15 goals (in 7 games), 3 penalties (all scored) and no red cards at all - it was the story of the last week. Beitar Jerusalem continued its top run, and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa lost the 2nd place to Hapoel Beer-Sheva and to the rain; however, the team of Nir Levin can regain the place and the honour in a week and a half, when the paddles dry out and it is possible to host Maccabee Herzliya. And at the bottom - no victories to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Hapoel Tel-Aviv; and Hapoel Taibe finally managed to score a goal, but the game against Maccabee Tel-Aviv won't be remembered there for good. How surprising, isn't it?.. Well, let's go to the details.
Bnei-Yehuda's midfielder Nissim Cohen, who will turn 42 (!) on April 7th, used all his rich experience in the League to state: "Beitar Jerusalem should save its time and force, it will lose against us anyway". However, he made a mistake this time. Indeed, in the 1st half the game stayed scoreless - Bnei-Yehuda was the attacking side, using well the wonderful Alon Mizrahi, but the hosts could do nothing against the great skill of Itzhak Korenfein; and on the other hand, Liran Strauber made several great saves not to let his team concede. And in the 2nd half, Itzhak Zohar opened the score for Beitar with a penalty kick, after Istvan Salloi had been knocked down inside the box by the defender Aharon Siton; and just 11 minutes after that, Abuksis penetrated coolly through the center and made a goal pass to Salloi who had no problems to score. Bnei-Yehuda didn't give up, and Alon Mizrahi scored from a penalty kick, after Asi Domb had knocked Offer Levi down inside the guests' box. And here, during the great moments of Bnei-Yehuda, the only mistake of Strauber came to give the game finally to Beitar - Salloi made a goal pass to Pisont who shot from 18 meters flatly, Strauber reacted well but failed to catch the ball that slipped into the net. Those of you who followed my postings from the last season - it was sort of the mistake that Zoltan Veg of Hapoel Haifa had performed against Maccabee Tel-Aviv. Bnei-Yehuda still tried to do something, and Alon Mizrahi managed to beat Korenfein, but found just the post, as he had done recently against Oliver Kahn, Alexander Uvarov and Thomas Ravelli. It was another victory of Beitar, and the 4th consecutive loss of the Oranges which dropped to the 7th place. And after the game, Istvan Salloi was the man to follow the tradition of Alexander Uvarov, Vladimir Greshnev and Niko Kudritskiy (of blessed memory) and give an interview in a fluent Hebrew.
The game between Maccabee Haifa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva was once the threatening top game, but this time it was the game between the top and the bottom squads. And the top side, indeed, won - a free kick pass performed by Siad Halilovic found Dudu Heffer who shot it from 16 meters, and Liron Basis was inside the box to touch the ball and to change its direction, 1:0 to Beer-Sheva. And even so, Haifa reminded a little bit the glorious squad of the last years, especially because of the terrific skill of the maestro Reuven Attar, "The Man Of The Game"; and if Beer-Sheva went from Kiryat-Eliezer with all the points collected, it was due to Avi Perets, our "Keeper Of The Week". After 52 minutes of play, Attar turned around and shot an incredible volley from 25 meters and in half-a-kneeling, but Perets raised himself coolly to send it to a corner. And in 4 minutes, it was Attar, entering the box, taking the high ball and shooting all of a sudden a breathtaking scissors kick that missed the frame by centimeters; had it gone in, the question about "The Goal Of The Season" wouldn't have arised anymore. Altogether with the bright moments, the game had several cruel ones; the referee Eitan Tavrizi was certainly too mild - the mutual foul between Siad Halilovic and Sergei Kandaurov caused the yellow card just to Haifa's foreigner, and a dirty confrontation between Ronnie Levi and Liron Basis (with at least booking deserved by the first and the certain red card deserved by the last) left all the cards in Tavrizi's pocket. This way or another, Maccabee Haifa lost, but it can be optimistic about its future with such a quality of play as it showed us yesterday. And Hapoel Beer-Sheva registered another victory and passed its top rival, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, in the table - however, it's just an optical advantage, as Petakh-Tikwa has another game in hand, against Herzliya. I wonder how they manage to live in the English Premier League, where the total lack of order rules and the gap of 4 played games is nothing impossible.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv of Round 2 is totally different from the team we've seen in Round 1; and yesterday, it couldn't wish the better rival than Hapoel Taibe in its permanent crisis. Gadi Brumer, in all probability our man in Manchester United the next season, didn't have to work hard as nearly all the opportunities were created on the other side. Nir Klinger scored his 1st goal from the range of zero, after Akakiy Devadze had parried the header of Eli Driks. In 3 minutes, Noam Shoham shot a flat kick from 20 meters to mislead Devadze on the wet pitch, and in another 19 minutes, Nir Klinger again used a wonderful pass of Avi Nimni to shoot incredibly well from 17 meters under the left crossbar of Devadze - lots of even the better keepers would've conceded from such a shot too, and it's our "Goal Of The Week". In the 2nd half, Devadze was booked after knocking Eli Driks down inside the box, and the victim himself converted the penalty kick into 4:0. Devadze, who is hardly to blame for the loss as he has an anti-defence, still managed to deny 2 deadly opportunities of Eli Driks, before Avi Nimni scored with a header after a penetration of Guy Nakhman on the left wing. 5:0! Taibe scored on a counterattack, as the ball came to Rifat Uda on the left wing, and the latter entered the box, misled there Alon Brumer and shot a curved bomb over the hands of Uvarov under his bar. That was the end, and Taibe succeeded to score a goal finally after 684 (!) dry minutes; Uvarov stated after the game: "It's very frustrating to concede a goal. Taibe hasn't scored for something like 10 games, and then they scored especially against me?.." But the grief of Uvarov is definitely not the joy of Taibe - this team has too much to think about, and no solutions are seen in the nearest future.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa is now 3 points far from Maccabee Tel-Aviv after making just a draw vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv away; however, it should be grateful for the earned point, as Hapoel was far better. Golan Malul and Morad Magamedov were the mostly responsible for the clean net of the guests; and as for the hosts, if they don't score after such a good performance as the one they've shown this time, it seems like they can hardly ever win, and that their situation is extremely shaky. And it was also another nil draw this week, between Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Hapoel Haifa; but the game was too awful to waste the precious words about it. However, Kefar-Saba managed to rise to the 6th place.
