21 goals, 4 red cards (one after the game had been finished) and no penalties at all (for the first time this season!) - this was the harvest we've seen during the last weekend. In the week when Ronen Harazi signed his contract in Sunderland, the other Israeli forwards (Eli Ohana, Alon Mizrahi and especially Yaniv Offri) were in their best form.
The two leaders continued to run forward hand in hand, Beitar Jerusalem beating Maccabee Haifa away, 2:0, and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa defeating Bnei-Yehuda at home in a thrilling game, 4:2. Another goal of Holtzman brought yet another victory to Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 1:0 in Jerusalem over the local Hapoel; and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, still preserving the 4th place, surprisingly lost points in Beit-Shean. Beit-Shean is now closing the table despite the point collected - its two bottom rivals, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and Maccabee Herzliya, managed to defeat their bottom opponents and to collect the vital 3 pts each; the position of the losers in those games, Hapoel Taibe and Hapoel Tel-Aviv respectively, is far from being sparkling. Maccabee Tel-Aviv managed to defeat Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 2:1, but, unfortunately, it was proved the announcements about the good form of Uvarov were too early. And Hapoel Haifa, failing to beat Rishon le-Zion away during the 1st half of the game, made it 4 times in the 2nd half, the goal of Zupatic a sure competitor in "The Goal Of The Season" nomination. And now - to the details.
It seemed that Maccabee Haifa would finally be able to overcome its problems and to beat the favourites, Beitar Jerusalem, according to the way the game started. Haifa was attacking, and the lethal bomb of Alon Harazi from 25 meters (13) was parried to a corner in a superb flight of Itzhak Korenfein. But Beitar managed to perform two counterattacks. First, Salloi found himself alone near the box and shot immediately, seeing the cat flight of Ginzburg (16), and then (30), the ball of Ohana found Pisont on the right wing; Pisont was free and happy to overrun Adoram Keisi and to center the ball to the head of Eli Ohana who had no problems at all to send it in, 1:0. 2 minutes in an injury time of the 1st half, it was a double pass of Ohana and Amsalem to put the latter in one-to-one against Bonnie, and the defender managed to push the ball under the keeper's stomach, 2:0 in a critical minute. This was actually it. In the 2nd half, Ginzburg saved his net, denying Zohar's shot in a superb flight (57), and Ohana missed the ball in front of the empty net (60). Haifa had the only opportunity 5 minutes from time, when Reuven Attar (in the worst game of his I've ever seen) managed to enter the box and to try to pass 4 defenders, and the ball was deflected to Hezi Shirazi who shot it from inside the box; however, Korenfein was there with a deflection to the post, and then the ball was cleared away. It was proven one more time Maccabee Haifa seemed to be in a trouble still unknown to its managers, being a typical midtable team; and as for Beitar Jerusalem, it seems like Eli Ohana's declarations about the Championship dreams are not that early and not that exaggerated.
