24 goals, several of them just great, just 1 red card and only 1 penalty converted out of 3 - this was the story of the last weekend. And this seems to be the end of the Championship battle - I hate to say it, but there is no team to stop Maccabee Tel-Aviv now; Maccabee Haifa was just 40 minutes far from doing it at home, but then something happened in its lines, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv showed us it deserved the Championship more than anyone.
Maccabee Haifa lost at home, and Hapoel Haifa, as it seems now, lost its last opportunity to play in Europe; this of Maccabee Haifa is in a serious danger, considering the fact it meets Maccabee Tel-Aviv in the Cup semifinals. Maccabee Tel-Aviv showed the great pieces of soccer to gain all the points, and Beitar Jerusalem climbed to the 2nd place, beating Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and Hapoel Beer-Sheva registered two very important victories over their bottom rivals, Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Beitar Tel-Aviv, respectively. And Maccabee Yaffa seems to be in a big-big trouble, after the 2 headers of Roman Filipchuk. And now - everything in details.
Giora Spiegel, Haifa's manager, made a bright tactical decision putting Moshe Glam as a right-winger and playing with Edgardo Adinolfi in defence; Glam, remembering his days as a forward in Maccabee Netanya, was flourishing, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv didn't know what to do. The guests registered just one opportunity during the 1st half, when Davidovich parried the ball shot by Avi Nimni (18), and Haifa was attacking all the time. However, Alexander Uvarov (who deserved to be "The Keeper Of The Round", in my opinion) denied Glam (22), Haim Revivo shot a corner kick directly to the post (26), and Gadi Brumer altogether with Amir Shelakh destroyed most of the attacks; they were helped even by Eli Driks, in one of his best games this season. Haifa lost the momentum.
However, the Greens managed to score once, and what a goal it was! Haim Revivo performed a corner kick, and the defenders disturbed Uvarov who slipped the ball. Alon Harazi shot a mighty bomb from 7 meters, to be denied heroically by the head of Eli Driks. Gadi Brumer cleared it away, and here came Moshe Glam, shooting a fantastic volley without stopping from 19 meters. It went straight into Ronnie Levi, and the latter, being surprised by the ball, still managed to shake his head to change its direction. 1:0.
The 2nd half, however, was quite another story. The equalizer came after a mistake in Haifa's defence - Alon Harazi passed the ball back to the keeper, who managed to clear it away under pressure; however, Kandaurov didn't manage to stop it, and Haim Hageage passed it to Avi Nimni who found Eli Driks within the box, and the latter exploited the bad position of Davidovich to send the ball weakly to his right post and in, 1:1. Haifa was caught with its pants down, and Tel-Aviv used it to finish a comeback - Eli Driks screwed himself between Kintus and Harazi, Davidovich closed him well to parry the ball, but Nir Klinger threw himself into the box to kick the ball while lying on the ground; it went slowly to his right post and in.
Here Alexander Uvarov showed us two brilliant saves, one from a free kick of Kandaurov (78) and one from this of Revivo (71). But even the keeper couldn't help the guests in what could have been "The Goal Of The Season" - Alon Hazan bounced the ball into the box (65), Gadi Brumer and Ron Nakhman seemed to get it, but Haim Revivo had another plans and jumped high into the air, performing a superb left-foot bicycle volley kick from 14 meters; Uvarov was beaten, but the ball hit the bar and went out.
Haifa was attacking, but the last goal came on the other side - Hageage found Avi Nimni in the box, and the latter laid Davidovich down and shot a ball into an empty net, a bright finishing accord. Uvarov (85) managed to deny Offer Shitrit in one-to-one, and the celebrations were opened half-officially after the game. The Yellows head to yet another Championship.
A lot of Hapoel Haifa spectators came this Saturday to Kiryat-Eliezer in order to support Maccabee Haifa - had Haifa won in "The Game Of The Season", Hapoel would've had chances to take the Championship itself. But it was "The Black Saturday" of the Red-Blacks - not only had Maccabee Haifa lost, but also Hapoel didn't win, in a tough game in Herzliya that showed us 2 very positive teams, several wonderful moments and 4 superb goals. It started with Hapoel after 17 minutes - Amir Turgeman managed to keep the ball within the field frontiers and passed it to Reuven Attar, who shot a threatening left-footer; this met the shoulder of Alex Barmecher and misled Shuli Gilardi.
