22 goals, 3 penalties shot and just 2 scored, and 8 red cards (!) - this was a brutal, but nevertheless a very interesting story of the last weekend. The rest of this weekend's features were several unexpected results, a swap at the top and a bubbling at the bottom, an awful level of refereeing - amongst the rest, 3 players sent off after the final whistle... But most of all, those were the keepers who made a good job and several highly spectacular saves; and as if we returned some years back, it was Alexander Uvarov who gave his best performance this year, being our "Player Of The Week".
The biggest drama took place in Jerusalem, where Beitar, being in a very delicate situation vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv, still refused to lose and equalized during the last minute of play, 1:1; Hapoel Tel-Aviv used this sudden development to reconquer the top, defeating Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:1 at home. Both Haifa representatives won and swapped their places, too; Hapoel devastated Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home, 4:0 (the latter has definitely a difficult life without Alon Hazan, who passed to the English club Watford), while Maccabee used another marvellous free kick of Itzhak Zohar to defeat Hapoel Ashkelon, 1:0 away. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa lost all of a sudden at home to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 1:2, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva registered an important home 3:0 victory over Hapoel Beit-Shean, after 15 games with no taste of 3 points. In a truly scandalous game totally ruined by the referee Moshe Atias, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion lost 3 players (!) and a game to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home, 2:3. And finally, the game between Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Jerusalem in the Sharon Valley ended with a modest 1:0 to the hosts, with 2 red cards after the end of the game; despite the score, the game was not dull, and the winner of Guy Gat was just incredible in its beauty.
Using an apriori knowledge about Beitar's draw, Hapoel Tel-Aviv started its game vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba with an unknown before enthusiasm; Kefar-Saba, on the other hand, was quite enjoyable and far from closing the game, and so the spectators enjoyed as well. Georgi Daraselia failed to beat Eran Scheinsinger at one-to-one (15), after a goal pass of Shalom Tikwa, but in another 7 minutes, the opposite combination worked - Daraselia gave Tikwa a precise pass that cut Kefar-Saba's defence, there was no offside, and Tikwa rolled it home to open the score. Sebastian Simerotic showed his skill again - after 55 minutes of play, he registered a solo penetration and produced a shot that resulted in a good save of Scheinsinger. Half an hour before the end, Tamir Netser stopped Shalom Tikwa's penetration with a handball and was shown a 2nd yellow card, and the hosts continued their pressure now in majority - Daraselia's header was bad (65), but the combination of Shavit Elimelekh - Sebastian Simerotic - Offer Shitrit gave the latter an opportunity to score, 2:0 (72). Kefar-Saba immediately reduced the score through the good free kick of Laszlo Komodi from 25 meters (74), but it wasn't enough. Moreover, during the last minute of play the referee Sabi Elnekawe overlooked a clear handball of Nir Yonai in Kefar-Saba's box and didn't award a penalty kick to the Reds; but they became the leaders even without that, didn't they?
The great drama was happening at Teddy, where Beitar Jerusalem, despite its obvious superiority, had a hard time vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv. The first scoring opportunity was of Moshe Glam, who took a surprising volley from 25 meters under the hosts' bar - Itzhak Korenfein was alert and flew to send the ball over the frame. Beitar answered immediately with Yossi Abuksis' pass to the right wing - Shmuel Levi went on and sent a measured ball to Istvan Salloi, and the Hungarian forward jumped well and sent a well-directed header from 7 meters to his left corner; Alexander Uvarov, aged and heavy though he lastly is, used all his experience and height to commit a breathtaking dive and to save his net. Still, no one could think then about the following developments for the defending Champions. Haim Hageage was sent off with a 2nd yellow card after a foul on Yossi Abuksis (42), and Beitar continued pressing, but found Uvarov everywhere; only once (70), Shai Holtzman managed to beat Uvarov with the help of Maccabee's defender, but the arched ball hit the bar, and Uvarov was there on the rebound before Istvan Pisont. And then a counterattack developed, in which Abuksis knocked Elek Nyilas down, 35 meters from the net. Alon Offir bounced a free kick to the box, Beitar's defence stood stunned, and Eli Driks raised in the air completely undisturbed, to show us another nonchalant nod of his; the mighty header hit the left post of a moveless Korenfein at half a height and went in, sending the full stadium into the minute of silence. With Driks at the top of "The Best Scorers' List", it was 1:0 to Maccabee, a complete contradiction to what was happening on the pitch.
