27 goals, 4 red cards, 5 penalties awarded and only 3 converted, and 1 own goal - this was what we've seen during this weekend of the wonderful quality. Haim Revivo scored again, and Bonnie Ginzburg became the 2nd keeper ever in the Israeli League, after the legendary Victor Chanov, who parried two penalty kicks in one game. But above all, it was Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Being with 10 players, Hapoel Tel-Aviv devastated Beitar Jerusalem in Bloomfield 4:0, a result nobody could dream about. The teams to enjoy it most of all were, of course, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, which defeated Yaffa away after a very unimpressive 1st half, and Maccabee Haifa, devastating Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 4:1 at home after a very bad 1st half as well. Hapoel Haifa goes on closing the gap, this time defeating Hapoel Kefar-Saba away; Amir Turgeman scored after a long draught of his. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa dominated its game totally and won, despite the great performance of Bonnie Ginzburg in Bnei-Yehuda's net; and so did Maccabee Herzliya, devastating Hapoel Beit-Shean with 3 goals to nil through the wonderful game of Vassili Ivanov and Nissim Cohen. At the bottom, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 2:1 away, and Alexander Zhidkov in Holon's net got all the credit; and in Beer-Sheva, the coach Vitaliy Shevchenko is fired after his team loses at home to Beitar Tel-Aviv. And now - everything detailed.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv was just the 8th before the January recess, and then its coach, Moshe Sinai, brought 2 players that make by now all the difference - Sergei Pogodin and Shalom Tikwa; those 2 gave a great push also to Krasimierz Muskal, and yesterday this trio, altogether with a steady defence and a wonderful Jaroslav Baku in the net, gave a great performance and devastated one of the best Israeli teams. The game was pretty equal during the starting 35 minutes, and then Hapoel stayed on the pitch with 10 players, after Avi Azulai had been sent off with his 2nd yellow card; and here, these were surprisingly the hosts to dominate. Muskal shot from within the box after a pass of Yossi Ballas (43), Itzhak Korenfein parried the ball, and Shalom Tikwa was on the rebound to put it in. Just 2 minutes have passed, and still prior to the break, Sagiv Eliyahu scored the 2nd, after Korenfein parried the ball of Pogodin; in between, Baku parried the very dangerous ball of Istvan Pisont. Beitar started to attack vigorously after the break, but it was Muskal to pass all the defence and to shoot a great ball from 12 meters, 3:0. Baku saved the header of Yossi Abuksis (62) and the ball of Ilan Elharar (81); in between, the best goal of the match came, when Shalom Tikwa bounced the ball greatly above Korenfein from the left edge of the box. 4:0.
Told about "The Bloomfield Miracle", Giora Spiegel, Maccabee Haifa's coach, was shocked and refused to believe it at once - that meant Maccabee Haifa gained the 2nd place and a good mood before an important game vs Beitar Jerusalem itself in Teddy the next week. But before that, it was a terrible 1st half of Haifa and a good 2nd one. Offer Shitrit scored after a goal pass of Avishai Zhano (58), and Haim Revivo made a brilliant pass to Eyal Berkovich, who overran the defence and scored against Shai Hess. This was the end of Petakh-Tikwa's story. Revivo himself scored, after getting the ball near the left line and running to the center to shoot with his unstoppable left after passing 4 defenders (!). And then, the speedy combination Kintus - Revivo - Berkovich - Shitrit left the latter with no problems in front of Shai Hess, 4:0. Petakh-Tikwa could just reduce the score, with a wonderful free kick of Eli Abrabanel from 17 meters under the bar of Nir Davidovich, but this wasn't enough. We should also tell Haifa was playing without Rafi Cohen, Alon Harazi and Marco Balbul - all of them the National Team players, sitting on the bench due to the professional reasons of Giora Spiegel.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, playing after everybody and knowing all the results, was somewhat under pressure, and in the 1st half Yaffa was better, but missed or saw Alexander Uvarov at the right place. After the break, when Eli Driks came to the pitch instead of Meir Melika, it was quite another story. First, Avi Nimni shot a precise ball from the box edge to the left corner of Beloshapka at half a height, and then, Driks left the ball to Evgeniy Kashentsev, who scored in front of the keeper after a good sprint of 30 meters. The Yellows regained the leadership and the 5 points gap, and on the other hand, Yaffa stayed near the very bottom.
