Just 13 goals and 2 red cards - this was the dull story of the last week in everything concerning the pure soccer. However, this week was extremely important for everything concerning the top and the bottom struggles. Instead of having a real interest in the top with 4 teams roughly equal in points, we have now 4 teams quite far away from each other; as for the bottom, Hapoel Beer-Sheva finally departed from the last place, but there are lots of teams in the dangerous zone now, even Maccabee Tel-Aviv! The game of Beer-Sheva brought us also "The Goal Of The Week" and "The Save Of The Week".
In a stubborn struggle with the hosts' pressure most of the time, Hapoel Tel-Aviv managed to beat Maccabee Haifa in Bloomfield with its another 1:0 3-points-collector, this time scored by Offer Shitrit. Hapoel Haifa had a promising 2:0 lead at home, vs Beitar Jerusalem, through the 2 goal passes of Ronen Harazi, but wasted it - the equalizer came after the goal pass of Alon Harazi... Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa finally managed to find a victory, 2:0 in a home derby; the keeper Ohad Cohen, replacing the experienced Golan Malul in Maccabee's net, wasn't bad at all, but could do nothing twice. The same score was in Herzliya, where Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv beat the anemic hosts during the last 10 minutes of play. Hapoel Beer-Sheva managed to defeat Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home, 2:1 in the last minute - a brilliant shot of Bajiat Uda left absolutely no chance for the excellent Akakiy Devadze, our "Keeper Of The Week". Hapoel Rishon le-Zion used a counterattack to score an away goal against all odds and to defeat Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 1:0 in Ramat-Gan. And finally, those were the extremely dull nil draws between the midtable teams (Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Kefar-Saba) and the bottom teams (Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Beit-Shean); not much can be said about those games, with all the good will. Now - it's a high time to expose some details.
A double save of the National team newcomer, Nir Davidovich, from the shots of Demian Geiser and Eyal Ben-Ami (5), was the clear sign for what was going to happen in Bloomfield - the hosts, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, were attacking, and the guests, Maccabee Haifa, were in a tight defence. As for Haifa's opportunities, those were exactly 3 - Shavit Elimelekh stopped the pathetic attempts of Itzhak Zohar (33, after Vladimir Niederhaus' preparation) and of Niederhaus himself (44, after a great preparation of Alon Mizrahi), and made a great save from the only good shot of Zohar throughout the game (51). Hapoel had numerous opportunities, on the other hand, but all were stopped by the great Davidovich or merely wasted - those, for example, were the shots of Geiser to the post (78) and another Shitrit's miss. 55 minutes in the game, Asi Domb and Israel Cohen collided with their heads - Domb was severely injured, and for several pressed moments there was even a fear for his life, but he finally recovered and was ordered to have some rest, substituted by Avi Azulai. And finally, the 84th minute came - Demian Geiser penetrated at the left wing and centered the ball, Davidovich didn't reach it, and Offer Shitrit was there to push the ball in from 5 meters, the Red winner. Unfortunately for the leaders, Geiser was immediately sent off with a 2nd yellow card, after having taken his shirt off in a moment of joy; however, Hapoel wasn't sent off the 1st place, and even enlarged its gap there.
