Maccabi Tel Aviv slipped by Bnei Sakhnin 2-0 in dramatic fashion this week in Israel Premier League action at Bloomfield Stadium as Dor Peretz scored the late winner to rescue the three points for the first-place yellow-and-blue.
Robbie Keane’s squad had a tough time breaking down Slobodan Drapic’s side’s defense all game long until Milton sent Peretz a tremendous pass that the midfielder blasted past a helpless Mohammed Abu Nil to the delighted crowd in the 89th minute.
Ten minutes later, deep into second-half stoppage time, Eran Zahavi slotted home a penalty to wrap up the victory.
“We made this game difficult for ourselves,” Keane said following the game. “At the half we should have scored three or four goals. The players showed incredible character and that is what I like about this team, as the substitutes made the difference. Football is played for 90 minutes and it doesn’t end until the final .”
“We didn’t play well in the first half,” Drapic commented. “We were slow coming out of the international break and we just have to play better. I don’t want to just be here in the championship playoffs, we want to play well and already prepare ourselves for next season as well.”
Meanwhile, Bnei Reineh stunned Maccabi Haifa 2-1 as two first-half goals helped the hosts take the win.
Leading the game 2-0
Mark Kostza silenced Sammy Ofer Stadium as he slotted home the opening goal of the game just five minutes in, while Freddy Vargas gave the visitors a 2-0 lead just a minute before the end of the half to head into the break with a commanding two-goal lead.
Anan Khalaili pulled a goal back for Haifa in the 80th minute, but that was too little too late for the Greens, whose title hopes took a massive hit with the loss.
“This was our third win over Haifa over the last two seasons,” Reineh head coach Sharon Mimer explained. “It’s something incomprehensible. I have to credit the guys as they proved once again that they are just a special specimen. We are doing the maximum at every stadium that we can.”
“This was not a good game by us,” Haifa coach Messay Dego said. “We have to keep on working as we were awful from the get-go and we were so soft. Every Reineh attack was lethal and that is why we gave up the second goal. There are no excuses as I thought we would bitmap the energy into this game following the international break.
At Netanya Stadium. Beitar Jerusalem smashed Maccabi Netanya 3-0 as a trio of first-half goals helped the yellow-and-black take the points and the win.
Ismaila Soro took an Adi Yona ball in the sixth minute and put it home to take an early 1-0 lead, while Mayron George found Yarden Shua a quarter-hour later to double the advantage. George then headed home the third goal off a Dor Micha ball in the 32nd minute to take insurmountable lead as the visitors wrapped up the victory before halftime.
“This was great to win,” Beitar bench boss Barak Itzhaki began. “We have been building something here and we believe in the path that we are taking. I’m proud of the guys and the work that they did in this game. There were some points in the game where there were some issues, but our ’keeper was there for us. Ultimately, we won and that’s what is most important.”
“This is a very disappointing loss,” Netanya coach Guy Tzarfati said. “We missed a chance in the opening five minutes when we hit the bar and then we conceded on the other end. We had more opportunities but came up short and then we gave up the second goal and from there our confidence was lost. This was a disastrous first half and that can’t ever occur again.”
Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheba defeated Hapoel Haifa 2-1 despite playing with only 10 men for almost the entire match as the Southern Reds snatched the points and the stunning win.
Antonio Sefer was sent off just six minutes into the game after a reckless tackle that left head coach Elyaniv Barda’s side down a man early on in the contest.
However, that didn’t stop Alon Turgeman from finding the back of the goal as he went in on a one-on-one situation and sent the ball by Yoav Gerafinfor a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute. Guy Melamed drew the visitors even in the 55th minute as he scored from in close, but 20 minutes later, Arthur Shushenachev headed home the winner to give Beersheba all the points.
“We have to take it one win at a time and this wasn’t just a win but a heroic one,” said Beersheba bench boss Elyaniv Barda said. “In terms of how we battled, fought and focussed everybody played for one another. It wasn’t easy to play Hapoel Haifa with 10 men and we kept them to very few chances. I’m very happy with the win, which was an exceptional one.”
“We knew that Hapoel Beersheba had the ability to deal with a man down as they are mentally a strong team,” Haifa coach Roni Levy said. “They know how to handle these situations and unfortunately we weren’t smart enough in the first half and we gave up a goal that we shouldn’t have.”
Also, Ashdod SC blanked Maccabi Petah Tikva 1-0 as Jordan Botaka scored the lone marker of the game to give the port city squad the points and the victory.
“The mission of our lives was to defeat Maccabi Petah Tikva and everyone put the team above all and that’s what we saw,” Ashdod head coach Eli Levi said. “We played well and we saw real men playing who knew when to foul. These were three very important points and if we keep doing what we need to, things will be fine.”
“Losing at home and playing poorly means we are going right back into the relegation battle,” Petah Tikva coach Ron Kozuk said. “We weren’t in the game right from the get-go and the players just weren’t up to par. There was an issue with exhaustion for those who had been with their respective national teams.”
Finally, Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Petah Tikva played to a 1-1 draw that saw both goals come in second-half injury time as the two sides split the points.
After 90 minutes of dry play, the action heated up as the clock hit injury time in the second half, as Godsway Donio gave Hadera the lead in the 92nd minute, before Fortune Bassey’s 97th-minute penalty gave the squads a point apiece.
“I saw us winning the game because it should have been 4-0,” Hapoel Petah Tikva coach Benny Lam explained. “Everything has been going against us. We play hard and earn plenty of chances. We will be battling all the way to the end of the season and we will give it our all as we prepare as best as we can the rest of the way.”
“I believe that we played very poorly,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas said. “This was our weakest performance as we were nowhere to be found in the first half. While we were better in the second half and we thought that we were going to win and felt that we had the three points in the bag, ultimately we did deserve to lose.”