17 goals, 2 red cards, 1 own goal and 1 undeserved penalty - this was the story of the last weekend. However, pay attention that it wasn't dull at all; it was a big victory of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, and an incredible in its beauty goal of Chaba Horvath vs the veteran Alexander Uvarov. But most of all, it was the swap at the top - Beitar Jerusalem came to Bloomfield, defeated there Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1:0 and conquered the top back; Hapoel Tel-Aviv also lost Shavit Elimelekh to a stupid red card that will make its game vs Hapoel Haifa the next week very-very tough.
So, Istvan Pisont was probably the happiest soccer player yesterday, when his first goal vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv eventually turned out to be the winner. The Yellow-Blacks and the Reds will in all certainty stay the 1st and the 2nd team (not necessarily in this order), as both of their Haifa rivals lost some points - Hapoel Haifa made a 1:1 draw in Herzliya, and Maccabee Haifa registered a dull scoreless home draw vs Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, in a rehearsal of the Cup semifinal. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa lost at home to Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 1:2, and it seems that the team of Yossi Benayoun will finally stay in the League; the other team from Petakh-Tikwa was responsible for that as well, defeating Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv away, 4:0! Hapoel Beit-Shean registered a very important home victory, 2:1 over Hapoel Kefar-Saba, and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion defeated Hapoel Ashkelon, 2:0 away. And the game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabee Tel-Aviv finished with a 1:1 draw, putting Maccabee down to the 13th place; the opening goal of Chaba Horvath was something to watch, as his bomb from the central circle entered under the bar of Alexander Uvarov to become one of the competitors for "The Goal Of The Season"!
But let's return to "The Game Of The Season", in which 21,000 spectators (behaving in an exemplary way, I should note) witnessed the drama, not seeing, however, the most wonderful soccer we could've thought of. Hapoel was better during the first minutes, and Offer Shitrit's shot in front of an empty net from a hard angle (after he had passed Itzhak Korenfein) found the external side of the net (4). But after 21 minutes of play, Beitar took the lead; the statistics said Hapoel wouldn't win once it was down, and Beitar would most certainly win once it scored first, and it was exactly the chain of the events. But let's return for a moment to the goal story - Sergei Tretyak won an air battle with Sebastian Simerotic in the midcircle, Yossi Abuksis got the ball and passed it to Istvan Hamar, the latter (brilliant) shot a mighty ball from 17 meters, Shavit Elimelekh parried it badly to the middle of the box, and Istvan Pisont was on the rebound to score wholeheartedly, 1:0.
Elimelekh made later on "The Save Of The Week", when he threw the fantastic shot of Yossi Abuksis to the corner from under his right crossbar (31), but he failed to recover after the goal. The most meaningful event happened 3 minutes from time - Nir Sevilla fouled Asi Domb and then tried to waste time, Elimelekh failed to restrain himself and hit the forward, the red card was shown, and Beitar's forward openly showed his joy over the provocation that succeeded. A disgusting sight, but the one that will probably bring Beitar the Championship; the absence of Elimelekh during the close game of Hapoel away vs Hapoel Haifa is extremely meaningful... As Hapoel has made all the permitted substitutions up to that moment, Yaacov Hillel had to wear the blue sweater of the keeper; fortunately, Beitar wasn't thinking about the attack during those moments, and therefore the game ended with a simple 1:0. Hapoel, on the other hand, failed to score due to the very secure game of Korenfein, with 3 saves from the threats of Israel Cohen, Offer Shitrit and the youngster Pinney Balili. During the whole game, Beitar had just 3 chances, counting the goal as well - Hamar's was stopped well by Elimelekh, and Shmuel Levi's shot from 18 meters caressed the bar and went out. Dror Kashtan's great success was in putting Shmuel Levi as an attacking right midfielder; that position brought Levi "The Player Of The Week" award and won the game, altogether with the great skill of Sergei Tretyak, Istvan Pisont and Istvan Hamar. The game was mostly tactical with just the few moments, but the drama was worth it all.
Hapoel Haifa definitely took into consideration such a result in Bloomfield, as well as they hope for another loss of all the points by Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the face-to-face game the next week in Haifa. Therefore, it's impossible to understand the weak game of Hapoel in Herzliya this Friday - it resulted in just a 1:1 draw of the Red-Blacks and practically nullified their chances for the European berth the next year. A shot of Giovanni Rosso (36) was met with a header of Alex Barmecher that misled his own keeper Yehuda Boaron and opened the score; however, early in the 2nd half it was Ilan Bakhar with a solo penetration and a shot that beat the weak Avi Perets, 1:1 (47). Oleg Naduda, Herzliya's key player, was sent off (55) with a 2nd yellow card, and Haifa pathetically tried to attack - however, in Herzliya's net there was Yehuda Boaron, "The Player Of The Game" and "The Keeper Of The Week", with some good saves and a very reliable game.
