Second-half surge boosts Beitar Jerusalem past Maccabi Tel Aviv

Beitar Jerusalem triumphed over Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 on Monday night at Teddy Stadium as the capital city squad scored three unanswered second-half goals with 10 men to stun the first-place yellow-and-blue side.

Dor Turgeman opened the scoring for Zarko Lazetic’s team as he latched onto an Osher Davida ball to take a 1-0 lead. Things went from bad to worse for the hosts when Jean Marcelin was sent off at the stroke of halftime due to a dustup with Maccabi’s Sagiv Yehezkel, leaving Beitar with 10 men for the entire second half.

Jerusalem coach Barak Itzhaki made a pair of substitutes to make up for the missing player, and his decisions paid off almost immediately. Timoti Muzi finished off a brilliant team play and sent a perfect ball into the Maccabi goal and past shot-stopper Roie Mishpati to draw even at 1-1 in the 48th minute. Yarden Shua slotted home the go-ahead marker on an 83rd-minute borderline penalty call, while Ayi Silva Kangani added an insurance goal three minutes later to send a sold-out Teddy Stadium into ecstasy.

“It’s very exciting, and I don’t even know what to say,” Itzhaki said following the game. “I have to really credit the guys for winning this game and playing an entire half with just 10 men. I told them at halftime that they needed to get back onto the pitch with courage. I could’ve played a defensive half, but I wanted to take a chance and play for the win despite being down a player.”

“We played a very good first half and then stopped playing in the second half,” Maccabi bench boss Lazetic said. “We lost so many balls in the second half, and they punished us. We tried to move the ball from one side to the other, but we missed these passes and had to run a lot. They had more energy, and we missed our chances.”

In other games

Meanwhile, in a game played at Turner Stadium due to the security situation in the north, Maccabi Haifa cruised to a 4-2 victory over Hapoel Hadera as Lior Refaelov scored a brace to help the Greens to three points.

Dean David gave Haifa an early lead off a Dia Saba ball, while Refaelov scored his first goal via a free kick in the 41st minute to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. However, Dan Einbinder’s penalty just before the break and Itzik Shoolmaister’s strike just after halftime drew Hadera even at 2-2.

Xander Severina gave Haifa the lead once again, while Refaelov scored an injury-time strike to polish off the victory.

“We play like what our DNA is,” Maccabi Haifa coach Barak Bachar said. “After two losses, we came into this game and attacked with plenty of players. The first goal was one of our most beautiful ones of the season. It was really the type of goal that we had wanted and hoped for. Hadera passed the halfway mark of the pitch perhaps three times, and we had to give that little extra for everything. We’ll have to pay attention to that and be more focused if we want to continue climbing up the standings.”

“The players gave everything they had,” a disappointed Hadera coach Haim Silvas began. “At the end of the day, their quality overwhelmed us. We scored two goals against Maccabi Haifa away, but we lost. I feel very sorry for the players; they gave everything.”

Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheba and Maccabi Bnei Reineh drew 1-1 in an entertaining matchup down south.

After a scoreless first half, Antonio Sefer found the back of the goal in the 65th minute, but late in the match Amir Ganah was handed his second yellow card and sent off, leaving the hosts with 10 men while holding onto the lead. However, Ibrahim Genaim found the equalizer in second-half injury time to draw even and snatch a point just before the final whistle was sounded.

“We knew this was going to be a very tough and intense game,” Beersheba coach Ron Kozuk said. “At halftime, we spoke about going back to our basics in order to score a goal, which we did, but that red card sent us reeling as we had kept Reineh at bay for the entire match until they finally scored.”

“We showed both character and ability to take a point in this game,” Bnei Reineh’s Sharon Mimer said. “We knew this was one of the toughest places to play, if not the toughest of them all. Beersheba had trouble creating chances, but we ended up giving up a goal. However, we showed so much character for the entire game and came out with a point.”

Also, Hapoel Jerusalem blanked Ironi Tiberias 2-0 in a game that had no fans up north by the Kineret due to Home Front Command regulations.

The capital city Reds grabbed a 1-0 lead as Ibeh Ransom scored in the 33rd minute to head into the break in front by a goal. The hosts had a chance to draw even in the 89th minute via a penalty due to a handball in the box, but Stanislav Bilenkyi’s spot kick was saved by Jerusalem ’keeper Nadav Zamir. However, Ben Vehaba raced for the rebound and committed a reckless foul on the shot-stopper, which earned him a red card, leaving Tiberias with 10 players. Hapoel took advantage a few minutes later when Cedric Don scored to wrap up the win.

Additionally, Ironi Kiryat Shmona defeated Bnei Sakhnin 2-1 to take the points.

Alfredo Stephens gave the northerners the lead in the 11th minute, but 10 minutes later Constantinos Soteriou drew Sakhnin even until Roie Zikri found the winning goal with a quarter-hour left in the contest.

Ashdod SC and Maccabi Petah Tikva played to a goalless draw as the Port City side’s Tom Ben Zaken was issued a 14th-minute red card for a reckless tackle on Yarden Cohen, but the visitors were not able to take advantage of the extra man as each team took a point.

Hapoel Haifa blanked Maccabi Netanya 3-0 on the road to take the win.

Naor Sabag opened the scoring in the seventh minute, Guy Melamed doubled the advantage later in the first half, and Itamar Noy scored as well to wrap up the dominant victory.

“These are very difficult days, and playing soccer gives us a totally different perspective,” Hapoel Haifa coach Rony Levy said. “We are satisfied with the victory but less so with the actual game – there were many good things and many things that need to be worked on. Of course, it’s better to correct these things with victories and certainly a victory like this.”