Just one minute has passed, and Barmecher returned his debt to Herzliya, with a mighty flying header after a corner kick performed by Nissim Cohen. And after 15 minutes, the best goal of the game was scored - Offer Mizrahi penetrated at the left wing, passed Demir Lajec and centered the ball to the left edge of the box, and there came Oleg Naduda to hit it with all the heart just under the right crossbar of Zoltan Veg. In between, Veg made several great saves to keep Haifa in the game.
The 2nd half was played under Herzliya's permanent attacks, and the misses of Offer Mizrahi, Nissim Cohen and Yaniv Cohen were incredible. And, as the old cliche says, "you don't score, you concede" - Marian Paneh performed a corner kick, and Offer Talker registered "The Header Of The Year", falling down to shoot from 12 meters, from the height of virtually zero (!), under the right crossbar (!) of Shuli Gilardi. 2:2, not robbing any team.
Beitar Jerusalem was disappointed with Maccabee Haifa as most of us, but did everything that depended on itself, defeating Rishon le-Zion away - 2:0, and catching the 2nd place. Eli Ohana scored the first goal, and Istvan Pisont scored the second, after a great preparation work of David Amsalem. Rishon could've scored too, twice through Oleg Koshlyuk, but once (18) he hit the bar, and then, after 28 minutes, he shot a bright kick under the crossbar, parried superbly by Itzhak Korenfein. And Beitar could've scored another goal, but Shavit Elimelekh parried the penalty kick sent by Amsalem.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Beitar Tel-Aviv in a very important bottom game, 2:0, and is close now for staying in the National League, while Beitar is in a deep trouble. Beitar's forward Moshe Eisenberg was sent off in the early minutes, after kicking Ronen Feigenbaum, and from that moment on, it was mostly a duel between Holon's attack and the wonderful Sagi Strauss in Beitar's net. However, the keeper was beaten: a double pass between Ran Hafif and Hezi Shirazi found the latter passing the keeper, dancing with a ball to pass the defender and kicking it finally in, a wonderful effort. And 15 minutes later, it was Denecz Eszenyi, misleading Strauss and kicking a ball in from 16 meters; Doron Amar's bicycle kick to clear the ball off the line didn't help, as it entered under the bar.
Maccabee Yaffa put itself in a deep-deep trouble after a home loss to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa; Yuval Ohana scored an opener, but the 2 wonderful headers of Roman Filipchuk turned the story quite another way. And Hapoel Beit-Shean managed to take a point in Petakh-Tikwa, when Tibor Shallai scored from a penalty spot to equalize after an opener from a resultive free kick of Avi Fletcher. Petakh-Tikwa could've gotten all the points, after Eitan Taib had knocked down Manor Hassan in the box; however, Meir Cohen parried the penalty kick sent by Offir Koppel. Cohen was again "The Man Of The Game".
Hapoel Beer-Sheva made an important step towards the survival in the National League, devastating Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 4:0. Eran Scheinsinger parried the ball of Shimon Biton, just to see his own defender, Rami Aziz, putting the rebound in. From that moment on, the mistakes were of Scheinsinger, who got out badly to enable Leikovic to head it home, gave an opportunity to Amir Avigdor (and the latter bounced it cleverly to the far corner), and couldn't deny Oren Sagron in a simple situation. It seems Eli Gutman knows what he's doing, and Beer-Sheva will stay in the National League. And Kefar-Saba is very unstable, but has all the needed points.
And last but not the least, Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 3:0 at home. Bonnie Ginzburg in Bnei-Yehuda's net was great as usual, but what could he do against the sleepy mood of his defence? Nissim Avitan scored an opener, Yossi Madar and Sagiv Eliyahu finished the story.
