Maccabi Tel Aviv ekes by Hapoel Beersheba in Israel Premier League

Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Beersheba 1-0 over the weekend in Israel Premier League action thanks to a first-half strike by Dor Turgeman to take the three points at Bloomfield Stadium.

Beersheba started strong with a blistering shot from Kings Kangwa past Maccabi’s Roi Mishpati to seemingly give the Southern Reds a sixth-minute lead, but VAR disallowed the goal due to a foul by former Maccabi midfielder Eliel Peretz.

Just ahead of the break, Turgeman opened the scoring, dribbling from the center of the field and putting the ball past Beersheba’s keeper Niv Eliasi to give the hosts the one-goal advantage at halftime.

Maccabi coach Zarko Lazetic made a substitution at the half, with Ido Shahar coming on for Gaby Kanichowsky, who suffered a minor injury at the beginning of the game. The bench boss was forced to make another change in the 53rd minute when Sagiv Yehezkel came off with a head injury, and Nemanja Stojic joined the fray.

Beersheba looked to have finally broken through when Matan Baltaxa headed the ball in the 64th minute. However, again VAR ruled Zahi Ahmed offside. Beersheba kept attacking as it searched for the equalizer, but Ron Kozuk’s squad couldn’t find the back of the net, as the yellow-and-blue took its second win in as many games.

“Congratulations to Beersheba for a good game; for half the game, it was better,” Lazetic said after the win. “They were very aggressive, with lots of fouls; we didn’t adapt as we needed to. Its style of play wasn’t surprising for us. They played how we prepared for them, but without moving, if you don’t attack, it’s very difficult. That’s the reason we didn’t look as expected and as we looked in previous games. Congratulations to our players as well for getting the win.

“It was a very important win, especially because it’s the worst match we’ve played this season,” Lazetic continued. “Without the ball as well, we didn’t play good high-press. We will analyze the game – it’s much better to do that after coming away with the win.”

“A team that is dominant in a game, in the long run, has lots of good things to take from it,” Kozuk said after the game. “At the end of the day, you need to create more opportunities than the other team. Maccabi Tel Aviv had a couple of opportunities that it shouldn’t have had. On the other hand, we did not make the most of our opportunities.”

Maccabi will now prepare for its matchday one clash against Hapoel Jerusalem at Bloomfield on Wednesday night, which was rescheduled due to European play. In Round 4 action, Maccabi will travel to take on Ashdod SC on Sunday night, while Beersheba will host Hapoel Hadera on Saturday night.

Up in the Galilee, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Bnei Reineh played to a 2-2 draw as Guy Hadida scored a brace, with his second goal coming deep in second-half injury-time as the two sides split the points.

The Greens came into the game after a tough week, which saw Barak Bachar’s team lose striker Frantzdy Pierrot to AEK Athens and forward Dean David go out with an injury. However, that didn’t stop Dia Saba from slamming home a 17th-minute free kick from 20 meters out for a 1-0 lead.

Hadida scored his first of two markers as he headed in the ball in the 62nd minute to draw Reineh even, but Oleksandr Syrota gave Haifa a 2-1 lead in the 91st minute with a strike off a Saba corner kick. However, a 99th-minute handball by Syrota handed Hadida a penalty that he promptly scored to tie the match up and earn a point.

“It’s very disappointing that we managed to score such a late goal, and in the end, we conceded anyway, but that’s part of the game,” Bachar said. “Relative to the situation we came into, I am satisfied with what we gave in this match. We were united, we helped each other. We dominated, we could have led by more than one goal, we neutralized them because we pressed well. We wanted to win, but it didn’t happen.”

“Up until it was 1-1, I was satisfied,” Bnei Reineh coach Sharon Mimer began. “Haifa didn’t manage to get into many good scoring situations, and we were able to get into some of the dangerous areas, but we missed our chances. At the end of the day, it’s a game against one of the two wealthiest teams in the league. But little Bnei Reineh did not give up, and we tried to attack. I think justice was done with the 2-2 draw.”

Beitar Jerusalem vs Maccabi Netanya 

Elsewhere, Beitar Jerusalem got by Maccabi Netanya 2-0 with 10 men for the majority of the game as the yellow-and-black snatched the three points.

