21 goals, 2 red cards and 3 penalties, one quite crucial missed - this was the story of the last round. In a fortnight, there is another round of WC'98 preliminaries, and yesterday, it was the wonderful day for two International keepers - Alexander Zhidkov of Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and Azerbaijan and especially Itzhak Korenfein, our "Player Of The Round", whose chances to open the Israeli game against Luxembourg on the expense of Rafi Cohen are now bigger than ever. And another man to be probably invited to the National team was yesterday in his best - of course, "The Plane", Alon Mizrahi.
Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa continued with their trend of victories, even though their rivals showed sometimes quite a good game. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated easily Hapoel Rishon le-Zion that suffered again from the weakness of its defenders and its keeper Yaniv Mizrahi; and on the other hand, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, being down at home against quite a disappointing Maccabee Haifa, managed still to beat the Greens through the 2 goals of Alon Mizrahi, as mentioned above. The "victim-on-duty" of Maccabee Herzliya was Hapoel Jerusalem, and we can only ask how Shiya Feigenbaum managed to make the totally different team out of Herzliya in just 3 weeks; and Hapoel Haifa took a steady position at the upper part of the table, this time defeating Hapoel Beit-Shean and making the life very hard for the latter. An early suspension of Offer Shitrit and the magnificent performance of Alexander Zhidkov caused the most uneven draw of this season, just 1:1 between Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Tsafririm Holon in Petakh-Tikwa. And talking about draws, nobody can describe the Tel-Aviv derby better than Maccabee's captain, Nir Klinger: "Nobody here on the pitch deserves the point. It's a shame that such an awful game happened at all!" And now - to the details.
The mind of Ronen Harazi seemed to be already in Sunderland, Eli Ohana was not in his best, and the two Hungarians didn't threaten enough the net of Eran Scheinsinger. But there was Itzhak Zohar taking the responsibility twice with the balls put down for a free kick, 12 minutes before and after the break. First, a free kick was awarded as a result of a foul on Istvan Salloi 25 meters from the net, and Zohar curved it above the wall at half a height to the right corner of a helpless Scheinsinger. And later, Pisont made a pass to Istvan Salloi again, the latter rushed into the box and was fouled down by the keeper who was booked, and Zohar had no problems from the penalty spot, 2:0. During the game Beitar had more chances, but Scheinsinger in the net of Kefar-Saba proved again the wonderful form he enjoys this season (just Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva, all those being the leading teams, conceded less than Kefar-Saba).
But the story of the keeping was still on the other side, with "The Best Keeper Of Israel" by now. Saving his net several crucial times during the 1st half, Korenfein reached his peak 11 minutes from time - he slipped the great shot of Gabor Marton from 20 meters, but managed to react instinctively and to parry also the rebound of Yaniv Avvargeal; the ball deflected to Sergei Tretyak who missed it, and so Assaf Tubi bombed it again diagonally from 7 meters, seeing another sparkling save of Korenfein. 4 minutes prior to this triple save, an exact copy of Beitar's 2nd goal was mirrored in Beitar's box - Gabi Sapir sent Yaniv Avvargeal into the box, and Korenfein fouled him down; he was booked and a penalty was awarded, but if Itzhak Zohar was calm and scored, Gabor Marton sent the weak ball to Korenfein's left, and the keeper jumped there to save. In an injury time, after 546 consecutive dry minutes (!) (the new Israeli record; the previous one, 410, was set by Uvarov the last season), Korenfein still conceded a reducer from a sharp shot of Assaf Tubi from inside the box, but all the team was grateful for the 3 points the keeper brought it nearly singlehandedly. Even when the game of the leader isn't good, it should take points. And as for Kefar-Saba, something good is happening there according to the game the team showed.
And if the two above-mentioned keepers, Scheinsinger and Korenfein, were great, quite an opposite can be said about the yesterday's game of Mickey Dahan, the keeper of Hapoel Taibe. Getting outside in a very bad timing, he allowed the header of Moti Kakun to open the score, and in another 10 minutes, the simple free kick of Eli Abrabanel was enough to mislead the keeper again. In another 6 minutes, the Petakh-Tikwa professional free kick performer, Avi Fletcher, made a free kick that deflected from the wall and misled the miserable Dahan, 3:0; this was the score of the 1st half, and there was a huge "Battle Of Curses" between Taibe's fans and its Polish coach Voyzech Lazarek, for whom this game seems to be the last one in Taibe. And if this was not enough, a misleading shot of Eli Abrabanel, our "Man Of The Game", early in the 2nd half, saw Dahan slipping the ball under his stomach into the net (this I usually call "Arconada's Slip", for the mistake the Spanish keeper Luis Arconada had made in EC'84 final, conceding a free kick goal of the legendary Michel Platini; however, it was wet there). 4:0.
