Hapoel Beersheba maintains lead atop table

Beitar Jerusalem finishes first round of games in 2nd place • Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa win

Hapoel Beersheba blanked Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 in Israel Premier League play as Igor Zlatanovic played a perfect give-and-go with Dan Bitton to find the back of the goal for the lone marker of the match, which handed the Southern Reds the three points over the second-place yellow-and-blue.

Beersheba coach Ran Kozuk summed up the win.

“First of all, I think the fans deserve credit because we didn’t want to disappoint them so we made sure we came in with a lot of momentum. It was important for us to come into a packed stadium and the crowd gave us a lot. Maccabi is a quality team, and it’s not easy to keep up with them, but we did so, and we need to understand what types of rivals we’re facing at the top of the standings. The league is more balanced this year than last and the mid-table teams are making things tough.”

Maccabi’s Zarko Lazetic also shared his thoughts.

“I’m very pleased with how we played; obviously, the result is disappointing. What didn’t work for us in this game is that we didn’t score, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, Beitar and Hapoel played to a 1-1 draw in the Jerusalem derby as Awaka Ashta scored in the first half to give the Reds the lead before a late Yarden Shua penalty for the black-and-yellow split the points.

“It was a tough game and we had plenty of chances and the statistics looked good,” Beitar Jerusalem coach Barak Itzhaki began. “But we also have to figure out how to win and also not to lose. It has happened to us a lot this season where the teams play very tight and we have to find a way to beat our opponent’s defense. At the end of the day, we finished the first round of matches in second place overall.”

Hapoel Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie commented: “We are a good team and we believe in ourselves but unfortunately we didn’t win the game.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv overwhelmed Hapoel Petah Tikva 4-0 as the Reds scored a pair of goals in each half to secure the points and the win.

Loizos Loizou put home a smart pass by Stav Turiel in the 13th minute while Andrian Kraev stole the ball in the midfield and played give-and-go with Daniel Dappa to give the hosts a 2-0 lead that they would take into the break.

Turiel easily made it 3-0 with a wide-open opportunity in the area while Orel Degani’s own-goal salted away the win for Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda commented on his team’s performance.

“We knew this match would wrap up the first round and we wanted to finish the round properly, especially in a home match. I’m happy we knew how to score a bunch of goals, which we struggled to do in the previous match. It’s been a very intense week with three games and it was a heavy load on the players.”

Maccabi Haifa slipped by Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-0 as Kenny Saeif scored deep into second-half injury-time to help the

Greens to the three points and their second win in a row.

Following close to 97 minutes of goalless action, Silva Kani took a ball deep into the box and sent an oncoming Saeif a

short pass that he slotted home for Haifa to snatch the points just ahead of the final whistle.

Maccabi Haifa Head coach Barak Bachar spoke about the last-second victory.

“Finally we scored in the last attack instead of conceding. It was not an easy match; I felt we were in it the whole time. We weren’t sharp enough throughout the majority of the game unfortunately and that’s a shame. We also could have conceded, it was a match that could have gone either way. Our attitude is good and that’s the foundation. When that’s the case, things come together and we need to keep going with it.”

Kiryat Shmona bench boss Shai Barda lamented the tough result.

“These are exactly the moments when you ask yourself, ‘What else can we do?’ But at the end of the day, this is probably what had to happen and we need to deal with it, as hard as it is to say in a situation like this. To come and press Maccabi Haifa, a team with 10 times our budget, not only did we not fall short against them, we also reached clear chances.”

Maccabi Netanya took the hard fought win over Hapoel Haifa 4-3 as Wilson Harris scored deep into second-half injury-time to take the victory.

Junior Diomande scored off a free kick while Oz Bilu scored in the 45th minute to go up 2-0. However, just before halftime, Ofek Bitton scored to pull a goal back for the diamond city side.

The Carmel Reds drew even at 2-2 via an own-goal, but Maor Levi gave Netanya a 3-2 lead in the 56th minute. Javon East headed home the tying goal for the Southern Reds, but Wilson Harris headed in the winning goal in second half added time.

Netanya coach Yossi Abukasis gave his thoughts on the game

“I don’t recall such statistics for shots on target, and the amount of chances we’ve been creating in recent matches is equal to a whole season.”

Hapoel Haifa bench boss Gal Arel commented: “We lacked the concentration to hold the lead. The last goal we conceded came after our own counterattack. The result in this game could have gone either way. It was dramatic and fun for the spectators, but less so for us.

Ashdod SC and Ironi Tiberias drew 1-1 as Noam Muche scored at the stroke of halftime to give the port city squad the lead before Itamar Shviro came back in the second half to find the equalizer for the Kinneret based squad as each side took a point for their efforts.

Finally, Bnei Sakhnin slipped by Maccabi Bnei Reineh 1-0 as Arthur Miranyan scored a 95th-minute goal to secure the win.

Sakhnin coach Sharon Mimer reflected on the contest.

“There was no pressure, it was the joy of a sweet victory in added time. We had a second half with chances I don’t know how we missed. At the end of the day in my opinion, justice prevailed and this is a very important win for the table that gives us distance from the bottom and confidence moving forward.”

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