24 goals, 3 penalties scored and 6 red cards - this was the story of the last weekend, in which all the 4 first teams won. The status-quo at the top is preserved therefore, and the bottom is very hot, after the victories of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beer-Sheva and the losses of Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Beit-Shean. And there is an interesting point for the statisticians - 6 goals were scored during the last 3 minutes of the games, and one was scored 5 minutes from time! And of those 7 goals, 4 turned out to be the winners!
Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home, 3:2; in its most resultive game this season, with 5 goals, Hapoel scored 3 times for the first time as well. Beitar Jerusalem, getting used to concede the goals in the 1st half, still managed to score twice after the break and defeated away Hapoel Ashkelon, 2:1. Hapoel Haifa presented quite a dull game, but managed to defeat the anemic Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa away, 2:0; the goal of Offer Talker is my "Goal Of The Week", and it really was something to watch. Maccabee Haifa, returning to be the Greens many of us loved, left no chance to Hapoel Beit-Shean at home, 4:1 through another brilliant game of Alon Mizrahi. The 2 very important last-minutes home bottom victories were registered by Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 1:0 over Hapoel Kefar-Saba, and by Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 2:1 over the unlucky Hapoel Rishon le-Zion. Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa parted with a 1:1 draw in Jerusalem. And finally, a momentary insanity of the veteran Alexander Uvarov cost Maccabee Tel-Aviv a red card and a penalty, to lose all the points away to Maccabee Herzliya. And now - to the details.
The 1st half of the game in Bloomfield was one of Hapoel Tel-Aviv's best this season, and the first one, in which the team scored more than 2 goals. The concert started after just 3 minutes - Eyal Almoshnino lost the ball inside his own box after having slipped, Shalom Tikwa rushed and reached it in front of the keeper Akakiy Devadze, passed him once, then again, and finally raised the ball out of the keeper's reach to Offer Shitrit, who shot a volley from 3 meters into the empty net, 1:0. The pass of Shitrit into the box in another 19 minutes ended the long draught of Georgi Daraselia, who has beaten the stunned Devadze with a flat shot from 14 meters to Ashdod's left corner. And in another 12 minutes, Sebastian Simerotic scored the goal that signed up the score of the 1st half - getting the ball from Offer Shitrit, he shot flatly from 14 meters and enjoyed the hesitant reaction of Devadze, who slipped the ball into his own net. The 3rd consecutive goal of the Slovenian, and 3:0.
However, the last 2 minutes of play spoiled the Red impression a little bit - Ashdod managed to do what only Beitar Jerusalem succeeded in doing lastly, namely, scored twice vs the iron defence of Shavit Elimelekh and Co. 2 minutes from time, Amir Turgeman reduced the score with a fantastic curved shot from the edge of the box under the left crossbar of a flying Shavit Elimelekh, 3:1. And the last attack of Ashdod saw Igal Zrihen with a raised ball from the right wing, Elimelekh managed to parry the header of Amir Turgeman, but Naor Galili was on the rebound with a header of his own, 3:2. Still, the 3 points mean the victory, deserved by the leaders, and we can be sure that Eli Cohen will make the homework before the great derby of Tel-Aviv.
Apropos, Beitar Jerusalem - yesterday it conceded first again, but then managed to defeat its bottom opponent, Hapoel Ashkelon, 2:1, through the 2 goals of Shai Holtzman who got his place in the opening squad after the injury of Nir Sevilla. Kakhi Gogoashvili opened the score for the locals, 4 minutes before the break - using the pass of David Kazelashvili, he entered the box and overplayed Itzhak Korenfein and Sergei Tretyak. The game was marked with the awful misses on both sides - Istvan Salloi of Beitar (33) and Georgi Anchavadze of Hapoel (48) missed the frame in the certain goal situations, and Asi Rakhamim (13) made a cool double-save from Salloi and Holtzman. And still, Shai Holtzman said the last word - 12 minutes in the 2nd half, it was a flat shot from 16 meters out of Rakhamim's reach and to his right corner; 5 minutes from time, the perfect comeback was finished with a brilliant shot from 16 meters diagonally under the left crossbar of Rakhamim, after the preparation of Istvan Pisont. Beitar managed to collect all the points again, and Ashkelon has kissed the bottom again from the last place. Both teams have some stubborn struggles awaiting for them, though at the different ends of the table.