A very important bottom game was held in Holon, between Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. The guests opened the score momentarily, as Eitan Shalom found Nir Shikwa inside the hosts' box, and the latter threw the ball above Roman Pets and then sent a bomb over the head of Alexander Zhidkov from 5 meters, a great effort. Shikwa could've scored another goal, but his ball hit the right post and was deflected away. However, in the 2nd half Holon was better, and Oren Nissim levelled the score after a good goal pass of Itzhak Swissa. Later on, Swissa had several other opportunities to take an advantage and to win, but Sagi Strauss, our "Man Of The Game", denied all of them. 1:1 at the end.
And it was another game, of the teams that were considered the bottom teams before the season had started, but that promised its place in the National League much earlier than the others. That's why the 1:1 draw between Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Beit-Shean was quite acceptable for both teams. The visitors opened the score with a great move of Meir Melika - Shimon Danan - Sergen Culakovic, and the latter scored with a great shot in a turn. However, Jerusalem equalized immediately after the break - Assaf Tubi kidnapped the ball from Ami Azulai at the left wing of Beit-Shean and passed it to the box, and Eyal Avrahami stood there to curve the ball without stopping to the right post of Meir Cohen and in, 1:1. In between and afterwards, Michel Dayan, "The Man Of The Game", created several great opportunities to score and shot two magnificent free kicks; but both kicks were denied by the excellent Meir Cohen, and the opportunities were wasted. Yossi Mizrahi, the coach of Hapoel Jerusalem, was absent (because of the mourning for his sister of blessed memory), and therefore, the game was led by his aide, Igal Levi.
THE NEXT WEEK (in a week): Beitar Jerusalem (1) hosts Hapoel Taibe (16), probably not the best soccer expected, but a lot of motivation for both sides to win, both because of the table situation and of the political background. Another game to be closely watched - Maccabee Tel-Aviv (4) against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (3). Hapoel Beer-Sheva (2) plays against Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6).
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - BEITAR JERUSALEM 1:3 (0:0).
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Hosts: Alon Mizrahi (72 pen).
Guests: Itzhak Zohar (55 pen), Istvan Salloi (66), Istvan Pisont (73).
THE BEST: Istvan Pisont, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
Maccabee Haifa - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Liron Basis (35).
THE BEST: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - Maccabee Herzliya PP:PP.
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Hosts: -. ** The game was postponed because of the bad field
Guests: -. ** conditions, and will be played on March 25th.
THE BEST: -------. **
Hapoel Taibe - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 1:5 (0:3).
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Hosts: Rifat Uda (86).
Guests: Nir Klinger (15, 37), Noam Shoham (18),
Eli Driks (48 pen), Avi Nimni (75).
THE BEST: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Golan Malul, keeper, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - Hapoel Haifa 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Ran Ben-Shimon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Hapoel Beit-Shean 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Eyal Avrahami (46).
Guests: Sergen Culakovic (30).
THE BEST: Michel Dayan, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Oren Nissim (57).
Guests: Nir Shikwa (5).
THE BEST: Sagi Strauss, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Avi Perets
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Felix Halfon Gadi Brumer Morad Magamedov David Amsalem
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Nir Klinger Istvan Pisont Michel Dayan Avi Nimni
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Jerusalem) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Reuven Attar Alon Mizrahi
(Maccabee Haifa) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 3.
Beitar Jerusalem - 2.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv,
Hapoel Jerusalem, Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 22 17 4 1 47-12 55
2 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 22 15 2 5 35-18 47
3 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 21* 13 6 2 38-20 45
4 (4) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 22 12 5 5 40-22 41
5 (5) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 22 11 5 6 28-19 38
6 (7) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 22 8 6 8 23-23 30
7 (6) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 22 8 6 8 22-26 30
8 (8) Hapoel Haifa 22 8 5 9 25-24 29
9 (9) Hapoel Jerusalem 22 8 4 10 24-31 28
10 (10) Maccabee Haifa 22 6 8 8 24-25 26
11 (11) Hapoel Beit-Shean 22 7 5 10 19-22 26
12 (12) Maccabee Herzliya 21* 7 2 12 12-19 23
13 (13) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 22 5 6 11 21-36 21
14 (14) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 22 3 9 10 14-31 18
15 (15) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 22 3 8 11 11-22 17
16 (16) Hapoel Taibe 22 3 1 18 13-46 10
* - missing game
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams before this week.
BEST PLAYER: Istvan Pisont, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 13(1)
Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 13(6) 1(1)
*********************************************************
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 12(3)
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Yaniv Offri (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 11(0)
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 11(3) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 11(4)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0) 1
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Itzhak Zohar (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(3) 1(1)
Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 9(3)
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 Taibe (16) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (2) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (4) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (3) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (5) | Hapoel Jerusalem (9) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (7) | Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (14) |
| Hapoel Haifa (8) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (15) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (12) | Maccabee Haifa (10) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (13) |
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