19 goals, 6 penalties (5 converted) and 4 red cards - this was brought to us during the last weekend. No game ended without either a red card or a penalty kick; the one between Bnei-Yehuda and Maccabee Yaffa ended with both. And it was the week of foreigners, with Sergei Kandaurov, Vladimir Greshnev, Tomacz Czibola, Tibor Shallai, and above all - Evgeniy Kashentsev.
The bottom seems to be very complicated, with some changes after the 2 surprising victories of Beitar Tel-Aviv over Maccabee Herzliya and of Hapoel Beit-Shean over Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Maccabee Tel-Aviv devastated Hapoel Beer-Sheva, scoring all the 5 goals after the break (!); and if the leaders keep the gap of 5 points from Maccabee Haifa, Beer-Sheva is deeply in trouble. "The Internet Battle" between the only 4 Israeli teams to have homepages finished in Haifa's favor - Maccabee Haifa defeated Beitar Jerusalem away, as Hapoel Haifa defeated Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home; that means the UEFA Cup battle is held now between Hapoel Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem (with Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa out of it), and the Championship rivalry is reduced to Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Maccabee Haifa (with Beitar Jerusalem out of it). Hapoel Kefar-Saba falls to the very bottom and can see a referee Nir Baabur responsible for it; still, we'll give the credit also to Vladimir Greshnev, with a 2nd scoring Israeli debut for the latter. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon loses, and both Maccabee Yaffa and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv lose points. And now - the details.
Most of the time Beitar Jerusalem was the better squad on the pitch, during the top game at Teddy between them and Maccabee Haifa; still, Haifa produced several lethal counterattacks, and Beitar suffered yesterday from an unbelievable lack of luck. Giora Spiegel, the coach of Haifa, played tactically, leaving Offer Shitrit out of the opening squad and playing with Edgardo Adinolfi in the midfield zone, having no natural forward at all but Haim Revivo as an attacking midfielder. The tactics proved right, as Haifa's defence was steady enough, and Revivo didn't score, but produced two goal passes and became our "Man Of The Game". Giora also had enough guts to play with Nir Davidovich in the net, leaving Rafi Cohen again on the bench; and this was worth it, too.
Beitar started dominating, and Davidovich saved the header of Yossi Abuksis (7). Then, a young keeper made his first (and the last) crucial mistake - Moshe Glam lost the ball to Shmuel Levi (12) running on the right wing, Davidovich decided to get out, and the Jerusalemite bounced a clever ball above him that hit the post and went out. Kandaurov, returning after a 3-games suspension, tried his luck from 20 meters (15), too high. On the other side, it was Yossi Abuksis (21) who shot a bomb from 20 meters; Davidovich parried it weakly to the legs of Istvan Salloi, but was quick enough to parry the shot of the latter to the corner. And when you don't score, you concede. Eyal Berkovich found Haim Revivo (30), the latter misled Ehud Kahila in a fantastic way and found Sergei Kandaurov, who shot with his left from 14 meters above the rushing Korenfein. 1:0, and Haifa flourished for several minutes - Adinolfi (32) found with his bomb external side of the net.
Beitar regained the composure quickly, and here started the series of impossible misses and lack of luck. 38: Eli Ohana penetrated into the box, and Nir Davidovich, misled by the forward, kicked him down, a penalty kick and a yellow card for Davidovich; however, Salloi shot weakly, and the keeper parried the ball. 46: Salloi shot all of a sudden from 30 meters, Davidovich didn't react, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. 53: Yossi Abuksis shot suddenly from 20 meters, and Davidovich parried it superbly. 64: Eitan Mizrahi shot from the box edge, and the ball hit the bar again. 71: Shmuel Levi made a pass into the box, Davidovich and Harazi missed it, but so did Ohana who couldn't score from 2 meters!
And here Haifa stroke again. The guests had two wonderful counterattack opportunities, first (50) with Avishai Zhano and second with Alon Hazan (55), but Korenfein saved twice. This time, even he couldn't help his team - Revivo made a brilliant pass to Alon Hazan (72), and the latter scored from 5 meters.
After the game, Eli Ohana said: "Let's be real, the season isn't over for us, as we have the UEFA place struggles, and the Cup battle against Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but the Championship is lost". And Haim Revivo, applauded even by Beitar Jerusalem fans after being substituted by Offer Shitrit, said: "We have no choice, but to gain all the points and to wait for Maccabee Tel-Aviv losing points; a lot of credit for the leaders, as they don't lose them. Today was the hardest game of ours this season, and I'm glad we had all the luck to pass it well. It doesn't matter who scores, the points matter".
Maccabee Tel-Aviv had a pretty balanced game against Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Bloomfield, and the 1st half was a scoreless one, partly because of the keepers' skill. But after the break, the Yellows just devastated the opponents, with 5 unanswered goals (!); Evgeniy Kashentsev was the best, scoring 3 times. The debut of Eli Gutman as a coach of Beer-Sheva was disastrous, and I personally don't see anything to save this team, with the smallest number of victories in our League by now.
