17 goals, just 31 yellow cards, no red cards at all and one crucial penalty missed - this was the story of the last weekend, the one in which 3 top teams lost points, and Beitar Jerusalem registered a performance to throw it one place up, with the best 45 minutes played by any Israeli team this year. Hapoel Beer-Sheva scored at last, this time after 519 (!) dry minutes, its first goal of 1996, again through Hisham Zoabi (who scored also the last time in Week 13, against Maccabee Yaffa), but that didn't help much, as Hapoel Beit-Shean registered its first ever victory against Beer-Sheva; the 1st victory of Beit-Shean in 1996, and the first one after the same Week 13. And talking more about Week 13, this weekend was the first dry game of Haim Revivo after the Week 13 derby (where he didn't play because of the yellows), although twice he was so close to score the greatest possible goals, and then made a goal pass. Alon Mizrahi, on the other hand, goes on scoring and climbs to the 3rd place in "The Best Scorers List", becoming also our "Player Of The Week". And now - everything detailed.
Maccabee Herzliya didn't give up in Teddy and played up to the very end, and moreover, scoring 3 goals against Herzliya is no easy task anymore, in Gili Landau's era; still, Beitar Jerusalem was unstoppable yesterday, and registered the superb performance during the first 45 minutes, with all the goals to be real masterpieces. Both Hungarian players of Beitar, Istvan Salloi and Istvan Pisont, threatening to leave Israel this week because of the terror attacks, took their words back on the field, showing the top class. It started after 12 minutes, when Pisont bounced a clever corner kick outside the box, Yossi Abuksis fired a volley bomb from 22 meters, and Salloi, with his back to the net, changed the ball direction with a Romario-style heel to surprise Shuli Gilardi, 1:0. Gilardi registered yet several sparkling saves, before the 2nd goal came - this time, Salloi passed the ball to Ronen Harazi, and the latter misled Tomer Azulai, passed Shuli Gilardi and scored; Azulai sent Harazi down, but the forward managed to touch the ball while falling and to score, and so, Herzliya stayed on the pitch with 11 players. However, it wasn't over, and after yet another free kick of Pisont, Arik Benado passed the ball to Harazi, the latter shot from the air, and Salloi "corrected" the trajectory again, so that the ball would pass above the flying Gilardi, 3:0. In the 2nd half, Herzliya was better and attacked continuously, but saw Itzhak Korenfein in the hosts' net, again and again. Beitar lacked yesterday Eli Ohana (3 yellow cards), and it wasn't felt - this team can be really proud of its skill.
"The luck comes to the best", says the famous proverb, and right it is - Beitar registered a superb performance, and was also lucky, as all its 3 top rivals lost points. Maccabee Tel-Aviv's sequence of 5 consecutive victories was interrupted, as Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa kept it to just a nil draw in Ramat-Gan. Petakh-Tikwa was a tough rival, and if the leaders pressed all the time, the guests performed several deadly counterattacks; both keepers, Golan Malul and Alexander Uvarov, did their job well and got the marks of 6.5 each, which means that even the nil draw can be interesting sometimes. Malul reached the peak 12 minutes before the break, when he slipped a powerful bomb of Victor Moroz from 25 meters, but then reacted greatly and flew to the far corner of his net to parry the rebound of Haim Hageage; also, Avi Nimni and Eli Driks missed quite a bunch of times. On the other hand, Filipchuk's header hit the post (27), and Uvarov was there to deny Filipchuk (65) and Guy Itzhak (77) in one-to-one situations. The fans of Maccabee Tel-Aviv didn't like the score, and here the referee Haim Yaacov was mistaken - when Eyal Beglyabter was about to perform a corner kick, a bottle was thrown towards him, and as the midfielder raised it and showed it to the referee, the latter booked Eyal for time-wasting! The referee is to defend the players, and not to make those illogical decisions of haste.
Maccabee Haifa should've had an easy game against the outsider Hapoel Tsafririm Holon away, but the things went otherwise in reality. After 11 minutes Eyal Berkovich bounced a clever corner kick outside the box, and Haim Revivo was there, 23 meters from the net, with a terrific volley bomb that hit the bar. But all over, it was Hezi Shirazi of Holon, who penetrated the defence of Haifa again and again; once his ball parried by Rafi Cohen, and once his ball missing the frame from the penalty kick, after he himself was knocked down in the box by Jaroslav Kintus. After the break, both teams continued attacking over and over again, and the wonderful curved ball of Revivo from the mirrored "Hagi point" hit the post of Zhidkov (76); still, Revivo gave a certain happiness to Haifa's fans, after he shot to the frame, and Ronnie Levi caressed the ball with his head to change its direction, 1:0. But still, it was Hezi Shirazi to say the last word, 3 minutes from time; as Rafi Cohen could've taken this ball, it seems Nir Davidovich will play against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa the next week.