Hapoel Haifa knew it should win at any price in order not to finish the season that early, and so it did. After just 3 minutes, Tal Banin sent another unstoppable bomb with his left from 25 meters at half a height, and Ishai Sason couldn't deny it from coming into the right corner of his net. Kefar-Saba could've equalized, but Zoltan Veg parried superbly the ball of Cobi Refua; on the other hand, Sason saved in one-to-one against Rozales. 1 minute before the break, Sason managed just to touch the wide pass by Offer Talker, and Amir Turgeman was on the rebound, 2:0. The end of the story belonged to Vyacheslav Sukristov, who sent a precise flat ball from 25 meters after another mistake of Kefar-Saba's defence. Haifa is still in the top struggles, and as for Kefar-Saba, maybe it shouldn't have changed the coaches, since Eli Yaani had brought the team much more points than Avi Cohen have by now.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa was far-far better than Bnei-Yehuda, in a repetition to the Israeli Cup 1/4 finals between the two, but saw Bonnie Ginzburg in a wonderful day to leave the margin low. After just 7 minutes of play, Offer Levi fouled the wonderful Najouan Grayib in the box, but Eyal Beglyabter failed to score from the penalty spot - Ginzburg chose the correct corner and saved the weak ball. After 21 minutes Guy Itzhak found the post of Ginzburg, and after another 4 minutes, the first goal finally came - Eyal Beglyabter performed the corner kick, Guy Itzhak headed it from 5 meters to see Bonnie parrying it superbly, but Grayib was on the rebound from 2 meters, 1:0. Grayib was knocked down in the box once again (43), this time by Aharon Siton, but Noam Keisi saw Ginzburg parrying the penalty in a great way. Ginzburg made another series of magnificent saves, in one-to-one with Beglyabter (51) and also from the headers of Roman Filipchuk (53) and Guy Itzhak (56), but then came the best goal of the game: Guy Itzhak passed the ball to Beglyabter (69), and the latter turned around and sent a great cannon bomb under Bonnie's bar. In 3 minutes, Roman Filipchuk was fouled by Nir Shitrit in the box to earn the 3rd penalty of the hosts; this time, he himself shot precisely to score. The last accord was of Igor Shkvyrin, who reduced the score - his shot from 30 meters found the leg of the defender Morad Magamedov and misled Golan Malul.
At the bottom battle in Rishon le-Zion, the hosts were better and attacked most of the time, and moreover, Oren Zeituni found himself sent off after a brutal foul on Oleg Koshlyuk. Even so, it was Holon to score first, after Moshe Sebeg stopped the ball by hand in his box, and Ran Hafif converted the penalty kick. Alexander Zhidkov in Holon's net frustrated the attacks of the hosts again and again, and most of all we'll remember the shot of Vladimir Greshnev under the bar from 10 meters, parried by the keeper. And then came the second blow of Holon: Hezi Shirazi passed Oleg Molokov for the first time during the game and found Denecz Eszenyi, who stopped the ball and shot from inside the box; Shavit Elimelekh parried it, but the ball hit Yaron Ben-Dov and went to his own net. Rishon could just reduce the score, after David Pizanti touched the ball by hand in his box, and Meir Azran scored from the penalty spot; still, it wasn't enough. And now, the bottom is very interesting, with 8 teams (!) so close to relegation!
Hapoel Beer-Sheva added an interest to the bottom battles, after losing at home to Beitar Tel-Aviv and closing the gap to the last place. Stav Elimelekh opened the score, but then Moshe Eisenberg was twice on the rebounds to win the game for the guests. After this home defeat of Beer-Sheva, its coach Vitaliy Shevchenko was fired; will it bring the safety?
And last, but not the least - Maccabee Herzliya, which defeated at home the weak squad of Hapoel Beit-Shean, 3:0. It started with Nissim Cohen to score from a great free kick, and continued with two goal passes of the "youngster" first to a flying header of Offer Mizrahi, and then to the wonderful shot of Vassili Ivanov from 25 meters under the bar, "The Goal Of The Week". In between, there were two red cards - first, to Boris Krimus (30) who fouled Yaniv Cohen in one-to-one position, and then to Oleg Naduda (60) who disapproved loudly of Suhil Daud's mother's profession.