The fist of Nir Sevilla to Amir Shelakh's face was overlooked by the referee Amit Klein, and Beitar continued attacking vigorously with no obvious results. And still, there came the repetition of history. During the first dramatic game between the two in Ramat-Gan, it was Alon Harazi with a shot from 20 meters that hit Amir Shelakh and misled Uvarov; yesterday, it took the defender 90 minutes instead of 62 to do the same. Pisont, in one of his few positive deeds in the game, centered the ball from the left wing, Shmuel Levi threw the ball slightly back, and Alon Harazi shot wholeheartedly a flat ball from 20 meters, again hitting Amir Shelakh and again misleading Uvarov, 1:1. Beitar just refused to lose and registered its 22nd consecutive unbeaten League game, but both teams were somehow disappointed with the result, as it was clear the guests were the unlucky of the two. Beitar can be just full of hope that the following game will be another story, and Maccabee went one place down despite the point collected.
Another Harazi was yesterday an important top player - Ronen Harazi, of Hapoel Haifa. This outstanding forward opened the score vs Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home after just 4 minutes of play - Akakiy Devadze managed just to parry the killing curved free kick of Ran Ben-Shimon, and Harazi was there on the rebound to roll the ball home, 1:0 to the Reds. A great heel pass of Miroslav Bicinic, "The Man Of The Game", left Najouan Grayib in a position to find Offer Talker inside the box, and Talker opened his scoring season after 11 minutes of play; here, Ashdod was pretty broken, and its game turned out to be a real mess with no Alon Hazan in the midline to order the matters. Ronen Harazi made a great pass to Liron Basis who rolled the ball home past the dreaming Devadze (17), and Bicinic sent Oren Zeituni into the box to score eventually the last goal of that game (39). The 2nd half was much slower, as the winner was clear; each side had one real opportunity, but Dudu Awwat parried Yossi Madar's shot (53), and Akakiy Devadze managed to roll himself to the ball of Talker from 6 meters later on. Hapoel Haifa showed us that its game is a game of a real top force, and as for Ashdod - Hazan's era is over, and the team should better wake up before it's too late.
The situation of another newcomer, Hapoel Ashkelon, is even deadlier - yesterday it went under the red line, after a minimal home loss to Maccabee Haifa, 0:1. Throughout the game, it was a foreign duel between the wonderful Vladimir Niederhaus of Haifa and the brilliant Georgi Anchavadze of Ashkelon, but it was again a curved beauty of the native Israeli to decide the game - Niederhaus' slalom was knocked down near the box (11), and Itzhak Zohar curved another of his famous free kicks to the far corner of Asi Rakhamim at half a height; despite the keeper's dive, the ball went in. Haifa had a good chance to assure its victory, when Janucz Tomka knocked Hezi Shirazi inside the box (61) and was even booked for that; however, Asi Rakhamim dived incredibly well to Alon Mizrahi's penalty shot and parried it. "I'm not surprised that Yaacov Shakhar [Maccabee Haifa's president. - M.M.] is desperate about his team", stated yesterday Ashkelon's forward Offer Mizrahi. Well, Offer, look at YOURS - Haifa, despite its mediocre game, is still threatening the top.
A surprise fell in Petakh-Tikwa, where the local Hapoel was hosting Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. 34 minutes in the game, Armen Shakhagladian missed a clear opportunity to open the score for the hosts by missing the frame from 5 meters, and the score was opened 3 minutes afterwards on the other side - Sahar Mizrahi sent Cobi Refua into a clear offside, the weak referee Haim Yaacov overlooked it, and Refua rolled the ball past the advancing Shai Hess. 3 minutes after the break, Refua was sent by Ron Nakhman, this time legally, to another duel with Shai Hess; this time, the keeper blocked the shot but lost the sight of the ball, and Refua recovered first to roll the ball into an empty net. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa had its only chances lately, through its fresh player Idan Hillel - his volley shot from the hard angle found the bar, and his later header from 8 meters (83) found the left corner of Rafi Cohen; the lost self-confidence of the National keeper and his previous idleness during this game were mainly responsible for that goal, as the header was good, but we could've expected more from the man who stopped Stoichkov's killer in Bulgaria. Bnei-Yehuda had a terrible miss through Sahar Mizrahi (75) who rolled the ball near the empty frame from 6 meters; however, it didn't take the deserved victory away from the bottom team. As for the other team, it seems that the top group is reduced now to 4 teams.