That happened after the game in Haifa, where Hapoel Haifa hosted Beitar Jerusalem. The 1st half was marked by the attacks of both teams, and Dudu Awwat registered another impressive save from the shot of Istvan Salloi (17); however, Haifa opened the score, 1 minute before the break, when Miroslav Bicinic raised a ball into the box from the right wing - Ronen Harazi slid it downwards with his head, both the attacker Offer Talker and the defender Sergei Tretyak missed the ball, and Liron Basis volleyed it in from 8 meters, 1:0. In the 2nd half, an impressive penetration of Ronen Harazi left Offer Talker near the net, and the defensive midfielder was precise in front of Itzhak Korenfein, 2:0 (61); in between, Korenfein registered 2 saves from Basis' shots (46, 59). However, Beitar immediately reduced the score, when David Amsalem passed the weak substitute Kefir Leibovich from the right and centered the ball, and Istvan Salloi rolled it to the far corner of Awwat, 2:1 (63). 8 minutes later, Alon Harazi assisted from the right wing, and the header of Nir Sevilla equalized the score! Beitar seemed then clearly the better team, and Awwat was again the hero, throwing himself into the legs of Shmuel Levi and parrying the ball to another useless Beitar's corner (76). A disappointing result for both teams, but much more for the hosts.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa used those results to slightly close the top gap, defeating Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa in the derby, as usual in the last years. During the first 65 minutes, the top team failed to beat the good Ohad Cohen in Maccabee's net - the 2nd keeper parried several dangerous shots, amongst them a deadly effort of Daniel Abbas directed well under the crossbar (33). But then those were the great substitutions of Hapoel's coach Nir Levin, trading the captain Beni Kozoshvili for Guy Shamir (61) and the team's best scorer Moti Kakun for Idan Hillel (75). 25 minutes from time, a wonderful penetration of Ilan Boaron from the corner flag towards the box resulted in a bounce, Eli Abrabanel headed the ball down, and Guy Shamir was there with a curved and weak shot to mislead Ohad Cohen and to open the score. And a minute from time, Gabor Marton sent Idan Hillel into an undisturbed one-to-one penetration; this time, the keeper could do nothing, either.
The keeper, who attracted the biggest attention with his saves, was again Akakiy Devadze of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, "The Keeper Of The Week"; God, was he disappointed after the last minute of play! Two saves of Devadze from the shots of Yossi Benayoun (17) and Amir Avigdor (29) came as a preludy to Avigdor's free kick from 25 meters; the well-directed ball went under the right crossbar, but Devadze flew there the numerous meters and threw the ball to a corner, "The Save Of The Week". Saving the net several times in the 2nd half as well, he was still beaten by the Serbian forward Slavisa Cula - Yossi Benayoun managed to center a ball to the Negev newcomer, and the latter pushed it in from 3 meters (45). However, when Igal Zrihen got a ball from Gadi Hazut and bombed it from a hard angle past the helpless Shaul Smadja (59), it seemed Beer-Sheva would be glad about the draw; the impression was especially strengthened after Zrihen's header which found the post (73). And still, the guys of Eliyahu Offer collected finally all the points - Yossi Benayoun tried to send Alon Riff into the box, Riff was clever enough to send the ball a bit backwards, and there came Bajiat Uda with a volley of his from 20 meters at half a height to the left corner of Devadze, leaving the diving keeper no chance. It was "The Goal Of The Week", and eventually a winner.
An important victory was registered by Hapoel Rishon le-Zion over the deteriorating Maccabee Tel-Aviv away, 1:0. The goal came after 83 minutes of play, when Dani Albert raised a free kick, and Nir Shikwa headed the ball in from 7 meters, sort of a goal with which Eli Driks of Maccabee scored vs Beitar Jerusalem a fortnight ago. The only other moment worth mentioning was the 2nd yellow card shown to Rishon's midfielder Shadi Abu-Dib by the referee Arik Haimovich; a referee with more common sense could have abstained there from showing the 2nd yellow card. Maccabee? Nothing positive to mention at all.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, playing away vs Maccabee Herzliya, continued with its recent trend of away victory after a home draw, defeating the rival 2:0. After a very dull 1st half, those were the last 10 minutes of Bnei-Yehuda to decide the game - the substitute Stav Elimelekh opened the score with a flat shot after the confusion in the hosts' box (82). The last minute brought a brilliant effort, when Ron Nakhman took the ball in the midcircle, passed 4 players (!) and finally rolled the ball past the helpless Gilardi, 2:0. This was another game of the unexperienced Yaniv Wahaba in Bnei-Yehuda's net, as Rafi Cohen stayed at the bench (yellow cards suspension), but Herzliya didn't exploit this fact to attack the rival's net seriously.
