17 goals in 7 games, 2 red cards and 2 penalties scored - this was the story of the last weekend marked by FIFA as "A Day Of Fair Play". The round of great keepers' saves and no less great keepers' slips will be finished this Tuesday, when Beitar Jerusalem hosts Hapoel Beer-Sheva at Teddy stadium.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv finally managed to score more than one goal in the game, defeating Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:0 away - those were also the first goals of Offer Shitrit this season. Catching the top, the Reds of Eli Cohen also enjoyed an exceptionally bad day of Hapoel Jerusalem - in the worst game of this season, with no man to mark and 2 goals scored through the keepers' dreadful mistakes, the former leaders had a great luck, equalizing 2 minutes from time. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, after its really dreadful start of the season, enjoyed both passing Hapoel Jerusalem and defeating Maccabee Tel-Aviv - as usual, the Yellows were ahead, but Uvarov isn't anymore a brilliant keeper he used to be. Two identical winners for the Haifa teams - Maccabee Haifa defeated the bottom team of Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 2:0 from 2 awesome goals of Sergei Kandaurov and Ibrahim Doro; and Hapoel Haifa, in a brilliant form, left Hapoel Rishon le-Zion no chance, despite the great keeping of Sagi Strauss, our "Keeper Of The Week". In quite an interesting game between the 2 newcomers, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod was down twice at home to Hapoel Ashkelon, but managed to equalize both times, once in a very critical minute. And finally, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa parted at home from Maccabee Herzliya with a 1:1 result; Shuli Gilardi made again "The Save Of The Week". Now - the details.
Playing in Beit-Shean, Hapoel Tel-Aviv wasn't really threatened a single time by the hosts, mostly due to Shimon Gershon, "The Man Of The Game" who neutralized a deadly force of Moris Uzan; however, the Red attacks were based mostly on Offer Shitrit who couldn't score for the first moments. Still, after 24 minutes of play, a brilliant dribbling of Georgi Daraselia sent Shitrit finally into the box with a great goal pass, and Offer shot it flatly to the right corner of Meir Cohen, 1:0. 12 minutes from time, it was the new Slovenian midfielder Demian Geiser to register his name in his first Israeli game - being knocked down by Eitan Taib just inside the box, he earned a penalty kick (a perfect decision by a referee Meir Levi in a totally flawless performance), and Shitrit had no problem to roll the penalty in. The first time to score 2 goals this season, the first goals of Offer Shitrit this season - and the 1st time for the last 6 years that Hapoel Tel-Aviv catches the top.
Broadcasting live the game of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa was definitely a great mistake, a boredom hardly bearable by those who have an opportunity to watch any European League. In one of the very few interesting moments, a great goal pass of Vassili Moukan left Sahar Mizrahi with no offside near the guests' net (7), and Sahar rolled the ball between the legs of a still dreaming Liran Strauber. A great volley of Laszlo Czeh (18) was blocked by Eilon Schwegger, and then the fans had to suffer for an hour (!) before another interesting moment - a good save of Rafi Cohen from the shot of Michel Dayan (78), followed by a great reflex of Strauber to parry the bomb of Timur Tugashi (81). And then a real mistake of Rafi Cohen followed - Michel Dayan (88) performed a corner kick, Cohen hesitated whether to catch it or not, and Laszlo Czeh, pushed by Bnei-Yehuda's defender, touched the ball with his shoulder to direct it in the gap of the standing keeper's legs. A very miserable moment for the National keeper whose brilliant saves against the high-class world players (like Kostadinov, Stoichkov, Letchkov, Beschastnych, Djorkaeff, Brolin, Zola, etc.) are still fresh in our memories. And the game urged Yossi Mizrahi, Jerusalem's coach, to state the following: "My team is at the top, but it doesn't truly belong there, so your expectations should be lowered". As for Viko Hadad, Bnei-Yehuda's coach, he impressed the TV crews with giving instructions in quite a fluent Russian to his foreigners, Timur Tugashi and Vassili Moukan.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - is it really at the place before the last? Impossible to grasp this new reality, isn't it? But that's the fact, and the reasons for that seem to be numerous. Gadi Brumer, Amir Shelakh and Moshe Glam, the skeleton of the National team's defence, are awful in their own team. Nir Klinger isn't the man he used to be, Noam Shoham and Haim Hageage are far from their best, and the young Guy Tsarfati can't catch their places. Domagio Kosic and Rodrigo Goldberg bring shame on the title "Israeli Foreigner", and Eli Driks, altogether with Avi Nimni, is quite acceptable, but this isn't enough anymore. Extremely important is the fact that Alexander Uvarov, conceding 11 goals in 6 games, can be seen responsible for 6 of them, in this extent or another; betrayed by his defence time after time, Uvarov is still heavier and slower that he used to be, and it seems his age of nearly 38 is irreversible. But the most important is the fact that Maccabee became losers instead of staying winners; 5 times this team opened the score this season, collecting at the end just 3 points out of 15 possible (!); in the former seasons, 10 points collected in such a state would've been seen a disaster.