But Beitar would have to consider seriously its top rivals, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, the team that managed to recover fully from the painful loss to the leaders a week ago. Yesterday, it was a competition of two talented scorers, Yaniv Offri and Alon Mizrahi, and though both were wonderful, just one took all the points. It started after 27 minutes, when the free kick of Avi Fletcher was deflected by the flying header of Yaniv Offri to the left corner of Liran Strauber, 1:0; however, after just 3 minutes, Alon Mizrahi, starting to celebrate his 25th birthday, passed 2 defenders and shot mightily under the bar, 1:1. Bnei-Yehuda had two great chances to score, but Cobi Refua found just the skies after the post of Avi Tikwa (33), and in another 2 minutes, his shot from 5 meters found Shai Hess well-prepared. But in the 2nd half, everything had changed. Avi Fletcher headed it home quickly after the break (47), and then Offri was on the rebound after Liran Strauber slipped off the ball of Kakun (63). The hat-trick of Offri was completed after another 2 minutes - Shlomi Ben-Hemo made a slalom between 3 defenders and centered the ball to Offri who headed it home from 3 meters; Strauber did the impossible and parried the ball away, but from beyond the line. Mizrahi still reduced the score after a very clever lob from 30 meters over the absent-minded Hess (78), but this was all Bnei-Yehuda could achieve. Petakh-Tikwa showed its might once again, and it seems clear enough this team would be able to struggle in the top up to the very end. And the next week there comes a very interesting face-to-face game between Bnei-Yehuda and Maccabee Haifa in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, and talking objectively, I'll give all the points to the hosts.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva is another team to be close to the top, and pay attection: it enjoys the record of +7=0-3, when the two losses were to the first two places and the 3rd one to Maccabee Tel-Aviv! If we remember the phrase: "The title is taken against the outsiders, and not against the favourites", then Beer-Sheva should be considered seriously as another possible contender for the title. Yesterday, playing in Jerusalem, it wasn't sparkling once again, but still managed to collect all the points, against through the winner of Shai Holtzman, this time after 69 minutes of play. However, there was an unpleasant situation in the game - Siad Halilovic, "The Man Of The Game" who made a goal pass, cursed his coach Eli Gutman after being substituted during the last seconds of the game, and also spat on his teammate, Giovanni Rosso. As for Jerusalem, Yaniv Avrahami was sent off 2 minutes from time, and Michel Dayan was shown a red card after the game, for cursing the referee Yosef Benishti. The latter had quite a weak game, to tell the truth.
The bad refereeing was also registered in Beit-Shean, where Ami Azulai of the hosts was sent off without any good reason after 21 minutes of play. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, being down then from the goal of Shimon Danan (11), pressed on and on, but all it managed to achieve was the header of Offer Shitrit (40) to equalize the score. After 44 minutes, Oleg Koshlyuk was knocked down inside the box by Noam Keisi, but the referee didn't see a thing, hearing the curses of the home spectators; and in the 2nd half, there was just one opportunity, a mighty bomb of Sharon Tsofin from 30 meters greatly parried by Beit-Shean's keeper, Meir Cohen. A very dull game, indeed.
Another dull game was held between Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Maccabee Tel-Aviv, in Kefar-Saba. Amir Shelakh headed the ball home after a corner performed by Nir Klinger (24), and then in the 2nd half, it was the shot of Kashentsev (59) to ensure the lead of Maccabee. However, in another 2 minutes Yaniv Avvargeal got the ball in the box of Maccabee, near the goalline, and managed to push it forward towards the goal, between the hands and the legs of Uvarov and in, what a strange effort and what a mistake of Uvarov once again! Kefar-Saba was attacking from that moment on in order to get an equalizer, but in vain. Maccabee Tel-Aviv disappointed again, but won.
The most impressing team of yesterday was, no doubt, Hapoel Haifa. Though the 1st half of its game in Rishon le-Zion was scoreless, because of Yaniv Mizrahi's great skill in Rishon's net, Haifa of the 2nd half was totally different and scored 4 times. The young Alon Caplan who substituted Nir Shitrit after 51 minutes of play, was just 4 minutes on the pitch when he made a great goal pass to Georgi Kovac, 1:0. In another 20 minutes, Caplan scored himself, passing two defenders on the left wing, entering the box and shooting past Yaniv Mizrahi to the close corner from quite a sharp angle. A wonderful goal! 8 minutes from time, a corner of Kovac found the head of Offer Talker, 3:0. But the very best goal of the game, "The Goal Of The Week", came 5 minutes from time. Zlatko Zupatic got the ball 45 meters from the net, made a couple of steps and then sent a wonderful arched ball with his left foot over the hands of Yaniv Mizrahi who was standing on his goalline! What an effort! The last accord appropriate to the level of Haifa's game, and the team seems to return to its fine form despite an awful season start.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, signing Victor Moroz in the beginning of the week, saw this talented player with his first victory - a free kick of Moroz found a winning header of Ronen Feigenbaum, 1:0 at home over Hapoel Taibe. Alexander Zhidkov in the net of Holon took care of preserving the victory, and Ronen Feigenbaum is again "The Man Of The Game" for the second consecutive week. And as for his father, Shiya Feigenbaum - his team, Maccabee Herzliya, defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv away, 2:0, through the counterattacks of Roman Filipchuk and Sahar Mizrahi. Shiya came as a coach of Herzliya to defeat the team of his youth which brought him a great glory as a player; and as for another glorious forward of Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the recent past, Moshe Sinai, the position of his team seems to be very serious, both financially and professionally. Well, let's live and see.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): the two games to be followed after are the Tel-Aviv derby and the game between Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (6) and Maccabee Haifa (7). Beitar Jerusalem (1) hosts Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9), and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) plays in Umm-el-Fahm vs Hapoel Taibe (12).