Myron George gave Beitar a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, but just four minutes later, Grigori Morozov was issued back-to-back yellow cards, first on a reckless tackle on Maor Levi and then for dissent to the referee, leaving Barak Itzhaki’s side with just 10 players for close to an hour of game time. However, Beitar was able to hang on and then added an insurance marker via Timoti Muzi in second-half injury time to wrap up the win.

“We got ourselves into a difficult situation,” Itzhaki began following the win. “We didn’t start well, and while we controlled the pace of play, the red card disrupted our plans. I did see in this game that we have a solid group of players here, and we saw the energy from each one them. During the game, I had the feeling that we would not concede a goal, and when I brought in some of our faster players, I knew that we would be able to expose our opponent.”

“We were better when we were playing 11-on-11; in fact, we dominated,” Netanya bench boss Marko Balbul said. “We were able to get ourselves into some quality situations and Beitar was not even in the game. But then to give up a goal from nothing, well that’s not how you can win. After the red card, we didn’t get a shot on target, and every one of our attempts was high and over the bar, which was very disappointing.”

Meanwhile, Hapoel Haifa overwhelmed Hapoel Jerusalem 4-0 as a Guy Melamed first-half brace set the tone for the win.

Melamed found the back of the net in the fourth minute and then added his second 14 minutes later off a set-piece for a quick 2-0 lead. Just before halftime, an Ohad Almagor own-goal gave the hosts a three-goal advantage while Liran Sardel added another strike for the 4-0 dominating win.

“The only thing I can ask for is that we can continue this way after a game like this,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy said after the win. “We saw an excellent example of a tactical and committed game that reminds all of us how we played last year. When that happens, you can see the qualities of the players. We went into the international break with a poor feeling after a loss, and this was due to being a bit late in our preparation for this season as players joined the team late, but they are good players, which will allow us to be a strong team.”

“I don’t know what we expected or what we wanted from this game,” a disappointed Jerusalem head coach Ziv Arie began. “We had played a good game against Hadera that started well and ended in a draw, but this game saw us start very poorly, and then it went into our heads. However, we will learn from it.”

Also, Bnei Sakhnin and Ashdod SC drew 2-2 as the port city side’s two late second-half goals handed each side a point for their efforts.

Naftaly Balay gave Sakhnin a 1-0 first-half lead, while substitute Daniel Joulani doubled the lead by the 66th minute as the Galilee side looked to be in cruise control. However, Stav Nachmani cut the lead to 2-1 in the 76th minute, and Ebenezer Mamatah jumped all over a rebound 10 minutes later to find the equalizer and split the points.

“Our 2-0 lead was really an illusion,” Sakhnin coach Slobodan Drapic said. “You feel as if you are in control and you are on your way to victory, and then everything is turned upside down. I made substitutions that didn’t help us, which led us to lose the game in how we were playing, and we came under pressure. It’s a shame that we lost two points, but that’s soccer.”

“First of all, I’m happy with the result,” Ashdod coach Eli Levy began. “Although we could have stolen a victory after being behind by a pair of goals, we can’t be greedy. I have a team that does not give up at any point of the game and one that always believes in itself.”

Finally, Ironi Kiryat Shmona downed Ironi Tiberias 2-0 as the northerners picked up their first win of the season.

Recently loaned Nadav Nidam gave Shai Barda’s team a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute, while Yair Mordechai salted away the win in the 96th minute to give Kiryat Shmona its first win back in the top league.

“I think, in my eyes, this game was a direct continuation of the second half of our last one in Ashdod,” Barda said following the game. “We worked very hard during the last two weeks and played against a team that will cause a lot of trouble for the league.”

“There is nothing to talk about if we, little Tiberias, come into a game in the top league without hunger, without passion, and without the desire to take points, then we should not be in this league,” Tiberias coach Eliran Hodeida said. “In soccer, there are better days and those that are not as good, but if we feel relaxed after one win in the league, well, then that situation is one that is very serious. I’m very disappointed, we’ll take care of this and we’ll have to know how to change it.”