Yesterday it was again a good start of Maccabee - a great combination of Amir Shelakh - Avi Nimni - Eli Driks found the latter skating forward to roll the ball in, 1:0 after 7 minutes of play. But then, those were again 2 minutes to make the difference. A great dummy of Gabor Marton near the corner flag resulted in a brilliantly measured pass into the box, to a flying diagonal header of Daniel Abbas from 14 meters (13); the ball wasn't very mighty or extremely close to the post, but Uvarov reacted late and found no answer with his heavy dive. And in another 19 minutes, Eli Abrabanel was knocked down 18 meters from the net, and Manor Hassan shot a clever free kick; Uvarov could just parry it, Brumer and Shelakh stood stunned and watched Eli Abrabanel rising into the air to head it in over the desperate keeper. A perfect comeback, indeed.
Some words about Avi Nimni and the refereeing - the other remarkable 3 moments all dealt with them. 7 minutes before the break, Rodrigo Goldberg made the same move as Gabor Marton's 25 minutes beforehand, but Avi Nimni headed the ball away, a miss impossible to repeat. Still before the break, it was Avi Nimni diving inside the box; it was clearly no penalty then, but the referee Arik Haimovich made a cruel mistake later on, 11 minutes from time, sending Nimni off for a "normal" yellow-card foul over Manor Hassan. Nimni's reaction was shocking - he froze after seeing the red card, unable to believe, and then left the field without a word, accepting the destiny silently as the Yellows seem to accept theirs. It's time to wake up and to do something! And as for Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, it seems to have found the right way; the next week's game in which it will host Beitar Jerusalem, is a great attraction, especially when both those teams still have the European chances.
Playing mediocrily in Kefar-Saba, Maccabee Haifa still enjoyed a bad opponent and the great foreigners of its own. In a critical moment just before the break, when Yaniv Avvargeal of Hapoel Kefar-Saba missed his chance in front of Nir Davidovich, Sergei Kandaurov organized a counterattack and shot from 19 meters a flat ball that beat Eran Scheinsinger. The next goal of Ibrahim Doro was a true masterpiece to deserve "The Goal Of The Week" award - Rajid Bransi rolled the ball back to the Bosnian midfielder, and the latter took a proper run and shot from 25 meters a killing left-footer which Scheinsinger had no chance to stop. Hapoel Kefar-Saba suffered from 5 consecutive losses and stayed at the very bottom, and the Greens of Haifa collect points, but still need to improve their game.
Sharon Martsiano saw his team's only opportunity (25) disappearing in the secure hands of Dudu Awwat, and from that moment on, Hapoel Haifa suppressed Hapoel Rishon le-Zion all over the pitch in Kiryat-Eliezer. Luckily for Rishon, Sagi Strauss in its net gave a magnificent performance; his saves from the shots of Liron Basis and Sergen Culakovic will be remembered for long, as well as the others, and when Dmitriy Ulyanov managed to beat the keeper, his curved bounce hit the bar. But even Strauss could do nothing, 58 and 81 minutes from the start. First, Miroslav Bicinic left a charming ball to Liron Basis inside the box, and the latter shot it past the helpless Strauss. And then, a penetration of Najouan Grayib, our "Player Of The Week", at the left wing caused a foul of Sharon Martsiano on him, inside the box; Giovanni Rosso shot a penalty kick out of the reach of Strauss, who guessed the corner. Hapoel Haifa seems to be secure at the top, and Rishon is losing the height.
4 minutes inside the game in Ashdod, it was an incredible bomb of Boaz Meir from a free kick from 17 meters to beat a desperately flying Akakiy Devadze, a surprising 1:0 lead of Hapoel Ashkelon over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod. 15 minutes have passed, and Igal Zrihen managed to roll an equalizer in, during a confusion near the net of Asi Rakhamim. Still in the 1st half, it was a great dive of Devadze to parry the ball of Yossi Shoshani (31), and a cool skill of Asi Rakhamim in the net of Ashkelon to deny Igal Zrihen (43). A bad timing of Devadze, 3 minutes after the break, allowed David Kazelashvili to head the ball in past his country-mate, 2:1 to Ashkelon; later on, Devadze made a brilliant save in one-to-one vs Nir Levi (76), and Asi Rakhamim denied Igal Zrihen again (85). And finally, when Ashkelon started to feel an away victory, a sweet local equalizer came - Assif Ben-Ishai bounced the ball into the box, and Naor Galili shot a weak volley between Rakhamim and his left post (89). Another keeper's mistake to cost points, 2:2.