NEXT WEEK: Two great top games, Beitar Jerusalem (3) vs Maccabee Haifa (2) and Hapoel Haifa (4) vs Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5). Also, 2 bottom struggles to follow after - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) vs Maccabee Yaffa (15), Hapoel Kefar-Saba (13) vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11). Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) seems to have a light picnic against the deteriorating squad of Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10); on the other hand, usually the coach changes help in the 1st game of the debutant. We'll live and see...
Maccabee Yaffa - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Avi Nimni (51), Evgeniy Kashentsev (70).
THE BEST: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Beitar Jerusalem 4:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Shalom Tikwa (43, 74), Sagiv Eliyahu (45), Krasimierz Muskal (52).
Guests: -.
RED: Avi Azulai, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 36.
THE BEST: Krasimierz Muskal, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 4:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Offer Shitrit (58, 85), Eyal Berkovich (63), Haim Revivo (74).
Guests: Eli Abrabanel (87).
THE BEST: Eyal Berkovich, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:3 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Tal Banin (3), Amir Turgeman (44), Vyacheslav Sukristov (56).
THE BEST: Vyacheslav Sukristov, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 3:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Najouan Grayib (25), Eyal Beglyabter (69), Roman Filipchuk (72 pen).
Guests: Igor Shkvyrin (78).
THE BEST: Najouan Grayib, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
On the 7th minute Eyal Beglyabter (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty
kick - Bonnie Ginzburg saved.
On the 43rd minute Noam Keisi (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty
kick - Bonnie Ginzburg saved.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 3:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Nissim Cohen (9), Offer Mizrahi (70), Vassili Ivanov (73).
Guests: -.
RED: Boris Krimus, defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean, 30.
Oleg Naduda, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya, 60.
THE BEST: Nissim Cohen, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - BEITAR TEL-AVIV 1:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Stav Elimelekh (14).
Guests: Moshe Eisenberg (17, 60).
THE BEST: Yaniv Avvargeal, forward, Beitar Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON 1:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Meir Azran (77 pen).
Guests: Ran Hafif (35 pen), OG (Yaron Ben-Dov, 73).
RED: Oren Zeituni, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 26.
THE BEST: Alexander Zhidkov, keeper, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Alexander Zhidkov
(Hapoel Tsafririm Holon)
Tomer Eliyahu Jaroslav Kintus Guy Sharabi Demir Lajec
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa)
Nissim Cohen Krasimierz Muskal Shalom Tikwa Vassili Ivanov
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Herzliya)
Yaniv Avvargeal Najouan Grayib
(Beitar Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 4.
Maccabee Herzliya - 2.
Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Haifa, Beitar Tel-Aviv,
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 22 17 3 2 45-14 54
2 (3) Maccabee Haifa 22 14 7 1 61-26 49
3 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 22 14 6 2 46-23 48
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 22 13 6 3 48-23 45
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 22 11 7 4 35-25 40
6 (6) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 22 11 5 6 29-23 38
7 (7) Maccabee Herzliya 22 10 3 9 25-22 33
8 (8) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 22 6 11 5 25-25 29
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 22 6 4 12 36-46 22
10 (10) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 22 4 7 11 21-26 19
11 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 22 5 4 13 17-31 19
12 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 22 5 4 13 23-40 19
13 (12) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 22 5 3 14 21-40 18
14 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 22 4 6 12 19-39 18
15 (14) Maccabee Yaffa 22 5 3 14 17-39 18
16 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 22 4 5 13 23-49 17
BEST PLAYER: Krasimierz Muskal, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 23(0) 1
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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)
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Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 12(0) 2
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 12(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(1)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(3)
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Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 11(1) 1(1)
*********************************************************
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(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 Tel-Aviv (1) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (3) | Maccabee Haifa (2) |
| Hapoel Haifa (4) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (16) | Maccabee Herzliya (7) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (12) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) | Maccabee Yaffa (15) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (13) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) |
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