The game was held at Shalom ("Peace" in English), the wonderful new stadium of the little Arab town called Umm-el-Fahm, and Taibe suddenly remembered the opening celebration for this stadium shouldn't be that one-sided. A great flying header of Moti Eberbaum from the goal pass of Nassim Agbariya, and then a header of Agbariya himself, from the goal pass of Rifat Uda, gave Taibe even a hope of equalizing, in the moments when Petakh-Tikwa wasn't all of a sudden on the pitch. However, it was too late, and Petakh-Tikwa gathered all the points, while Taibe went down, one place from the very bottom. It seems Lazarek would be substituted with either Avraham Marchinsky of Dror Kashtan, when the names of Gili Landau and Guy Levi were also mentioned.
If the first two teams had some unpleasant moments in their games, Beer-Sheva was definitely the luckiest of the top teams, devastating Hapoel Rishon le-Zion at home, 3:0. Exploiting the very bad defence of Rishon up to the very end, it was Shai Holtzman giving a great goal pass to Liron Basis; and later on, it was twice Oren Sagron giving the goal passes of the same precision to Shai Holtzman, our "Man Of The Game" who also scored twice. Everything was actually accomplished still before the break, and the 2nd half was boring and somewhat redundant. Beer-Sheva is sticking stubbornly to the very top, and as for Rishon, the first euphory of Eyal Lakhman's era as a coach seems to be gone, and there are even the rumours about the possible return of Viko Hadad.
Another summer trip was surely planned in Petakh-Tikwa, where Maccabee hosted Hapoel Tsafririm Holon; however, it turned out to be the loss of another 2 important points for Maccabee. Offer Shitrit was sent off after just 27 minutes of play, after kicking Ronen Feigenbaum in Holon's box with his elbow; but even beforehand, Shitrit could've scored - a great pass of Najouan Grayib found him before the empty net, and the forward volleyed it home diagonally from 5 meters, but Alexander Zhidkov read the move well and rushed there with his giant steps, managing to block the ball in an impressive flight. After Shitrit's suspension, Grayib was the one to threaten constantly the net of Zhidkov, but the keeper won all the duels, 4 or 5. Only Guy Itzhak, the substitute being just 3 minutes on the pitch, managed to beat Zhidkov with a great shot from inside the box after a solo penetration; and another trial of Itzhak, after 71 minutes of play, kissed the net too, but was disallowed because of Florian Albert's foul on Zhidkov. And then, Holon managed to equalize, through the header of its own substitute, David Perets. A surprise.
Because of this draw, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa is now ahead of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv just due to the better goal difference. Bnei-Yehuda made yesterday a giant step towards the top, beating Maccabee Haifa at home in quite an interesting game. Amir Turgeman opened the score after 21 minutes of play, heading the ball between Liran Strauber's legs; the goal pass was of Reuven Attar. However, then it was "The Flight Of Plane". Alon Mizrahi equalized 8 minutes later, finding his way in the confusion within Haifa's box and putting the ball in between Nir Davidovich (substituting Bonnie Ginzburg in Haifa's net, not that successfully) and Sergei Belianchuk. And in the 2nd half Haifa was better, and Reuven Attar headed the ball to the bar (62); however, in 2 minutes a winner came on the other side. Mizrahi sent a marvellous ball to Avi Tikwa who entered the box and was blocked by Nir Davidovich. The keeper was booked, and Itzhak Ben-Itzhak (in quite a weak performance, telling the truth) pointed on the penalty spot. Davidovich took the right direction, but Mizrahi was precise, 2:1. In the continuation, Turgeman was fouled down in Bnei-Yehuda's box with no referee's reaction, but first of all, Haifa should blame itself for just another loss. Seeing the team I'm the fan of in the midtable is quite a painful experience, I'd say.
Hapoel Haifa achieved its 4th consecutive victory, now over Hapoel Beit-Shean, and passed Maccabee Haifa in the table for the first time this season. Beit-Shean was attacking, but Rafi Cohen was in his best, causing Shlomo Sherf a headache whether to choose him or Korenfein in he National team's net; and then, a goal pass of Ahmed Musa after his solo penetration on the left wing found the flying header of Offer Talker, just one minute before the break, opening the score. Early in the 2nd half, Hisham Zoabi shot inside the rebound from Israel Cohen's shot to the right post of Meir Cohen. Sergen Culakovic still reduced the score 7 minutes from time, after a terrible misunderstanding in Haifa's box; and 2 minutes later, Nir Sokher of Hapoel Haifa was sent off with his 2nd yellow card, but this didn't help Beit-Shean to get an equalizer. The 2nd coach of Haifa, Roni Dora (the uncle of Tal Banin): "Now we have to return all those points that we've lost by now". And as for Beit-Shean, it seems to be "The War Movie 3", and nothing helps.