The other two games, Hapoel Jerusalem vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Hapoel Ashkelon vs Hapoel Beit-Shean, are hardly worth any mentioning - the Georgians, Bakhva Ambidze of Kefar-Saba and Georgi Anchavadze of Ashkelon, were close to score, but failed, and therefore, the games ended with the dullest possible nil draws. The less games like those are seen, the more Soccer is loved.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week): The only important games are actually held at the bottom, where Maccabee Tel-Aviv (12) hosts Hapoel Beer-Sheva (14), and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) hosts Hapoel Ashkelon (16). The recovering Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) hosts the leaders, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1), while Beitar Jerusalem (2) hosts Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11).
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Haifa 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Offer Shitrit (84).
Guests: -.
RED: Demian Geiser, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 84.
THE BEST: Israel Cohen, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Haifa - Beitar Jerusalem 2:2 (1:0).
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Hosts: Liron Basis (44), Offer Talker (61).
Guests: Istvan Salloi (63), Nir Sevilla (71).
THE BEST: Ronen Harazi, forward, Hapoel Haifa.
HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 2:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Guy Shamir (65), Idan Hillel (89).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Gabor Marton, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: NO ONE!!!
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Slavisa Cula (45), Bajiat Uda (90).
Guests: Igal Zrihen (59).
THE BEST: Bajiat Uda, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Maccabee Herzliya - BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Stav Elimelekh (82), Ron Nakhman (90).
THE BEST: Stav Elimelekh, midfielder, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION 0:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Nir Shikwa (83).
RED: Shadi Abu-Dib, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 57.
THE BEST: Oleg Molokov, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Hapoel Ashkelon - Hapoel Beit-Shean 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: NO ONE!!!
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Akakiy Devadze
(Maccabee Ironi Ashdod)
Israel Cohen Shimon Gershon Alon Halfon Amir Avigdor
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Haifa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Bajiat Uda Gabor Marton Yossi Benayoun Liron Basis
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Haifa)
Ronen Harazi Nir Sevilla
(Hapoel Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 3.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: Nir Sevilla.
ALSO - Offer Talker, Bajiat Uda, Ron Nakhman.
MO: Bajiat Uda.
ALSO - Ron Nakhman, Igal Zrihen.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Akakiy Devadze, from Amir Avigdor, 33.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 19 12 5 2 19- 8 41
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 19 10 8 1 43-20 38
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 19 9 8 2 33-18 35
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 19 10 4 5 32-21 34
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 19 9 4 6 27-21 31
6 (6) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 19 7 5 7 22-23 26
7 (7) Hapoel Jerusalem 19 6 8 5 22-23 26
8 (8) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 19 6 7 6 24-30 25
9 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 19 5 7 7 23-24 22
10 (10) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 19 4 9 6 14-19 21
11 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 19 5 5 9 23-30 20
12 (11) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 19 4 7 8 19-23 19
13 (13) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 19 4 7 8 17-22 19
14 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 19 3 7 9 22-34 16
15 (14) Hapoel Beit-Shean 19 3 7 9 16-28 16
16 (15) Hapoel Ashkelon 19 3 6 10 16-28 15
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Israel Cohen, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 11(0)
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Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 10(1)
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 9(0) 1
Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(0)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 9(1) 1
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Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 8(0) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 8(4)
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Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 7(0) 1
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Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 6(1) 1
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 6(1)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(2)
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[4: Beit-Shean] Moris Uzan (Maccabee Herzliya) 5(0)
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 5(0)
Rafi Cohen (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 5(0)
Laszlo Czeh (Hapoel Jerusalem) 5(0)
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 |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (11) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) | Hapoel Haifa (3) |
| Maccabee Haifa (4) | Hapoel Jerusalem (7) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (15) | Maccabee Herzliya (9) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (12) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (14) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) | Hapoel Ashkelon (16) |
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