20 goals, 2 red cards and a crucial penalty missed, altogether with another one scored - this was the story of the first round closing week. 5 games remained undecided, and those draws were the main story - while Haifa managed to beat Petakh-Tikwa in neither of the games, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv achieved only a nil draw against Hapoel Beit-Shean, Beitar Jerusalem defeated Bnei-Yehuda in Shkhunat ha-Tikwa and conquered the top! The 2 other victories were important to the bottom struggles, as registered by Beitar Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Kefar-Saba. And there is a new club to be at the very bottom - Maccabee Yaffa; Tsafririm Holon is in a dangerous vicinity.
The start of Bnei-Yehuda was amazing, as just after 8 minutes Alon Mizrahi got the ball from Sahar Mizrahi, and while the defence of Beitar claimed an offside, passed the keeper Itzhak Korenfein and rolled the ball into an empty net. But the reply of Jerusalem was quick and quite striking - the defender Shmuel Levi got the ball from Eli Ohana, stopped it on the chest, entered the box, passed one defender, passed another one, and bombed from 3 meters, seeing Bonnie Ginzburg falling into the net together with the ball; all that came just a minute from Mizrahi's goal. The 2nd one was of Istvan Salloi, who bounced the ball above the rushing keeper, after a goal pass of Eli Ohana; Moshe Amsalem tried to reach the ball on the line, but slipped on it. Bnei-Yehuda tried hard and attacked a lot, but it was Korenfein all over, stopping Alon Mizrahi, denying Nir Sevilla and Igor Shkvyrin; the keeper reached his peak while flying through all the frame to parry a free kick of Sahar Mizrahi to a corner, "The Save Of The Week". And on the other side, a clear penalty wasn't awarded after Eli Ohana had been kicked down by Nir Shitrit, and then Ohana's goal was disallowed because of a clear offside; nevertheless, Beitar scored from the penalty spot through Ronen Harazi (who had been knocked down by Offer Levi), and then Eitan Mizrahi scored the last goal, after Eli Ohana had been knocked down by Offer Levi, and the advantage had been given. Bnei-Yehuda wasn't bad at all, but it was Beitar which was definitely THE team on the pitch. Shavit Elimelekh, the keeper of Rishon le-Zion, can definitely be proud of himself for staying unbeaten against this attack, the only keeper in the whole League not conceding goals from Beitar Jerusalem.
A little bit of statistics. These were the Champions of the 90s in Israel: 1991 - Maccabee Haifa, 1992 - Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 1993 - Beitar Jerusalem, 1994 - Maccabee Haifa, 1995 - Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 1996 - ?.. As shown yesterday, this "lawful" prediction can definitely become true.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv should've had no problems at all against the weak squad of Beit-Shean, but that wasn't the story in reality. There was indeed a mighty free kick of Itzhak Zohar to the bar of Meir Cohen, but then it was Beit-Shean which was even better. Yossi Alpiya forced Uvarov to stretch and parry his kick, and the best opportunity was of Alexander Eliseyev, who passed the defence and bounced the ball from 35 meters above Uvarov, but also near the post. A last minute opportunity was also of Beit-Shean, when Yossi Alpiya shot a bright free kick, and Uvarov flew to parry it from under his left crossbar. In fact, Beit-Shean deserved yesterday all the compliments, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv just lost the top.
It could've been even worse for Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but its 2 Haifa top rivals didn't win as well. Hapoel scored first against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, through the Lithuanian International Vyacheslav Sukristov, but just 4 minutes afterwards, Adoram Keisi (the best on the pitch) headed home an equalizer. Both teams had then roughly the same number of chances to score, and the game was pretty equal. The best chance of Haifa was on the 74th minute, when Attar sent Alon Halfon into the box, and the latter had been kicked down by Israel Cohen. Cohen had been sent off, and Attar scored from the white spot; the goal was, though, disallowed, as Felix Halfon rushed into the box before the time. Attar changed the direction of his 2nd kick, but so did Shai Hess, flying to parry the ball from his left corner at half a height. After 83 minutes, Tal Banin impacted with Adoram Keisi and broke his leg; it was just a yellow card for Tal Banin, as the entry was unintentional.
Getting a yellow card 6 minutes in the game, Sergei Kandaurov lost his composure and spat on the opponent; the justified red card left Maccabee Haifa away with 10 players, against the threatening somewhat Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa of Avraham Marchinsky. Nevertheless, Haifa scored 2 first goals, and both, how surprising, through the legs of Haim Revivo. He put in the first one after a deflection from Sharon Tsofin, and the 2nd one after a bright free kick. Still, Petakh-Tikwa of today is different from the dull one we used to know; the equalizing goals came quickly, first through Roman Filipchuk and then through Tal Bnaya.