Hapoel Haifa, playing yesterday against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, was in the situation of "make or break", a last chance to struggle for the European place. And the hosts won - first, it was Ran Ben-Shimon to score a wonderful goal against his former team, a curved ball to the high right corner of Golan Malul from 20 meters. The last goal was scored by Reuven Attar from the penalty spot, after Ismail Amar had kicked Tal Banin down in the box. Golan Malul, the keeper in our National squad for the friendly game against Croatia this week, was pretty good despite the 2 goals he conceded.
The man to possibly interfere with Malul there is Bonnie Ginzburg, showing finally a superb class in the last several games. Yesterday he again collected the points for Bnei-Yehuda, parrying several deadly balls; the same can be said about Boris Beloshapka on the other side, in the net of Maccabee Yaffa. Bonnie conceded an only goal from the penalty kick, after he touched a bomb sent by Yaron Drori, but couldn't parry it. And then Sahar Mizrahi equalized, after a good free kick from 17 meters. Yaffa played for the last 27 minutes in 10 players, after Tamir Netser got his second yellow card.
Vladimir Greshnev, once one of the best Israeli foreigners, reminded us yesterday of his skill, scoring twice and being the best on the pitch; it brought his team a victory and sent Hapoel Kefar-Saba to the very last place. Kefar-Saba can see itself robbed, as the referee didn't whistle for two obvious penalties in its favor; still, this isn't an explanation for what's happening there for the last several weeks.
And a little bit about the rest of the games, in which the teams staying with 10 players finally lost. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa defeated Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, with a good goal by Alon Maya; Yaacov Postacci, looking a little bit like Patrick Kluivert, but playing far worse (how surprising!), was sent off after a rude play. Hapoel Beit-Shean surprisingly defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv, the bright team of the last weeks; here, Sagiv Eliyahu was sent off after hitting the rival without a ball, and Nassim Agbariya headed the winner in after a corner later on. And Beitar Tel-Aviv jumped 4 places up - being down from the very first minute after a free kick by Guy Gat, but seeing Vassili Ivanov sent off after 14 minutes, also for hitting a rival without a ball, Beitar managed to score twice and to gain all the points.
NEXT WEEK: Maccabee Herzliya (7) hosts Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) in what seems to be a tough game, while all other top teams (places 2-6) have the games that seem to be very easy. Hapoel Beer-Sheva (13) hosts Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) in an important bottom struggle.
MACCABEE TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Beer-Sheva 5:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Evgeniy Kashentsev (52, 71, 80), Eli Driks (70),
Avi Nimni (86 pen).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Evgeniy Kashentsev, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Beitar Jerusalem - MACCABEE HAIFA 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Sergei Kandaurov (30), Alon Hazan (72).
THE BEST: Haim Revivo, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
On 38th minute Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) missed a penalty kick - Nir
Davidovich saved.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 2:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Ran Ben-Shimon (31), Reuven Attar (78 pen).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Tal Banin, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Nassim Agbariya (55).
Guests: -.
RED: Sagiv Eliyahu, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 30.
THE BEST: Tibor Shallai, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
BEITAR TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Herzliya 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Arik Shriki (19), Gonen Botel (75).
Guests: Guy Gat (1).
RED: Vassili Ivanov, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya, 14.
THE BEST: Arik Shriki, midfielder, Beitar Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Alon Maya (60).
Guests: -.
RED: Yaacov Postacci, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 69.
THE BEST: Tomacz Czibola, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - Maccabee Yaffa 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Sahar Mizrahi (72).
Guests: Yaron Drori (47 pen).
RED: Tamir Netser, defender, Maccabee Yaffa, 63.
THE BEST: Bonnie Ginzburg, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION 1:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Cobi Refua (45 pen).
Guests: Vladimir Greshnev (7 pen, 53).
THE BEST: Vladimir Greshnev, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Bonnie Ginzburg
(Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Avishai Zhano Demir Lajec Jamil Hader Ilan Boaron
(Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Haim Hageage Tibor Shallai Tal Banin Haim Revivo
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Haifa)
Eli Driks Evgeniy Kashentsev
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 3.
Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Beit-Shean - 2.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 23 18 3 2 50-14 57
2 (2) Maccabee Haifa 23 15 7 1 63-26 52
3 (4) Hapoel Haifa 23 14 6 3 50-23 48
4 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 23 14 6 3 46-25 48
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 23 11 7 5 35-27 40
6 (6) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 23 11 5 7 29-24 38
7 (7) Maccabee Herzliya 23 10 3 10 26-24 33
8 (8) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 23 7 11 5 26-25 32
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 23 6 5 12 37-47 23
10 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 23 6 4 13 19-32 22
11 (14) Hapoel Beit-Shean 23 5 6 12 20-39 21
12 (16) Beitar Tel-Aviv 23 5 5 13 25-50 20
13 (10) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 23 4 7 12 21-31 19
14 (12) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 23 5 4 14 23-41 19
15 (15) Maccabee Yaffa 23 5 4 14 18-40 19
16 (13) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 23 5 3 15 22-42 18
BEST PLAYER: Evgeniy Kashentsev, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 23(0)
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Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 17(5) 1(1)
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(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 15(1)
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Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 13(1) 1
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Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 12(0)
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 12(0)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(3)
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Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 11(1)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 11(4) 1
*********************************************************
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(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 Herzliya (7) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Maccabee Haifa (2) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (15) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) | Beitar Jerusalem (4) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (16) |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) | Beitar Tel-Aviv (12) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (10) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (13) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) |
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