The game between Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Haifa was of a much lower quality than expected; however, several sparkles were enough to bring the victory to the guests. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa held the ball most of the time, but the interesting moments came near its net - for example, Offer Talker (21) shot a fantastic diagonal ball from 18 meters and a very hard angle, passing near the bar of a flying Shai Hess. 19 minutes from time, it was a penetration of Najouan Grayib at the left wing - the ball was raised into the box, Ronen Harazi jumped, but managed just to slide the ball with his head, and Offer Talker waited with a raised foot near the far edge of the box; a threatening volley found the desperately stretched hands of the diving keeper and bypassed them into the far corner to open the score, an amazing effort deserving "The Goal Of The Week" award. In another 8 minutes, the score was signed up, as Ronen Harazi overplayed Shai Hess inside the box, after the preparation of Liron Basis. Manor Hassan of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa had a chance (88) to reduce the score, but his curved shot found just the left post of Avi Perets.
Without the injured Vladimir Niederhaus and Itzhak Zohar, Maccabee Haifa had Alon Mizrahi and Ibrahim Doro in their very best to crash Hapoel Beit-Shean at home, 4:1. A great save of Nir Davidovich from the legs of Sergen Culakovic (13) was one of the last times Davidovich had to stretch, as then Mizrahi began with his show. Stopping Mizrahi's ball twice by hand before it penetrated into the net (25), the defender Avi Danan found himself red-carded by the weak referee Dani Koren; the goal was suddenly disallowed, but "The Best Scorers' List" leader had no problem from the penalty spot to open the score. In just 2 minutes, the 3 touches of Mizrahi left Meir Cohen behind, and the ball has been shot into the net from a very hard angle and still passed the line. The International defender Arik Benado was sent off with a 2nd yellow card after his foul on Sergen Culakovic (31), and then Eitan Taib reduced the score (43) with a cannon penalty shot, after Eliran Elkayam handballed the guests' pass inside the box; however, Beit-Shean's hopes were mercilessly shattered by Ibrahim Doro and his 2 goals early in the 2nd half. Alon Mizrahi deserved at least another penalty kick, but he wasn't awarded that much; nevertheless, Haifa was pretty convincing. This was also the first time Maccabee managed to defeat the stubborn Northern team ever in Kiryat-Eliezer.
A good pass of Moti Menakhem sent Assaf Tubi in one-to-one with Golan Malul after just 6 minutes of play; Tubi, pursued by the defender and seeing the keeper getting out of the net, bounced the ball over him from 25 meters and so opened the score for Hapoel Jerusalem at home, over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. In 30 minutes, the draw result was achieved - Idan Tal, the youngster formerly in Hapoel Jerusalem, got the ball from Amiran Mogieri, misled his guard, entered the box and shot flatly and diagonally past the hesitant Moti Mizrahi, 1:1. Both teams had several opportunities towards the end, but they were all wasted or parried. This draw served Hapoel Jerusalem pretty much, and for Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, it was a dangerous step towards the bottom.
Maccabee Herzliya seems to be finally out of danger, but Maccabee Tel-Aviv's thrilled again, and so the story goes. Moshe Glam pushed inside the cannon of Dedi Ben-Dayan that found the post of Yehuda Boaron, and therefore opened the score for Maccabee Tel-Aviv after just 4 minutes of play. Santos Sierra managed to equalize after an hour of play, and in between, Alexander Uvarov was in his best and parried all the other efforts of Herzliya. However, Uvarov wasn't calm enough during the last minutes, and his disgusting demonstration of violence cost his team the points - he was sent off, and Vassili Ivanov converted the penalty kick into a winner, beating Alen Mashraki. Indeed, Santos Sierra made a pretence in Uvarov's box trying to get a penalty kick, and he also tried to react to the first action of the keeper; the Brazilian forward wasn't even booked. And still, Uvarov tried to lift the forward up by a shirt (a punishment?..), and then kicked him into he stomach - the linesman Shmuel Steiff immediately called the referee Nir Baabour, and the latter had no moment of hesitation to take a stand. This is not the first time Uvarov is sent off for violent actions, and that's a pity such a talented keeper with such the credentials leaves such the stains in his rich career.
The other keeper, Eran Scheinsinger, was in his best, but it still didn't help his team, Hapoel Kefar-Saba, which lost away in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 0:1. Kefar-Saba, almost surely promising its place in the National League for the next season, wasn't of any threat, but the hosts failed to find the rivals' net time after time. Lots of credits should go to Scheinsinger for that fact, and the peak was reached 4 minutes from time - Yaniv Offri, the fresh substitute, shot a weak but clever ball from 16 meters, and Scheinsinger threw himself instinctively to the left and deflected the ball to a corner with his diving left hand, "The Save Of The Week". And still, Bnei-Yehuda managed to collect all the points (88) - a free kick from the right wing was performed, and the shot of Aharon Siton was well-deflected in by Cobi Refua. Siton was sent off immediately after the game, as a wide-scale incident was started by Kefar-Saba's players after the final whistle, against the referee Moshe Atias' decision to award that free kick to Bnei-Yehuda; in between, Siton hit Sapir, and the consequences followed at once.