Hapoel Haifa also can see itself very disappointed, after losing 2 points to Hapoel Rishon le-Zion at home. Scoring an early goal through Demir Lajec, the hosts could multiply the score, but saw Shavit Elimelekh in the top form and Amir Turgeman in a very bad one; the scorer was sent once in one-to-one position against Shavit Elimelekh, but the keeper got out of the box and denied him, playing as a sweeper without hands! And, as the cliche says, "when you don't score, you concede" - after 65 minutes, Vladimir Greshnev fed Oleg Koshlyuk with the ball, and the latter shot it from 20 meters with his lethal left, to the high right post of Zoltan Veg and in. The later goal of Offer Talker (72) was disallowed, because of the hand the defender used to stop the ball; a good job here by Suhil Daud, since in the last Copa America, the same action performed by Tulio led to a goal without referee's reaction. And another goal was disallowed because of the rightly seen offside.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv registered a good performance, beating Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, and if not the young keeper of the guests, Ishai Sason, the score could've been higher. Alon Mizrahi scored 3 times, with his 2nd goal to be the best in the whole game - the fast passes of Siton - Doro - Moukan - Mararo - Moukan - Sevilla - Mizrahi left the forward free to shoot powerfully under the bar. After just 70 minutes, the victory was so clear that the coach Yaacov Grondman substituted the International keeper Bonnie Ginzburg (good) with a young Guy Nakhshon; that cost his team a goal, but didn't change the good mood. Bnei-Yehuda is running away from the relegation zone.
Hapoel Beit-Shean registered a very important victory over Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, the first ever victory of Beit-Shean against the "Princes of Negev". Beer-Sheva opened the score with Hisham Zoabi, but Beit-Shean equalized quickly through the wonderful effort of Vyacheslav Melnikov; the people who remember how he maddened the best Israeli defence of Maccabee Tel-Aviv (he was then still in Rishon le-Zion), will imagine this goal, when he misled Andrei Talesnenko, passed Shlomo Iluz, passed Andrei Talesnenko once again and bounced it finally above Shaul Smadja. The winner of Hapoel Beit-Shean came in the dying minutes, when Nini Assor bounced the ball into the rival's box, and the substitute Nassim Agbariya touched it there before Talesnenko, Iluz and Smadja, 2:1. A good debute for the new coach of Beit-Shean, Michael (Lupo) Kadosh, fired from Beitar Tel-Aviv and replacing in Beit-Shean the fired Eli Gutman.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Tel-Aviv finished with a draw, and Moti Kakun returned to "The Best Scorers List". And the bottom fight between Beitar Tel-Aviv and Maccabee Yaffa ended with a disappointing nil draw.
NEXT WEEK: Two games of top interest, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (2) in Bloomfield, and Maccabee Haifa (3) hosts Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8), "The Draw Queen". Two bottom battles, Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) vs Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) vs Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (15). Also to watch - Maccabee Yaffa (14) vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1), Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) vs Bnei-Yehuda (9).
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Eyal Beglyabter, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Maccabee Herzliya 3:0 (3:0).
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Hosts: Istvan Salloi (12, 34), Ronen Harazi (29).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Ehud Kahila, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - Maccabee Haifa 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Hezi Shirazi (87).
Guests: Ronnie Levi (78).
THE BEST: Roman Pets, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
On the 43rd minute Hezi Shirazi (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) missed a penalty
kick - the ball went above the bar of Rafi Cohen.
Hapoel Haifa - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Demir Lajec (8).
Guests: Oleg Koshlyuk (65).
THE BEST: Shavit Elimelekh, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Moti Kakun (28).
Guests: Krasimierz Muskal (14).
THE BEST: Guy Sharabi, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 4:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Alon Mizrahi (9, 51, 70), Vassili Moukan (57).
Guests: Cobi Refua (82).
THE BEST: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Vyacheslav Melnikov (32), Nassim Agbariya (89).
Guests: Hisham Zoabi (24).
THE BEST: Dani Malkin, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Beitar Tel-Aviv - Maccabee Yaffa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Offer Reuven, forward, Maccabee Yaffa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Shavit Elimelekh
(Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Shmuel Levi Roman Pets Ehud Kahila Eitan Taib
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Tsafririm Holon) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hap. Beit-Shean)
Eyal Beglyabter Dani Malkin Ronnie Levi Shimon Danan
(Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Hap. Beit-Shean) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hap. Beit-Shean)
Alon Mizrahi Hezi Shirazi
(Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) (Tsafririm Holon)
Hapoel Beit-Shean - 3.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - 2.
Maccabee Haifa, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa,
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 21 16 3 2 43-14 51
2 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 21 14 6 1 46-19 48
3 (2) Maccabee Haifa 21 13 7 1 57-25 46
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 21 12 6 3 45-23 42
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 21 10 7 4 32-24 37
6 (6) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 21 10 5 6 25-23 35
7 (7) Maccabee Herzliya 21 9 3 9 22-22 30
8 (8) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 21 6 11 4 24-21 29
9 (10) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 21 6 4 11 35-43 22
10 (9) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 21 4 7 10 20-24 19
11 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 21 5 4 12 16-29 19
12 (11) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 21 5 3 13 21-37 18
13 (15) Hapoel Beit-Shean 21 4 6 11 19-36 18
14 (13) Maccabee Yaffa 21 5 3 13 17-37 18
15 (14) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 21 4 4 13 21-39 16
16 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 21 3 5 13 21-48 14
BEST PLAYER: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 22(0)
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Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 16(4)
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(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 15(1) 3
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(1)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(3) 1
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Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
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Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 10(0)
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0)
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 10(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1) 1
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 10(4)
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 Yaffa (14) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Maccabee Haifa (3) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (12) | Hapoel Haifa (4) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (7) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (13) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (15) |
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