Just 18 goals, 5 red cards and 1 penalty scored - this was the story of the last weekend, with lots of teams going up and lots of teams falling down. But one fact still remains true: Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel-Aviv lead the League, while Maccabee Tel-Aviv is under the red line. Who would've thought?
Just 1:1 home draws to both of the leaders, Hapoel Jerusalem making it vs Maccabee Haifa and Hapoel Tel-Aviv scoring the equalizer just 5 minutes from time vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv; still, both of the teams are unbeaten and share the top. Our UEFA representatives look good, scoring 7 unanswered goals - Istvan Pisont, our "Player Of The Week", hit 3 times in Rishon le-Zion for Beitar Jerusalem, and Eli Abrabanel in a bright performance of his led Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa to a home victory over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod; for both the losing teams it was the first loss this season, and I shouldn't bury them alive at all. The 3rd Israeli European representative, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, was far from being bright at home vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but still succeeded to equalize in 10 players; the Yellows are the only team in the League without any victory! The only team placed under the team of Avraham Grant is Hapoel Kefar-Saba, losing away 0:2 to Hapoel Haifa. Finally, Hapoel Beit-Shean defeated Maccabee Herzliya away, 1:0, and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa won 2:0 in Ashkelon. And now - to the details.
Maccabee Haifa, playing in Jerusalem, had tens of opportunities to score, but either Liran Strauber was well-placed, or Jiri Weora, Sergei Kandaurov and Avishai Zhano were imprecise. Finally, Haifa could score just once, when Weora's pass found a curved shot of Alon Mizrahi in a turn from inside the box. Unfortunately for the Greens, this was just an equalizer and nothing more - coming after 61 minutes of play, it just followed the hosts' opener still before the break, when Assaf Tubi touched the ball and directed it into Davidovich's right post; the ball rolled on the line to the other post and crossed the line afterwards despite Davidovich's desperate attempt to save it. Hapoel Jerusalem showed itself as a disciplined and well-organized team, whose place at the top is hardly arguable; and as for Haifa, it will have an opportunity to collect all the points in Kefar-Saba the next week. It's unfortunate, though, that this will have to be done without Alon Mizrahi - the brilliant forward was sent off 4 minutes from time, after a foul on Moti Ohayon.
After 381 dry minutes, Shavit Elimelekh conceded his first goal this season from the legs of Sahar Mizrahi, after a great goal pass of Nissim Avitan. Hapoel Tel-Aviv didn't expect such a start and tried to equalize the score at home by any means, but Rafi Cohen in the net of Bnei-Yehuda was just brilliant, saving his net time after time, especially from the trials of still scoreless Offer Shitrit. When it seemed the Reds would lose their first game this season, there came another goal of Georgi Daraselia 5 minutes from time to equalize the score. Everything had been said about Hapoel Tel-Aviv; and as for Bnei-Yehuda, the main enemy of this talented team is its unstability.
Playing quite a good soccer at home vs Beitar Jerusalem, Rishon le-Zion was still beaten by an extraordinarily good day of Itzhak Korenfein in Beitar's net and Istvan Pisont in its attacking line. 2 great saves of Korenfein from the shots of Rafi Cohen (36, 47), his stops after the shots of Nissan Capeta and Zlatko Zupatic in the 2nd half and his incredible cat flight to catch in the air the killing shot of Evgeniy Kashentsev (several minutes from time) left Rishon scoreless. And Pisont made miracles on the pitch - that started still in the 1st half (37), when in a quick counterattack his first bomb found Sagi Strauss well-placed, but the rebound went in. 10 minutes from time, Pisont stopped on a chest an Istvan Hamar's pass, rushed into the box, passed Sagi Strauss and curved the ball in from a hard angle, 2:0. But the best effort was still to come - Pisont made a quick double-pass with a fresh substitute Nir Reichman, advanced for 25 meters while passing 2 defenders of Rishon, made a swift move past another defender to enter the box and shot diagonally a killer to be stuck (!) into the right high corner of Strauss, between the inner metallic support circle of the post and the stretched net. Let us just hope it will be the same against FC Bruges.