Maccabee Haifa lost the points as well, but the chances of the Greens to be in Europe the next year are much higher than of Hapoel Haifa. In the rehearsal of the Cup semifinal game, both the hosts from Haifa and the guests from Ashdod were very careful, being also tired from the Tuesday pressed games in the Cup Quarterfinals. The only serious moment took place after 40 minutes of play, when the National keeper Nir Davidovich parried greatly the ball of Amir Turgeman. Let us hope that the truly meaningful game in the Cup will be much-much better.
And apropos, the National keeper - yesterday the National coach Shlomo Sherf came to Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa and saw there Rafi Cohen in a dreadful game, being responsible for 3 of the 4 goals Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv conceded from Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home. However, Sherf could be consoled with a very good form of a young Idan Tal. 24 minutes from the start, Rafi Cohen parried very badly the free kick of Idan Tal, and Noam Keisi was on the rebound to score the opener. This was the result of the 1st half, in which Bnei-Yehuda still tried to do something; however, the 2nd half showed us just one team on the pitch. Using the bad pass of Rafi Cohen to Ron Nakhman, Idan Tal kidnapped the ball and passed the keeper to roll the ball into an empty net (61); 10 minutes later, Tal bounced the ball over the miserable keeper and then rolled it into an empty net again, 3:0. The final point was put 6 minutes from time, by an easy shot of Tsakhi Shemariyahu. 4:0, a great victory of the team of Moshe Sinai. The team of Yaacov Grondman should recover before it's too late.
2 days before the planned wedding of Shai Hess, his father died after a hard and continuous illness; the wedding was postponed, and the young and unexperienced Eyal Abramov defended Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa's net instead of the mourning first keeper. After just 5 minutes of play, an impact between Slavisa Cula and the keeper made the weak referee Avi Prince point on the white spot, and Yossi Benayoun had no problem to put Hapoel Beer-Sheva forward away, 1:0. 10 minutes later, a free kick of Eli Abrabanel hit the post, and the young Idan Hillel was on the rebound to equalize the score, 1:1. However, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa looked pitiful, and The Princes Of Negev looked much more ambitious. A goal of Benayoun was disallowed (59), as the referee claimed the ball hit the hand of another Beer-Sheva's player; this way, a certain justice was made, as Beer-Sheva didn't deserve any penalty 5 minutes from the start. But 23 minutes from time, Marco Di Constanza made a great pass to Yossi Benayoun, and the latter scored a winner, 2:1. Beer-Sheva is finally floating above the red line. For how long?..
Hapoel Beit-Shean, playing at home vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba, registered a very important victory of 2:1; however, vs the team without many of its opening squad players, it should've been much-much easier. Alon Caplan managed to open the score after 20 minutes of play, and this was the result of the 1st half; however, Kefar-Saba opened the 2nd half much better, and just a great save of a defender Eitan Taib from the good shot of Avi Sandor (52) left the score intact. However, in between Kefar-Saba's attacks it was a fast counterattack of Primoz Gliha, and his goal pass sent Sergen Culakovic to score, 2:0. Kefar-Saba still managed to reduce the score through the shot of Laszlo Komodi (76), but the hosts preserved the victory. Beit-Shean seems to escape another "Film Of War" in quite an early stage of the season.
In Ashkelon, the hosts hoped very much Hapoel Rishon le-Zion would come to the Southern stadium tired after an exhausting effort of 120 minutes on Tuesday vs Maccabee Haifa in the Cup; however, even the tired team of Eyal Lakhman was much better than the spirit-lacking team of Roni Dora. Dani Albert (17) and Nir Shikwa (28) closed the story early in the 1st half, and though Ashkelon's keeper Asi Rakhamim sealed his net hermetically afterwards in another reliable game of his, he alone won't save the team from relegation. Rishon, on the other hand, has occupied again the 9th place, so loved by it during the last years in the National League.