The most awful refereeing, however, was registered in Rishon le-Zion, where the local Hapoel hosted Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. Nissan Capeta's free kick deflected from Idan Tal, standing in the wall, to the left low corner of Golan Malul and opened the score; however, Tal himself equalized in just 2 minutes, as the referee Moshe Atias overlooked the clear handplay of the young midfielder. After the break, a wonderful goal pass of Dani Albert put Nissan Capeta alone near the box, and the prominent Israeli goal-passer of the present season scored for the 2nd time, bombing it greatly under Malul's right crossbar from 18 meters; it seemed then nothing could stand between Rishon and the victory. However, Moshe Atias thought otherwise. After 69 minutes of play, Noam Shoham kicked down Haim Silbas and got a dubious 2nd yellow card; Haim Shabo took a brilliant curved free kick from 17 meters and equalized with a ball under Sagi Strauss' right crossbar. 2 minutes from time, it was another dubious decision of Atias, when Sharon Martsiano half-touched Haim Silbas inside his box; Martsiano was sent off, a penalty kick was awarded, and Silbas was precise, shooting it flatly to his right some centimeters from the diving Sagi Strauss. 3:2 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa! As if it all wasn't enough, Atias sent off Rishon's defender Tomer Eliyahu after the final whistle; Rishon's coach Eyal Lakhman was sent off even earlier. What was it all - a screaming incompetence or a dirty conspiracy? Nobody will know, but anyway, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa's players and the coach Moshe Sinai are in no way to blame - they did their best and finally won.
An important victory was registered by Hapoel Beer-Sheva, after 15 games with no taste of 3 points - "The Princes Of Negev" defeated Hapoel Beit-Shean, 3:0 at home. The 1st half was fully of Hapoel Beit-Shean, but all of its opportunities were mercilessly wasted, and Beer-Sheva used its rare counterattack to score an opener - Dudu Heffer passed the ball into the box, and Yossi Benayoun was cool enough to bomb the close corner of Meir Cohen, 1:0. 16 minutes in the 2nd half, the defender Aris Eliacic headed the ball home after the corner kick performed by the same Heffer, 2:0.
The most controversial figure of the game was the guests' keeper Meir Cohen, making several breathtaking saves to save his team from humiliation - his great dive to parry Sharon Bukhnik's surprising shot from 18 meters is considered "The Save Of The Week", and his other cool saves (68, 71, 79) are to be remembered as well. However, the 83rd minute brought him a cruel mistake - after making another breathtaking save and getting on his feet, he was blocked by Sharon Bukhnik in a very provocative way and moved him away with a knee blow to Bukhnik's secret place. Eyal Tsur was close and sent Cohen off, abstaining from booking Bukhnik but awarding a penalty kick. The Georgian midfielder Gala Pancheladze got into the net, but failed to stop Yossi Benayoun's penalty; however, Pancheladze got the highest mark out of Beit-Shean's players, for taking the responsibility. Despite the result, both teams are seriously troubled yet at the bottom of the table.
And finally, it was the game between Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Jerusalem in Herzliya. Despite the dull 1st half, there were several Herzliya opportunities after the break. Santos Sierra curved a wonderful ball that passed the hands of desperately diving Strauber, but also whistled near the post (74); in another 2 minutes, Sierra's header found Strauber well-prepared. But 10 minutes from time, "The Goal Of The Week" was scored - Alex Barmecher moved the ball slightly to Guy Gat, 30 meters from the net, and the latter took one step and sent an incredible bomb under Strauber's left crossbar, what an effort! Unfortunately, after the final whistle two players, Alex Barmecher of Herzliya and Shlomi Danino of Jerusalem were sent off for creating a multiplayer incident on the pitch; however, this was the right decision of the new referee David Barak - the newcomer passed a great game, and it was especially seen in comparison to the disappointments of the other referees that week.