NEXT WEEK: a game of quality, but of no particular interest, will be held in Haifa, between Hapoel Haifa (4) and Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5). Maccabee Tel-Aviv plays at home against Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, and Beitar Jerusalem - away against Hapoel Beit-Shean. Maccabee Haifa will have another chance of taking the 2nd place, playing away against Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. And an important bottom game will be held in Yaffa, the hosts against Rishon le-Zion.
Maccabee Haifa - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 1:3 (1:0).
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Hosts: Ronnie Levi (40).
Guests: Eli Driks (53), Nir Klinger (62), Avi Nimni (81).
THE BEST: Eli Driks, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Eli Ohana (14), Istvan Pisont (59).
THE BEST: Eli Ohana, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
On the 66th minute David Amsalem (Beitar Jerusalem) missed a penalty kick -
Shavit Elimelekh saved.
Maccabee Herzliya - Hapoel Haifa 2:2 (2:1).
---------------------------------------------
Hosts: Alex Barmecher (18), Oleg Naduda (34).
Guests: Reuven Attar (17), Offer Talker (81).
THE BEST: Nissim Cohen, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 3:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Nissim Avitan (5), Yossi Madar (71), Sagiv Eliyahu (80).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Sergei Pogodin, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Yaffa - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 1:2 (1:0).
---------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Yuval Ohana (23).
Guests: Roman Filipchuk (63, 78).
THE BEST: Roman Filipchuk, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Beit-Shean 1:1 (1:0).
----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Avi Fletcher (40).
Guests: Tibor Shallai (75 pen).
THE BEST: Meir Cohen, keeper, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
On the 57th minute Offir Koppel (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) missed a penalty
kick - Meir Cohen saved.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 4:0 (3:0).
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Hosts: OG (Rami Aziz, 7), Zlatko Leikovic (11), Amir Avigdor (45),
Oren Sagron (52).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Alon Riff, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON - Beitar Tel-Aviv 2:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Ran Hafif (53), Denecz Eszenyi (68).
Guests: -.
RED: Moshe Eisenberg, forward, Beitar Tel-Aviv, 25.
THE BEST: Ran Hafif, midfielder, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Meir Cohen
(Hapoel Beit-Shean)
Guy Mishal Gadi Brumer Amir Shelakh Shimon Biton
(Tsafririm Holon) (Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Nir Klinger Ido Admon Sergei Pogodin Alon Riff
(Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Eli Driks Eli Ohana
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 4.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 3.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon,
Hapoel Beit-Shean, Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 26 19 5 2 54-16 62
2 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 26 17 6 3 57-25 57
3 (2) Maccabee Haifa 26 16 8 2 67-30 56
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 26 16 7 3 56-27 55
5 (5) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 26 13 6 7 33-24 45
6 (6) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 26 12 8 6 38-31 44
7 (7) Maccabee Herzliya 26 10 5 11 31-30 35
8 (8) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 26 7 13 6 27-32 34
9 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 26 7 6 13 41-53 27
10 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 26 6 6 14 20-35 24
11 (11) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 26 7 3 16 28-47 24
12 (12) Hapoel Beit-Shean 26 5 9 12 23-42 24
13 (13) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 26 5 8 13 28-35 23
14 (14) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 26 6 5 15 26-45 23
15 (15) Beitar Tel-Aviv 26 5 5 16 25-55 20
16 (16) Maccabee Yaffa 26 5 4 17 20-47 19
BEST PLAYER: Eli Driks, forward, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 24(0)
******************************************************
Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 20(6) 1
******************************************************
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 15(1) 1
(3 in M. Haifa) Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 15(1)
******************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 13(0)
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 13(1) 2
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 13(1)
******************************************************
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0) 1
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 12(0)
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(3)
******************************************************
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 11(4)
******************************************************
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 10(0) 1
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(1)
Cobi Refua (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 10(3)
Offer Mizrahi (Maccabee Herzliya) 10(3)
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 Tsafririm Holon (14) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (12) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) | Maccabee Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Haifa (4) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (6) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (13) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (11) | Maccabee Herzliya (7) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (15) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (8) |
| Maccabee Yaffa (16) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (10) |
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