Controversial penalty hands Hapoel a point • Bnei Yehuda blasts Hadera ahead of State Cup semis.
By JOSHUA HALICKMANMACCABI HAIFA (in green) and Hapoel Haifa battled to a 2-2 draw on Sunday night at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Israel Premier League Championship Playoff action(photo credit: MAOR ELKASLASI)
There was plenty of action over the weekend at soccer stadiums throughout Israel as the Haifa derby between Maccabi and Hapoel took center stage, with the sides playing to a dramatic 2-2 draw.Gal Arel helped Hapoel to a split of the points when the midfielder scored a controversial penalty deep into injury time. Nikita Rukavytsya had opened the scoring when he nodded home a brilliant pass by Dolev Haziza in the box for 1-0 after 26 minutes of action.Liran Sardel drew the Reds even at 1-1 in the 54th minute when he put home a Kevin Tapoko smart pass, but the Greens retook the lead in the 85th minute when Mohammed Awaed slotted the ball by Jasmin Buric thanks to an assist from youngster Suf Podguranu to complete a gorgeous sequence.However, in the 94th minute Ofir Mizrahi fell in the box but it was unclear if Maccabi’s Ernest Mabouka had pulled him down or not. Referee Eitan Shmuelevitz went to the Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) and after a lengthy analysis determined that indeed a penalty should be awarded as Arel stepped up and scored from the spot as each team left Sammy Ofer Stadium with a point.“I saw immediately that it wasn’t a penalty,” Greens coach Marko Balbul declared following the game. “But we should have finished off this game much earlier and had chances to do so. I am proud of the players and how they played, but we lost valuable points.Hapoel Haifa coach Haim Silvas naturally had a different perspective.“I trust the officiating and we showed a lot of character throughout the game,” said Silvas. “We should have taken advantage of the first few minutes when Maccabi was a bit disorganized, but then they scored to swing the momentum. All in all, I am satisfied with the draw.”Elsewhere, Bnei Yehuda blasted Hapoel Hadera 5-0 at Bloomfield Stadium in the second relegation playoff contest.Shay Mazor scored a brace by the quarter-hour mark, while 19-year old Roie Ben Shimon scored his first Premier League goal by the 18th minute to give Elisha Levy’s squad a commanding 3-0 lead early on.Seventeen-year-old Silva Kani found the back of the goal in his debut for Bnei Yehuda in the 71st minute and Ariel Lazmi put the cherry on top of the blowout victory 10 minutes later to wrap up the three points.Bnei Yehuda will now look to defend its State Cup title as it preps for Wednesday night’s semifinal against Hapoel Beersheba at the Netanya Stadium.“This was a game that everything just clicked for us,” said a content Levy. “Now we can turn our attention to the State Cup semifinals against Beersheba later this week and go into the game with good momentum.Mazor also spoke about the win and his two tallies.“I’m happy that I was able to score a brace, but most importantly we won the game as this was a good warm up for the semifinals. We definitely miss our fans and hopefully the situation will clear up soon so that they can come back to the stadium.”Also, Ironi Kiryat Shmona thumped Ashdod 3-0 in the northern capital to give Kobi Refuah his first win of the relegation playoffs.An own-goal started the hosts off as Mohammed Shaker’s cross accidentally went off of Nir Bardea and behind ’keeper Roie Mishpati for a 1-0 lead. In the 41st minute, bad luck once again struck Bardea as the defender slipped in the box, which allowed Ismaeel Ryan to pounce of the ball and double the Kiryat Shmona lead before the break.Nineteen-year-old Abdalla Halaihal finished off Ashdod with his second career goal in the 85th to take all three points.“After last week’s loss where we didn’t show up against Maccabi Netanya, we saw a different team that was invested in the win,” said Kiryat Shmona coach Refuah following the game. “We were a bit tired in the second half, but we played well in the first half and showed quality by following the game plan. It’s not fun to play without fans, but the most important thing for us is to make sure we remain in the top flight.”Hapoel Kfar Saba defeated Hapoel Ra’anana 2-0 as the Greens moved closer to securing their place in the Premier League for next season. On the flip side, the Ra’anana loss meant that it is almost assured of being relegated to the second division.Gershon Koffie opened the scoring in the 52nd minute when he took an Omer Fadida pass and launched the ball into the back of the goal, while Fadida added a marker of his own in the 87th minute for the win.“The result was extremely important but there is still a long way to go,” said Kfar Saba coach Amir Turgeman. “We have some critical games coming up and we have to make sure that we are prepared in order to ensure that we remain in the Premier League.”Sektzia Ness Ziona slipped by Maccabi Netanya 1-0 on a late goal by Dor Kochav to snatch the points.The diamond city side was reduced to nine men in the second half as Dolev Azulay was shown a straight red card in the 54th minute while Karam Jabar was sent off with his second yellow card 14 minutes later.That set up Kochav’s strike when he out home a Moussa Maâzou cross for the winner.Hapoel Beersheba and Hapoel Tel Aviv played to a goalless draw at Turner Stadium down south as the sides split the points. Both squads will be in action in State Cup play as Nir Klinger’s Hapoel Tel Aviv will prepare for Tuesday night’s semifinal against second-division Maccabi Petah Tikva while Beersheba faces Bnei Yehuda.In the last match of the round, on Monday night, Maccabi Tel Aviv took on Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium in a match that ended after press time.