NEXT ROUND (in a week): Hapoel Jerusalem (7) hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1), and Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (2); both games are to be watched closely. Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11) hosts Hapoel Haifa (3), and Maccabee Haifa (4) hosts Maccabee Herzliya (9). There are also some important bottom games - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) hosts Hapoel Ashkelon (15), and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) hosts Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16).
Beitar Jerusalem - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Alon Harazi (90).
Guests: Eli Driks (71).
RED: Haim Hageage, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 42.
THE BEST: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Shalom Tikwa (22), Offer Shitrit (72).
Guests: Laszlo Komodi (74).
RED: Tamir Netser, defender, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 60.
THE BEST: Shalom Tikwa, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
HAPOEL HAIFA - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 4:0 (4:0).
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Hosts: Ronen Harazi (4), Offer Talker (11), Liron Basis (17),
Oren Zeituni (39).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Miroslav Bicinic, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa.
Hapoel Ashkelon - MACCABEE HAIFA 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Itzhak Zohar (11).
THE BEST: Vladimir Niederhaus, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
On the 61st minute Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) missed a penalty kick -
Asi Rakhamim saved.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV 1:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Idan Hillel (83).
Guests: Cobi Refua (37, 48).
THE BEST: Cobi Refua, forward, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Hapoel Jerusalem 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Guy Gat (80).
Guests: -.
RED: Alex Barmecher, defender, Maccabee Herzliya, 90 (after the game).
Shlomi Danino, defender, Hapoel Jerusalem, 90 (after the game).
THE BEST: Guy Gat, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 2:3 (1:1).
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Hosts: Nissan Capeta (18, 50).
Guests: Idan Tal (20), Haim Shabo (70), Haim Silbas (88 pen).
RED: Noam Shoham, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 69.
Sharon Martsiano, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 88.
Tomer Eliyahu, defender, Hap. Rishon le-Zion, 90 (after the game).
THE BEST: Nissan Capeta, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 3:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Yossi Benayoun (41, 85 pen), Aris Eliacic (61).
Guests: -.
RED: Meir Cohen, keeper, Hapoel Beit-Shean, 83.
THE BEST: Dudu Heffer, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Alexander Uvarov
(Maccabee Tel-Aviv)
Israel Cohen Sergei Tretyak Marek Petrush Eyal Ben-Ami
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Miroslav Bicinic Dudu Heffer Mikhail Osinov Shalom Tikwa
(Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Ronen Harazi Cobi Refua
(Hapoel Haifa) (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 3.
Hapoel Haifa, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Guy Gat.
ALSO - Idan Hillel, Nissan Capeta (the 2nd), Haim Shabo,
Itzhak Zohar, Eli Driks, Alon Harazi, Laszlo Komodi.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Meir Cohen, from Sharon Bukhnik, 60.
ALSO - Alexander Uvarov, from Istvan Salloi, 15.
Eran Scheinsinger, from Sebastian Simerotic, 55.
Akakiy Devadze, from Offer Talker, 85.
Asi Rakhamim, from Alon Mizrahi, 61.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 17 11 5 1 18- 7 38
2 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 17 10 7 0 41-17 37
3 (4) Hapoel Haifa 17 9 6 2 30-15 33
4 (3) Maccabee Haifa 17 10 3 4 30-18 33
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 17 8 3 6 25-21 27
6 (6) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 17 6 4 7 21-23 22
7 (7) Hapoel Jerusalem 17 5 7 5 21-23 22
8 (8) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 17 5 7 5 21-27 22
9 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 17 5 6 6 21-20 21
10 (11) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 17 4 8 5 13-16 20
11 (10) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 17 4 6 7 18-21 18
12 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 17 4 5 8 21-28 17
13 (15) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 17 3 6 8 15-22 15
14 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 17 3 5 9 16-28 14
15 (14) Hapoel Ashkelon 17 3 4 10 16-28 13
16 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 17 2 6 9 19-32 12
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 11(0) 1
***********************************************************
Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 10(1)
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Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 8(0) 1
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(1)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(4)
***********************************************************
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 7(0)
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Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 6(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 6(1)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(2) 2(1)
***********************************************************
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0)
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(0)
Laszlo Czeh (Hapoel Jerusalem) 5(0)
Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 5(1) 1
Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(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 |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (7) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) | Beitar Jerusalem (2) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Maccabee Herzliya (9) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (16) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Ashkelon (15) |
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