Another European representative of Israel, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, was also very convincing and thrashed Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 4:0 at home. It could've been different, but an early goal of Naor Galili was disallowed because of a dubious offside (19), and Yossi Madar's shot found Shai Hess well-prepared (21). So, those were Manor Hassan (26) and Moti Kakun (31) with their 2 brilliant efforts from inside the box, and then there came a break. Immediately after the break, Yossi Madar was sent off for colliding with Walid Badir and cursing the referee, and Ashdod was broken at that point. A spectacular personal effort of Eli Abrabanel resulted in passing 4 players and shooting an unstoppable bomb from 14 meters (59); 8 minutes later, the same Abrabanel shot a diagonal ball to mislead Guy Nakhshon (in quite a hesitant game of his). 4:0. Now it's the turn of Rapid Vienna.
Talking about the European representatives of Israel, there is also a worrisome point - Hapoel Beer-Sheva's last victory was over Zhalgiris Vilnius, and the team didn't achieve any internal victory ever since the first game. Nevertheless, yesterday the team can be generally glad with the result - playing with a man less at home and being down to its most hated and uncomfortable rival of the last years, named Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Beer-Sheva still managed to equalize. Avi Nimni's goal pass found an unstoppable header of Nir Klinger (21); then, Sharon Bukhnik was sent off after hitting Guy Tsarfati (23), and Smadja made an impossible save from the deadly header of Rodrigo Goldberg (27). Beer-Sheva's shots of Sharon Avitan and Oren Sagron missed the frame in the 1st half, but 15 minutes after the break, Dudu Heffer levelled the score with his precise shot from 25 meters. Uvarov can be seen responsible for reacting lately to that shot, but he saved his net in a one-to-one situation vs Avitan (74); later on, Uvarov was misled by his own defender, but the ball just didn't find the frame. Both teams were both happy and unhappy after the game which left both sides in quite a serious bottom trouble, though the League is young.
A magnificent free kick of Ran Ben-Shimon from 18 meters found Eran Scheinsinger's net early in the 1st half, and then Hapoel Haifa was a clearly better team than its guests, Hapoel Kefar-Saba. To drop the guests to the very bottom, Haifa didn't even need to try, as Kefar-Saba wasn't dangerous at all; still, there was a penalty of Reuven Attar (55) scored after the foul on Najouan Grayib to set the final score. Giovanni Rosso was great, and he's "The Man Of The Game" here; it seems he remembered his skill from the last season.
In Herzliya, a good keeping of Meir Cohen prevented Maccabee Herzliya from scoring in the few opportunities the team had; besides, those were the bar of Santos Sierra and Roman Filipchuk. On the other hand, Hapoel Beit-Shean based its game on the counterattacks led by a wonderful Moris Uzan; in one of those, after 23 minutes of play, he used the goal pass of Cobi Ganon to overplay Shuli Gilardi in the fence of legs. 1:0 to Beit-Shean; will it be another "Film Of Survival"? God knows...
And finally, it was the first victory of Moshe Sinai's Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa this season, but not the first loss of Menashe Nuriel's Hapoel Ashkelon. After a scoreless 1st half, it was a mistake of Boaz Meir to let Carlos Pero enter the hosts' box without any offside and to score in his debut game, 1:0. Later on, Petakh-Tikwa's substitute Tsakhi Shemariyahu was sent off with his 2nd yellow card, after just 14 minutes on the pitch (!), but those were still the guests to score a charming last goal - Haim Shabo gave a brilliant pass a la Eyal Berkovich to Offer Cohen, and the latter threw the ball over Asi Rakhamim, 35 meters from his net (!), overran the keeper and rolled the ball from 22 meters into an empty frame. A victory needed very much by Petakh-Tikwa to calm down; a loss frustrating Hapoel Ashkelon once more.