And finally, it was the game in Petakh-Tikwa between the two Maccabees, local and Herzliya. The guests opened the score (5) with a flying header of Roman Filipchuk, after a preparation of Ilan Bakhar, and the hosts equalized with a mighty free kick of Raz Rabinovich (18), from 22 meters at half a height. Unfortunately for Petakh-Tikwa, Rabinovich was sent off after another 17 minutes of play, for a dubious foul on Eyal Bakhar. Nevertheless, the team of Moshe Sinai was better, and Shuli Gilardi made his best to preserve the score; his incredible flight to a curved ball of Offer Cohen (83) brought him another "Save Of The Week" award.
NEXT WEEK (in a week): Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (6), the game between the two "Europeans" with quite the high chances, NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Maccabee Haifa (4) hosts Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9), and according to the history, this game is NOT TO BE MISSED as well. Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) will host Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10), in a trial to defeat its former coach Moshe Sinai. And there is a bottom duel - Hapoel Ashkelon (14) vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (15).
Hapoel Beit-Shean - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Offer Shitrit (24, 78 pen).
THE BEST: Shimon Gershon, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 1:2 (1:2).
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Hosts: Eli Driks (7).
Guests: Daniel Abbas (13), Eli Abrabanel (32).
RED: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 79.
THE BEST: Gabor Marton, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Jerusalem 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Sahar Mizrahi (7).
Guests: Laszlo Czeh (88).
THE BEST: NO ONE!!
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - MACCABEE HAIFA 0:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Sergei Kandaurov (45), Ibrahim Doro (51).
THE BEST: Ibrahim Doro, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 2:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Liron Basis (58), Giovanni Rosso (81 pen).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Najouan Grayib, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - Hapoel Ashkelon 2:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Igal Zrihen (19), Naor Galili (89).
Guests: Boaz Meir (4), David Kazelashvili (48).
THE BEST: Akakiy Devadze, keeper, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Maccabee Herzliya 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Raz Rabinovich (18).
Guests: Roman Filipchuk (5).
RED: Raz Rabinovich, defender, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 35.
THE BEST: Haim Shabo, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Sagi Strauss
(Hapoel Rishon le-Zion)
Ilan Bakhar Shimon Gershon Gabor Marton Najouan Grayib
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Haifa)
Demian Geiser Miroslav Bicinic Ibrahim Doro Giovanni Rosso
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Haifa)
Eli Abrabanel Offer Shitrit
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Haifa - 3.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 2.
Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Maccabee Herzliya - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: Ibrahim Doro.
Also - Raz Rabinovich, Boaz Meir, Sergei Kandaurov, Daniel Abbas.
MO: Ibrahim Doro.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Shuli Gilardi, from Offer Cohen, 83.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 06 4 2 0 6- 1 14
2 (4) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 06 4 0 2 12- 9 12
3 (1) Hapoel Jerusalem 06 3 3 0 9- 6 12
4 (5) Maccabee Haifa 06 3 2 1 13- 7 11
5 (7) Hapoel Haifa 06 3 2 1 6- 2 11
6 (3) Beitar Jerusalem 05* 2 3 0 11- 7 9
7 (8) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 06 2 3 1 8- 9 9
8 (6) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 06 2 2 2 8- 8 8
9 (11) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 06 1 3 2 6- 8 6
10 (12) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 06 1 3 2 5- 7 6
11 (9) Hapoel Beit-Shean 06 2 0 4 6-10 6
12 (13) Maccabee Herzliya 06 1 2 3 8-10 5
13 (10) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 05* 1 2 2 5- 7 5
14 (14) Hapoel Ashkelon 06 1 2 3 8-11 5
15 (15) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 06 0 3 3 8-11 3
16 (16) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 06 1 0 5 6-12 3
* - missing game
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
NOTE: Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beer-Sheva will play their game on
Tuesday, because of Beer-Sheva's game in the European Cups.
BEST PLAYER: Najouan Grayib, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(0)
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 5(3)
**********************************************************
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0) 1
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 4(0) 1
**********************************************************
Eli Abrabanel (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 3(0) 1
Naor Galili (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 3(0) 1
Georgi Daraselia (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 3(0)
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 3(0)
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 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 |
| Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (2) | Beitar Jerusalem (6) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (3) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (9) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (13) | Hapoel Haifa (5) |
| Maccabee Herzliya (12) | Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (7) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (8) | Hapoel Kefar-Saba (16) |
| Hapoel Ashkelon (14) | Maccabee Tel-Aviv (15) |
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