The surprising victory was registered in Kefar-Saba - the hosts defeated Holon 3:0 and jumped up in the table. And a pretty surprising one was also in Tel-Aviv, where Rishon le-Zion was defeated 0:2 by the hosts, Beitar Tel-Aviv (the were 2 goals of the young Yaniv Avvargeal, from the 2 goal passes of Victor Mundi). A day before that, Hapoel Tel-Aviv didn't manage to win in Yaffa; still, the first draw of the hosts this season drowned them to the very bottom.
And a pretty good game was registered in Beer-Sheva, between the hosts and Maccabee Herzliya. This game would be remembered for the goal of the youngster Sharon Sagron, reminding somehow of the goal with which Sergei Gerasimets (then - in Bnei-Yehuda) defeated Holland with his National Team of Belarus. Just before the break Sagron got the ball, played a double pass with Eli Eisha, and entered the box, where he misled Alexander Taikov, passed Tomer Azulai and the keeper Shuli Gilardi with another misleading move and then, falling, shot the ball in half a height from a very hard angle, a wonderful job by the promising youngster. Beforehand, it was a kick of Gadi Hazut to the post from 35 meters, but the last word was of Herzliya - Yair Simhon passed 30 meters and threw the ball to Offer Mizrahi, who touched it lightly to bounce over Shaul Smadja, 1:1.
NEXT WEEK (after a recess): a wonderful game is expected in Haifa, where Hapoel hosts Beitar Jerusalem.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - BEITAR JERUSALEM 1:4 (1:2).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Alon Mizrahi (8).
Guests: Shmuel Levi (9), Istvan Salloi (21), Ronen Harazi (56 pen),
Eitan Mizrahi (86).
THE BEST: Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Beit-Shean 0:0.
--------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Tibor Shallai, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Haifa - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 1:1 (1:1).
-----------------------------------------------
Hosts: Vyacheslav Sukristov (23).
Guests: Adoram Keisi (27).
RED: Israel Cohen, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 74.
THE BEST: Adoram Keisi, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
On the 74th minute Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) missed the penalty kick -
Shai Hess saved.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Maccabee Haifa 2:2 (2:2).
---------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Roman Filipchuk (28), Tal Bnaya (30).
Guests: Haim Revivo (22, 25).
RED: Sergei Kandaurov, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa, 6.
THE BEST: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Maccabee Yaffa - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1:1 (0:1).
---------------------------------------------
Hosts: Itzhak Swissa (80).
Guests: Nissim Avitan (42).
THE BEST: Moti Fleeter, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - Maccabee Herzliya 1:1 (1:0).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Sharon Sagron (45).
Guests: Offer Mizrahi (62).
THE BEST: Shaul Smadja, keeper, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
BEITAR TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 2:0 (0:0).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Yaniv Avvargeal (66, 88).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Yaniv Avvargeal, forward, Beitar Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 3:0 (1:0).
-------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Eli Tsuref (34), Cobi Refua (62), Moti Eberbaum (88).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Nir Yonai, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Shaul Smadja
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Shmuel Levi Yehuda Amar Jamil Hader David Amsalem
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Nir Yonai Yossi Abuksis Haim Revivo Eli Ohana
(Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Eli Tsuref Yaniv Avvargeal
(Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Beitar Tel-Aviv)
Beitar Jerusalem - 4.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba, Hapoel Beit-Shean - 2.
Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Beitar Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 15 11 3 1 36-14 36
2 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 15 11 2 2 34-11 35
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 15 10 3 2 34-14 33
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 15 9 5 1 40-19 32
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 15 8 3 4 27-23 27
6 (6) Maccabee Herzliya 15 7 2 6 16-15 23
7 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 15 5 7 3 21-17 22
8 (8) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 15 6 4 5 17-18 22
9 (9) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 15 4 5 6 19-17 17
10 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 15 4 2 9 12-21 14
11 (14) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 15 4 2 9 15-26 14
12 (11) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 15 4 2 9 18-31 14
13 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 15 3 4 8 13-28 13
14 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 15 3 3 9 18-34 12
15 (13) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 15 3 2 10 19-34 11
16 (15) Maccabee Yaffa 15 3 1 11 13-30 10
BEST PLAYER: Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 14(0) 2
*********************************************************
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 11(3)
*********************************************************
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 9(1)
*********************************************************
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 8(0)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(2) 1(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(2)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 8(3)
*********************************************************
Yaniv Avvargeal (Beitar Tel-Aviv) 7(0) 2
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(1)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(1) 1
Offer Mizrahi (Maccabee Herzliya) 7(2) 1
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in 4 weeks):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Hapoel Haifa (3) | Beitar Jerusalem (1) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (2) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (14) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (16) | Maccabee Haifa (4) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (15) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (10) | Maccabee Herzliya (6) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (11) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (7) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (9) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (8) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (12) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) |
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