Maccabee Herzliya didn't impress with the tremendous quality of play, but Hapoel Jerusalem was even less impressive. In the game which was quite dull, Herzliya collected all the points after one truly European move - a rapid attack of Herzliya, in which I counted 5 or 6 passes to cut all the field and all the Jerusalemite defence, ended with a goal pass of Elad Koren to Sahar Mizrahi who had no problems in front of Jaroslav Baku inside the latter's box. The 3rd consecutive victory of Herzliya, the 4th such loss of Jerusalem.
And finally, 2 words about the Tel-Aviv derby which was shown live on the Israeli Channel II. A real shame that actually reflected the true level of both teams this season.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): in my opinion, nothing really interesting to watch, as all the top teams are playing against the ones from the very-very bottom. Check it out later for the possible surprises.
BEITAR JERUSALEM - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Itzhak Zohar (33, 57 pen).
Guests: Assaf Tubi (90).
THE BEST: Itzhak Korenfein, keeper, Beitar Jerusalem.
On the 75th minute Gabor Marton (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) missed a penalty kick -
Itzhak Korenfein saved.
Hapoel Taibe - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 2:4 (0:3).
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Hosts: Moti Eberbaum (67), Nassim Agbariya (80).
Guests: Moti Kakun (21), Eli Abrabanel (31, 55), Avi Fletcher (37).
THE BEST: Eli Abrabanel, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 3:0 (3:0).
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Hosts: Liron Basis (16), Shai Holtzman (23, 28).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Shai Holtzman, forward, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Guy Itzhak (54).
Guests: David Perets (82).
RED: Offer Shitrit, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 27.
THE BEST: Alexander Zhidkov, keeper, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Haifa 2:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Alon Mizrahi (29, 64 pen).
Guests: Amir Turgeman (21).
THE BEST: Eilon Schwegger, midfielder, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Guy Sharabi, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Offer Talker (44), Hisham Zoabi (48).
Guests: Sergen Culakovic (83).
RED: Nir Sokher, defender, Hapoel Haifa, 85.
THE BEST: Ahmed Musa, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Hapoel Jerusalem 1:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Sahar Mizrahi (42).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Vassili Ivanov, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Itzhak Korenfein
(Beitar Jerusalem)
Ahmed Musa Asi Domb Avi Fletcher Ilan Boaron
(Hapoel Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hap. Petakh-Tikwa) (Hap. Petakh-Tikwa)
Itzhak Zohar Oren Sagron Eilon Schwegger
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Alon Mizrahi Shai Holtzman Eli Abrabanel
(Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hap. Petakh-Tikwa)
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 3.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 2.
Hapoel Haifa - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 11 9 2 0 24- 6 29
2 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 11 9 1 1 26-12 28
3 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 11 8 0 3 17- 7 24
4 (4) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 11 6 2 3 14-10 20
5 (6) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 11 6 2 3 15-14 20
6 (5) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 11 5 4 2 17-14 19
7 (8) Hapoel Haifa 11 5 1 5 19-16 16
8 (7) Maccabee Haifa 11 4 3 4 13-14 15
9 (9) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 11 4 1 6 9-11 13
10 (10) Hapoel Jerusalem 11 4 1 6 10-14 13
11 (15) Maccabee Herzliya 11 3 1 7 5-11 10
12 (11) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 11 3 1 7 12-24 10
13 (14) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 11 2 3 6 7-13 9
14 (13) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 11 2 3 6 6-12 9
15 (12) Hapoel Taibe 11 3 0 8 9-20 9
16 (16) Hapoel Beit-Shean 11 1 3 7 7-12 6
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams before this week.
BEST PLAYER: Itzhak Korenfein, keeper, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Yaniv Offri (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 9(0)
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
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Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 8(4) 2(1)
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Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 7(2) 1
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 7(2)
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Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(2) 2
Itzhak Zohar (Beitar Jerusalem) 6(2) 2(1)
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 6(2)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(0)
*********************************************************
Eli Abrabanel (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 4(0) 2
Liron Basis (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 4(0) 1
Hezi Shirazi (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0)
Moti Menakhem (Hapoel Jerusalem) 4(0)
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 |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (14) | Beitar Jerusalem (1) |
| Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (15) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (16) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (3) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (4) | Hapoel Haifa (7) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (9) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (10) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (6) |
| Maccabee Haifa (8) | Hapoel Taibe (15) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) | Maccabee Herzliya (11) |
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