By JOSHUA HALICKMANPublished: DECEMBER 26, 2023 07:45 MACCABI TEL AVIV forward Eran Zahavi scores on a free-kick during the yellow-and-blue’s 2-1 Israel Premier League away victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva.(photo credit: MACCABI TEL AVIV/COURTESY)
Team combine for 8 goals in the capital • Mac TA rallies past Mac PT • Mac Haifa routs Hadera
Alon Turgeman opened the scoring in the seventh minute to give the Southern Reds a 1-0 lead, but the yellow-and-black came back in stunning fashion with three straight goals. Adi Yona stabbed home the ball in the 30th minute, Yarden Shua sent a 30-meter stunner into the back of the goal 10 minutes later, while right before the break Grigori Morozov scored as well as Beitar headed into halftime with a 3-1 lead.However, Elyaniv Barda’s squad came out in the second half on a mission as Guy Badash scored a penalty and Rotem Hatuel drew the visitors even by the 58th minute.
Taking the lead
Yossi Abukasis’s team took the lead in the 80th minute when the ball went off of Eden Shamir and into the goal, but Yoni Stoyanov drew Beersheba even five minutes later as the two teams split the points.Advertisement“I enjoyed the first half, but not so much the second,” Abukasis said. “We started to give out gifts in the second half and we were very tired and began to make mistakes. We deserved to win this game, but we gave them a penalty that was a present and we then took the lead before quickly conceding again.”
“This was a crazy, crazy game,” Barda exclaimed. “We took the lead on a beautiful goal, but then for no reason we started going backwards. We gave up three easy goals, but that’s soccer. We are starting to look more and more like Hapoel Beersheba, and now we have to rest up and make sure we are mentally prepared for our next game with the goal to win.”At the Moshava Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv got by Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-1 thanks to Eran Zahavi’s second-half free-kick goal to pick up a ninth victory in a row.
Saliou Guindo broke the ice in the 30th minute to give the hosts a surprise lead, but a superb play by Milson led to an own-goal by Guy Deznet seconds into the second half drew the yellow-and-blue even at 1-1.As it looked as the sides were going to split the points, Zahavi stepped up and sent a perfect free-kick into the Petah Tikva goal to give Maccabi the come-from-behind victory.Advertisement“This was a tough game and the conditions weren’t the best,” Maccabi coach Robbie Keane said. “I told the guys a couple of things at halftime and we saw their response by scoring on our first attack. We played with character and soccer is a game of two halves. Sometimes it isn’t the nicest and you’ve got to show character and strength.”“We came into the game and the guys gave 100% or even more,” Petah Tikva bench boss Benny Lam said. “We worked hard and led 1-0. It would be easy to say that the goal we conceded broke us but we had some very nice chances against an excellent team. If you give Eran Zahavi a chance like he had in this game, ultimately the ball will go into the goal.”Meanwhile, Maccabi Haifa cruised past Hapoel Hadera 5-1 as youngster Ilay Hajaj scored a brace to help the Greens take the three points.Elad Madmon gave Hadera an early 1-0 lead, but from that point on it was all Haifa as Hajaj drew Haifa even in the 29th minute after taking a pass from Lior Refaelov and scoring from the top of the box.Anan Khalaili gave Messay Dego’s squad a 2-1 lead in the 37th minute as he put in a rebound while Refaelov would find the back of the goal following Dia Lababidi’s red card that reduced Hadera to 10 men in first-half injury time and give Haifa a 3-1 lead at the break.Frantzdy Pierrot scored a 52nd-minute penalty to bump the lead up to 4-1, while Hajaj polished off his brace five minutes later to wrap up the dominant win.Elsewhere, Hapoel Tel Aviv crushed Hapoel Petah Tikva 4-1 as Omer Senior bagged a brace to help the Reds to the win as Borja Lema’s squad has been red hot of late.An active Mavis Tchibota sent a beautiful cross into the box that Senior headed home to give Hapoel Tel Aviv a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Things then went from bad to worse for Petah Tikva as it looked for an equalizer when Matan Gosha was sent off 20 minutes later to leave the visitors with just 10 men for roughly an hour left of regulation time.Tchibota found the back of the goal to double the advantage just ahead of the break, Senior added his second marker of the match 30 minutes later while Omri Altman gave Tel Aviv a 4-0 lead in the 74th minute.Itay Shechter pulled a goal back late in the game, but that was as close as Petah Tikva would get as the Reds snatched the points.Also, Hapoel Haifa slipped by Maccabi Netanya 2-1 to continue its fine season to date and collect yet another trio of points.After a goalless first half, Hatem Abd Elhamed headed home the opening goal in the 81st minute to give the Carmel Reds a 1-0 lead while Guy Melamed added an insurance marker six minutes after.Liran Rotman scored during second-half injury time, but it was too little, too late for the diamond city side as Roni Levy’s squad picked up the win.“This was a very tough game against a strong opponent,” Levy said. “There is a big gap between the result and their quality. They played very intensely and they have some talented players. We knew that we would have to be very tactical and responsible in our play.”In other action, Maccabi Bnei Reineh and Hapoel Jerusalem drew 1-1 as the Reds’ struggles continued despite taking a point.Noam Malmud scored an own-goal to give Reineh a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute, but Karem Zouabi’s late marker split the points.“We played well and had plenty of chances; it’s just too bad that we weren’t focused on the goal and we lost two points,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer said. “We deserved the win, but now we just have to keep going on as we are not looking at the table and we are just concerned with collecting more and more points and enjoying quality play.”“I don’t want to talk about luck,” Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie began. “We have to focus on what we can do better. We were dangerous but we conceded a goal which set the guys off in shock, but we were able to get back into the game. The point was important for us and we scored late to earn it.”Finally, Bnei Sakhnin blanked Ashdod SC 1-0 as Maroun Gantus scored the lone goal of the match to give the Galilee side all the points.
