield, where Holon decided to play in order to collect more money), with 3 goals of Eli Driks and 3 goal passes of Avi Nimni; by now, the leader lost the points just to the teams from Haifa. Those made the last preparations for the great derby between them - Maccabee, showing a pretty dull soccer, still defeated Bnei-Yehuda, and Hapoel, on the other hand, devastated the pretty good squad of Hapoel Tel-Aviv away, with 2 goals of Ran Ben-Shimon, 2 of Amir Turgeman and 3 assists of Reuven Attar. Beitar Jerusalem, losing the last game at home, recovered on the expense of Beit-Shean, and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa registered yet another consecutive victory, due to the great acrobatic effort of its forward, Najouan Grayib; the team of Avraham Marchinsky set a record of its own consecutive victories (6). Two very important victories were registered by Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. And Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, playing the game that seemed very easy, missed the opportunity to go on striking at the top, while its game the next week will be much harder...
Just 40 seconds into the game, Eli Driks had a wonderful opportunity to open the score, but his ball was parried by the hosts' defender. Nevertheless, the score was opened in just one minute from then, and although Avi Nimni scored from a clear offside, Holon can't blame the referee for what happened later on. Driks missed several more opportunities, but then scored 3 times, with the substitute Meir Melika heading another goal in between; Alexander Zhidkov, the Azerian keeper of Holon, prevented several more goals. After that game, the fans of Tel-Aviv can be happy for their team, since the soccer it plays is very good; and as for Holon, a lot's still to be done.
As for the fans of Maccabee Haifa, they can be severely disappointed from the way their team played, as a lot of opportunities were missed, and Haifa looked dull. Nevertheless, Haifa was attacking throughout the game, though Bnei-Yehuda undoubtedly gained something from its new foreigners, Igor Shkvyrin and Joseph Doro. Bonnie Ginzburg, the National keeper, saved some dangerous balls before and after the goal of Shitrit; and there were also 2 posts of Shitrit and Revivo, while Rafi Cohen, another National keeper, was getting chilled with no work under the pouring rain. The 1:0 victory in one-sided game could've disappointed the fans even more, but in the last minute, Moshe Glam got the ball into the box and volleyed it home powerfully with his left foot, leaving the keeper no chance. A wonderful final accord to a very mediocre show, and a lot of work is to be done before the derby.
Playing the 2nd game of the day in Bloomfield, Hapoel Haifa proved once more it indeed deserved to be in one of the top places. Playing against the pretty good squad of Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Haifa chose the right tactics of playing high balls into the box of the hosts; twice it was Ran Ben-Shimon to head it home in the 1st half, despite the height of the keeper and the defenders. After a break, Amir Turgeman added another couple of goals and joined Reuven Attar in "The Scorers List"; the latter, not scoring for several weeks, was not too disappointed personally, as he made 3 goal passes. The hosts could just reduce the score - a free kick of Alon Offir found a post of Zoltan Veg and went to another post, and then the keeper held it, but beyond the line. But, despite this reducer, the pressure was of Haifa, and if not for Jaroslav Baku (parrying in a great flight the free kick of Tal Banin and performing several other good saves), the result could've been even higher.
Beitar Jerusalem, being defeated unexpectedly a week ago by Rishon le-Zion, recovered fully on the expense of Hapoel Beit-Shean, scoring 4 goals and conceding none. Istvan Salloi was not again at his top form, but this time, Ronen Harazi, Eli Ohana, Laszlo Czeh and Yossi Abuksis did everything they were supposed to do. Beit-Shean went now to the very bottom, and Beitar proved us once again that it's a strong team which knows to cope with temporary falls. The coach of Beit-Shean, Eli Gutman, said after the game: "The situation is hard and even critical, but I have no intention of retirement and I'm sure my way will leave the team in the National League".
The game between Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa ended with some interesting statistics - the guests won their 6th consecutive game to set a club record, and on the other hand, the hosts lost their 5th consecutive game, which seems to be a club record too (to be checked), but quite a sad one. The 2 teams were nearly equal, but only one scored - Eyal Beglyabter released a corner kick, and Raz Rabinovich headed the ball to Najouan Grayib, who stretched greatly and shot a bright scissors kick, being 10 meters from the net with a back to it. The best opportunity of Beer-Sheva was registered beforehand, when a wonderful scissors kick of Hisham Zoabi found Golan Malul closing the corner in a fantastic instinct. And so, Avraham Marchinsky is now the truly hero of Petakh-Tikwa, while Beer-Sheva has some major problems, and neither Viko Hadad nor Vitaliy Shevchenko are to blame for them entirely.
Talking about Viko Hadad, he proved that his fantastic debute at Teddy a week ago wasn't a mere luck - this time his team, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, won once again, defeating Maccabee Yaffa at home from a great free kick performed by Meir Azran. The margin could've been much higher, but Boris Beloshapka parried the kick of Dudu Heffer and spoiled several other opportunities of Rishon.