Maccabee Haifa - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:2 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Eli Ohana (30), David Amsalem (45).
THE BEST: David Amsalem, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 4:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Yaniv Offri (27, 63, 65), Avi Fletcher (47).
Guests: Alon Mizrahi (30, 78).
THE BEST: Yaniv Offri, forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Jerusalem - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA 0:1 (0:0).
-------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Shai Holtzman (69).
RED: Yaniv Avrahami, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem, 88.
Michel Dayan, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem, 90 (after the game).
THE BEST: Siad Halilovic, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Hapoel Beit-Shean - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Shimon Danan (11).
Guests: Offer Shitrit (40).
RED: Ami Azulai, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean, 21.
THE BEST: Shimon Danan, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 1:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Yaniv Avvargeal (61).
Guests: Amir Shelakh (24), Evgeniy Kashentsev (59).
THE BEST: Alon Brumer, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:4 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Georgi Kovac (55), Alon Caplan (75), Offer Talker (82),
Zlatko Zupatic (87).
THE BEST: Alon Caplan, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON - Hapoel Taibe 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Ronen Feigenbaum (52).
Guests: -.
RED: Ran Hafif, midfielder, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 70.
THE BEST: Ronen Feigenbaum, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - MACCABEE HERZLIYA 0:2 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Roman Filipchuk (19), Sahar Mizrahi (44).
THE BEST: Vassili Ivanov, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Alexander Zhidkov
(Hapoel Tsafririm Holon)
David Amsalem Ronen Feigenbaum Vassili Ivanov Avi Fletcher
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Tsafririm Holon) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel P.-T.)
Siad Halilovic Alon Caplan Andrei Christophick Tal Banin
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Haifa)
Eli Ohana Yaniv Offri
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 3.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - 2.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Maccabee Herzliya - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 10 8 2 0 22- 5 26
2 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 10 8 1 1 22-10 25
3 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 10 7 0 3 14- 7 21
4 (4) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 10 6 1 3 13- 9 19
5 (6) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 10 5 3 2 17-14 18
6 (5) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 10 5 2 3 13-13 17
7 (7) Maccabee Haifa 10 4 3 3 12-12 15
8 (10) Hapoel Haifa 10 4 1 5 17-15 13
9 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 10 4 1 5 8- 9 13
10 (9) Hapoel Jerusalem 10 4 1 5 10-13 13
11 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 10 3 1 6 12-21 10
12 (12) Hapoel Taibe 10 3 0 7 7-16 9
13 (13) Hapoel Tel-Aviv * 10 2 2 6 6-12 8
14 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon * 10 2 2 6 6-12 8
15 (16) Maccabee Herzliya 10 2 1 7 4-11 7
16 (14) Hapoel Beit-Shean 10 1 3 6 6-10 6
* - the place of Hapoel Tel-Aviv is higher because of the face-to-face
game (Week 03, 2:1 to Tel-Aviv in Bloomfield).
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams before this week.
BEST PLAYER: David Amsalem, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Yaniv Offri (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0) 3
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0) 1
*********************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(2) 1
*********************************************************
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 6(2)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 6(2)
Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 6(3) 2
*********************************************************
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(0)
*********************************************************
Hezi Shirazi (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0)
Moti Menakhem (Hapoel Jerusalem) 4(0)
Itzhak Zohar (Beitar Jerusalem) 4(1)
Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 4(2) 1
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9) |
| Hapoel Taibe (12) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (3) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (4) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (5) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (13) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (6) | Maccabee Haifa (7) |
| Hapoel Haifa (8) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (16) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (15) | Hapoel Jerusalem (10) |
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