And finally, it was the game in Jerusalem between Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabee Tel-Aviv - after the first dull 30 minutes, Chaba Horvath got a ball in the midcircle, passed the midline and then launched a frightening ball from 45 meters under the bar of Uvarov who stood slightly before his keeper's box; Uvarov reacted and tried to reach the ball, but in vain, and this way "The Goal Of The Week" and one of the sure competitors for "The Goal Of The Season" was scored, what an effort! Both teams had some opportunities later on, but Maccabee was the only team to score - this was the goal pass of Haim Hageage, and the young Guy Tsarfati headed the ball in, 1:1. Still, Maccabee went down to the 13th place; as for Hapoel Jerusalem, its head is now most of all in the Cup struggles, as its mission in the League is accomplished.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week): Hapoel Haifa (3) hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2), in a truly top game and what is left from the struggle for the European Cups, NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Beitar Jerusalem (1) won't have an easy life either, playing at home in the capital derby vs Hapoel Jerusalem (8). A very important bottom game will take place in Beer-Sheva, where the local Hapoel (14) will host the outsider Hapoel Ashkelon (16). And finally, there is an interesting historically game in Ramat-Gan, between the two former Empires - Maccabee Haifa (4) goes to meet Maccabee Tel-Aviv (13). The still-bottom game of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) and Hapoel Beit-Shean (12) should also be mentioned.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - BEITAR JERUSALEM 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Istvan Pisont (21).
RED: Shavit Elimelekh, keeper, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 87.
THE BEST: Shmuel Levi, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
Maccabee Herzliya - Hapoel Haifa 1:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: Ilan Bakhar (47).
Guests: OG (Alex Barmecher, 36).
RED: Oleg Naduda, midfielder, Maccabee Herzliya, 55.
THE BEST: Yehuda Boaron, keeper, Maccabee Herzliya.
Maccabee Haifa - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Avishai Zhano, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA 1:2 (1:1).
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Hosts: Idan Hillel (15).
Guests: Yossi Benayoun (5 pen, 67).
THE BEST: Marco Di Constanza, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Alon Caplan (20), Sergen Culakovic (62).
Guests: Laszlo Komodi (76).
THE BEST: Eitan Taib, defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 1:1 (1:0).
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Hosts: Chaba Horvath (30).
Guests: Guy Tsarfati (62).
THE BEST: Laszlo Czeh, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem.
Hapoel Ashkelon - HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION 0:2 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Dani Albert (17), Nir Shikwa (28).
THE BEST: Dani Albert, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA 0:4 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Noam Keisi (24), Idan Tal (61, 71), Tsakhi Shemariyahu (84).
THE BEST: Idan Tal, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Yehuda Boaron
(Maccabee Herzliya)
Ismail Amar Sergei Tretyak Eitan Taib Dani Albert
(Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hap. Beit-Shean) (H. Rishon le-Zion)
Shmuel Levi Avishai Zhano Idan Tal Marco Di Constanza
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Haifa) (Mcb. Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)
Yossi Benayoun Laszlo Czeh
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 2.
Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion,
Maccabee Herzliya, Hapoel Beit-Shean - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
MO: Chaba Horvath.
ALSO - Idan Tal (the 2nd).
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Shavit Elimelekh, from Yossi Abuksis, 31.
ALSO - Nir Davidovich, from Amir Turgeman, 40.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Beitar Jerusalem 25 16 8 1 62-29 56
2 (1) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 25 17 5 3 30-11 56
3 (3) Hapoel Haifa 25 13 9 3 47-23 48
4 (4) Maccabee Haifa 25 13 6 6 42-28 45
5 (5) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 25 9 6 10 34-34 33
6 (6) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 25 8 9 8 33-38 33
7 (7) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 25 8 7 10 30-32 31
8 (8) Hapoel Jerusalem 25 7 10 8 30-34 31
9 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 25 8 6 11 32-38 30
10 (12) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 25 6 11 8 21-24 29
11 (9) Maccabee Herzliya 25 7 8 10 29-33 29
12 (13) Hapoel Beit-Shean 25 7 7 11 27-37 28
13 (11) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 25 6 9 10 27-30 27
14 (15) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 25 5 8 12 30-48 23
15 (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 25 5 7 13 18-33 22
16 (16) Hapoel Ashkelon 25 4 6 15 19-39 18
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last week.
BEST PLAYER: Shmuel Levi, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 15(2)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(2)
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Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0) 1
Nir Sevilla (Beitar Jerusalem) 12(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(0)
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Liron Basis (Hapoel Haifa) 11(0)
Assaf Tubi (Hapoel Jerusalem) 11(2)
Yossi Benayoun (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 11(3) 2(1)
Offer Shitrit (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 11(3)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 11(6)
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[3: Hap. Haifa] Sergen Culakovic (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 8(0) 1
Yossi Madar (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 8(2)
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 |
| Beitar Jerusalem (1) | Hapoel Jerusalem (8) |
| Hapoel Haifa (3) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (2) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (13) | Maccabee Haifa (4) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (7) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (6) | Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (15) |
| Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (9) | Maccabee Herzliya (11) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (10) | Hapoel Beit-Shean (12) |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva (14) | Hapoel Ashkelon (16) |
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