Another 1:0 was registered at Ramat-ha'Sharon derby between Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Kefar-Saba, when Yaniv Cohen managed to beat Eran Scheinsinger from inside the box. Even so, Scheinsinger was brilliant throughout the game, stopping several times the dangerous shots; and on the other hand, Shuli Gilardi hadn't a lot of work to do in his own net, but did greatly whenever he was needed. Nissim Cohen, at the age of 41, was the best on the pitch and showed his frustration after the game: "In every game I'm guarded personally, and I can not play normally, as the defenders destroy my game intentionally; that's a compliment for me, but this still sucks, as the soccer goes 20 years back this way!"
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, on the other hand, didn't manage to register the victory against Beitar Tel-Aviv and made just a disappointing nil draw, the 4th of the team out of 6 registered in all the games by now. Hapoel was clearly the better team, and should've won; however, Sagi Strauss defended greatly the net of Beitar, and the referee, Avner Cohen, seemed somewhat biased into the guests' favour. Besides, Manor Hassan was sent off, and Hapoel's midline was severely weakened. The next week will be the week of exam to this team, and as for Beitar Tel-Aviv, it narrowly escaped the last place and stopped the series of 6 consecutive losses, which is very important morally for the outsiders.
NEXT WEEK: Two great top games not to be missed! Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) meets Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6), the young team of Guy Levi to be beaten just once by far. And the main attraction is Haifa's derby - Hapoel (3, 28 pts, 28-9) vs Maccabee (2, 28, 34-14), the best defence vs the best attack, Avraham Grant vs Giora Spiegel, the National keeper of Hungary (Zoltan Veg) vs the National keeper of Israel (Rafi Cohen). Unfortunately, Maccabee will play without Haim Revivo and Alon Hazan (suspended for being booked 3 times), and Hapoel - without Ran Ben-Shimon and Alon Halfon (for the same reason); still, the game will be very interesting and ... well, Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem will enjoy their rivals losing points.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 0:5 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Avi Nimni (2), Eli Driks (53, 72, 76), Meir Melika (74).
THE BEST: Eli Driks, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 2:0 (1:0).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Offer Shitrit (28), Moshe Glam (90).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Avishai Zhano, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL HAIFA 1:4 (0:2).
-------------------------------------------
Hosts: Alon Offir (69).
Guests: Ran Ben-Shimon (18, 38), Amir Turgeman (52, 62).
THE BEST: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Beit-Shean 4:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Laszlo Czeh (10), Ronen Harazi (43), Eli Ohana (54),
OG (Nini Assor, 78).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Laszlo Czeh, midfiedler, Beitar Jerusalem.
On the 72nd minute Shimon Danan (Hapoel Beit-Shean) missed a penalty kick -
the ball went to the left of the post of Itzhak Korenfein.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 0:1 (0:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Najouan Grayib (76).
THE BEST: Najouan Grayib, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - Beitar Tel-Aviv 0:0.
--------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Manor Hassan, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 60.
THE BEST: Sagi Strauss, keeper, Beitar Tel-Aviv.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 1:0 (0:0).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Yaniv Cohen (76).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Alexander Taikov, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Maccabee Yaffa 1:0 (0:0).
---------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Meir Azran (81).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Meir Azran, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
THE ROUND'S TEAM:
-----------------
Sagi Strauss
(Beitar Tel-Aviv)
Eitan Mizrahi Oleg Molokov Raz Rabinovich Avishai Zhano
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Rishon le-Zion) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Maccabee Haifa)
Laszlo Czeh Ran Ben-Shimon Reuven Attar Avi Nimni
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Eli Driks Amir Turgeman
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa)
Hapoel Haifa - 3.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem - 2.
Maccabee Haifa, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa,
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Beitar Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 12 10 1 1 31- 9 31
2 (2) Maccabee Haifa 12 8 4 0 34-14 28
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 12 9 1 2 28- 9 28
4 (4) Beitar Jerusalem 12 8 3 1 26-13 27
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 12 8 1 3 24-19 25
6 (6) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 12 5 6 1 18-10 21
7 (7) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 12 6 2 4 16-16 20
8 (8) Maccabee Herzliya 12 5 1 6 10-11 16
9 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 12 4 1 7 10-16 13
10 (9) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 12 3 3 6 16-15 12
11 (10) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 12 3 1 8 14-25 10
12 (12) Maccabee Yaffa 12 3 0 9 10-25 9
13 (13) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 12 2 2 8 11-23 8
14 (14-15) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 12 2 2 8 10-23 8
15 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 12 2 2 8 15-29 8
16 (14-15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 12 2 2 8 10-26 8
BEST PLAYER: Eli Driks, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 10(0)
******************************************************
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 9(0) 2
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 9(2)
******************************************************
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 8(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 8(1) 3
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(2)
******************************************************
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 7(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 7(3)
******************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 6(0) 1
Sergei Gusev (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 6(1) 1
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 6(1) 1
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) |
| Hapoel Haifa (3) | Maccabee Haifa (2) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (15) | Beitar Jerusalem (4) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Maccabee Herzliya (8) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (14) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (7) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (16) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (9) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (12) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (11) |
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