And finally, it was the game of Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home vs Rishon le-Zion, another stubborn rival from the bottom. The score, opened by Yossi Benayoun 14 minutes in the 2nd half, was held until the 89th minute - the equalizer of Evgeniy Kashentsev came then right in time for Rishon, and it seemed the troubles of Beer-Sheva couldn't be bigger. However, the same Benayoun registered a great penetration from the right wing during the dying seconds of play and shot the ball under the bar of Sagi Strauss. The boy won the game again. Marco Di Constanza of Beer-Sheva was sent off, 25 minutes from time, with the 2nd yellow card, but Shadi Abu-Dib of Hapoel Rishon le-Zion followed the Italian soon, with the 2nd yellow card of his own.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week): Maccabee Tel-Aviv (10) hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) for a great derby of Tel-Aviv, NEVER TO BE MISSED!!! Beitar Jerusalem (2) will play at home vs Maccabee Herzliya (9). A very important bottom game is taking place in Beit-Shean, between the local Hapoel (14) and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13). And the Haifa teams play vs the outsiders.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 3:2 (3:0).
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Hosts: Offer Shitrit (3), Georgi Daraselia (22), Sebastian Simerotic (34).
Guests: Amir Turgeman (88), Naor Galili (90).
THE BEST: Demian Geiser, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Ashkelon - BEITAR JERUSALEM 1:2 (1:0).
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Hosts: Kakha Gogoashvili (41).
Guests: Shai Holtzman (57, 85).
THE BEST: Shai Holtzman, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:2 (0:0).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Offer Talker (71), Ronen Harazi (79).
THE BEST: Alon Halfon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
MACCABEE HAIFA - Hapoel Beit-Shean 4:1 (2:1).
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Hosts: Alon Mizrahi (25 pen, 27), Ibrahim Doro (51, 57).
Guests: Eitan Taib (43 pen).
RED: Avi Danan, defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean, 25.
Arik Benado, defender, Maccabee Haifa, 31.
THE BEST: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Cobi Refua (88).
Guests: -.
RED: Aharon Siton, defender, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 90 (after the game).
THE BEST: Eran Scheinsinger, keeper, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Assaf Tubi (6).
Guests: Idan Tal (36).
THE BEST: Idan Tal, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 2:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Santos Sierra (60), Vassili Ivanov (88 pen).
Guests: Moshe Glam (4).
RED: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 85.
THE BEST: Ronen Feigenbaum, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 2:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Yossi Benayoun (59, 90).
Guests: Evgeniy Kashentsev (89).
RED: Marco Di Constanza, forward, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 65.
Shadi Abu-Dib, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 71.
THE BEST: Yossi Benayoun, forward, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Shaul Smadja
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Guy Gat Ronen Feigenbaum Alon Halfon David Amsalem
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Maccabee Herzliya) (Hapoel Haifa) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Demian Geiser Ibrahim Doro Yossi Benayoun Shalom Tikwa
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Shai Holtzman Alon Mizrahi
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Haifa)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Haifa,
Maccabee Herzliya, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 2.
Hapoel Haifa - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Offer Talker.
ALSO - Assaf Tubi, Shai Holtzman (the 2nd), Idan Tal, Amir Turgeman.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Eran Scheinsinger, from Yaniv Offri, 86.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 23 16 5 2 27-10 53
2 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 23 14 8 1 58-27 50
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 23 12 8 3 42-21 44
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 23 13 4 6 41-27 43
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 23 9 6 8 32-30 33
6 (6) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 23 8 6 9 27-28 30
7 (7) Hapoel Jerusalem 23 7 9 7 27-29 30
8 (8) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 23 7 8 8 29-36 29
9 (10) Maccabee Herzliya 23 7 7 9 26-29 28
10 (9) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 23 6 8 9 26-26 26
11 (11) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 23 5 10 8 16-23 25
12 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 23 6 6 11 28-37 24
13 (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 23 5 7 11 18-27 22
14 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 23 5 7 11 23-36 22
15 (16) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 23 4 7 12 26-45 19
16 (15) Hapoel Ashkelon 23 4 6 13 18-33 18
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Yossi Benayoun, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 15(2) 2(1)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(2)
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Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(0)
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
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Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 10(1) 1
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 10(5)
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Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 9(2) 1
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Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 8(2) 2
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Igal Zrihen (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 7(0)
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Evgeniy Kashentsev (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) 6(0) 1
[3: Hap. Haifa] Sergen Culakovic (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 6(0)
Yossi Madar (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 6(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 |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (10) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (1) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Maccabee Herzliya (9) |
| Hapoel Haifa (3) | Hapoel Ashkelon (16) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (11) | Maccabee Haifa (4) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (6) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (15) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (8) | Hapoel Jerusalem (7) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (14) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (13) |
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