NEXT WEEK (in a week): Beitar Jerusalem (3) hosts Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10), the "European" battle not to be missed! Also worth watching: Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (11) vs Hapoel Jerusalem (1), Maccabee Tel-Aviv (15) vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (4), Hapoel Haifa (7) vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (6).
Hapoel Jerusalem - Maccabee Haifa 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Assaf Tubi (42).
Guests: Alon Mizrahi (61).
RED: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Haifa, 86.
THE BEST: Moti Ohayon, defender, Hapoel Jerusalem.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Georgi Daraselia (85).
Guests: Sahar Mizrahi (22).
THE BEST: Rafi Cohen, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:3 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Istvan Pisont (37, 80, 85).
THE BEST: Istvan Pisont, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 4:0 (2:0).
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Hosts: Manor Hassan (26), Moti Kakun (31), Eli Abrabanel (59, 67).
Guests: -.
RED: Yossi Madar, forward, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 46.
THE BEST: Eli Abrabanel, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Ran Ben-Shimon (8), Reuven Attar (55 pen).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Giovanni Rosso, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
Maccabee Herzliya - HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Moris Uzan (23).
RED: Vassili Ivanov, defender, Maccabee Herzliya, 74.
THE BEST: Moris Uzan, forward, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Dudu Heffer (62).
Guests: Nir Klinger (21).
RED: Sharon Bukhnik, defender, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 23.
THE BEST: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Ashkelon - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Carlos Pero (56), Offer Cohen (78).
RED: Tsakhi Shemariyahu, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 65.
THE BEST: Offer Cohen, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Rafi Cohen
(Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Beni Kozoshvili Ran Ben-Shimon Moti Ohayon Shuki Nagar
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hap. Jerusalem) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Giovanni Rosso Amir Gola Eli Abrabanel Avi Nimni
(Hapoel Haifa) (Hap. Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Istvan Pisont Moris Uzan
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Beit-Shean)
Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa,
Hapoel Haifa, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Beit-Shean, Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Istvan Pisont (the 3rd).
Also - Istvan Pisont (the 2nd), Offer Cohen,
Eli Abrabanel, Ran Ben-Shimon.
THE BEST SAVE:
91: All the saves of Itzhak Korenfein.
MO: Shaul Smadja, from Rodrigo Goldberg, 27.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Jerusalem 05 3 2 0 8- 5 11
2 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 05 3 2 0 4- 1 11
3 (6) Beitar Jerusalem 05 2 3 0 11- 7 9
4 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 05 3 0 2 10- 8 9
5 (5) Maccabee Haifa 05 2 2 1 11- 7 8
6 (3) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 05 2 2 1 8- 6 8
7 (8) Hapoel Haifa 05 2 2 1 4- 2 8
8 (4) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 05 2 2 1 6- 7 8
9 (14) Hapoel Beit-Shean 05 2 0 3 6- 8 6
10* (11) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 05 1 2 2 5- 7 5
11* (12) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 05 1 2 2 5- 7 5
12 (16) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 05 1 2 2 4- 6 5
13 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 05 1 1 3 7- 9 4
14 (10) Hapoel Ashkelon 05 1 1 3 6- 9 4
15 (15) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 05 0 3 2 7- 9 3
16 (13) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 05 1 0 4 6-10 3
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
NOTE: Hapoel Beer-Sheva takes the higher place than Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, as
their face-to-face meeting finished with 2:0 to Beer-Sheva (Week 01).
BEST PLAYER: Istvan Pisont, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(0) 3
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 5(3) 1
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Georgi Daraselia (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 3(0) 1
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 3(0)
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 3(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 3(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 3(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 |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (11) | Hapoel Jerusalem (1) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (9) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (3) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (10) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (15) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (4) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (16) | Maccabee Haifa (5) |
| Hapoel Haifa (7) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (6) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) | Hapoel Ashkelon (14) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (12) | Maccabee Herzliya (13) |
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