Ironi Kiryat Shmona bottoms out with loss

Ironi Kiryat Shmona dropped to the bottom of Europa League Group I on Wednesday, losing 2-0 to Athletic Bilbao at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium in a match postponed from last week due to Operation Pillar of Defense.

Kiryat Shmona had no real hope of progressing to the Round of 32 even before Wednesday’s encounter, but it now looks set to finish last in its group after suffering its third defeat in five matches.

Fernando Llorente (34) and Gaizka Toquero (76) scored for Bilbao, which claimed its first win of the competition.

Kiryat Shmona will complete its campaign with a road match at Olympique Lyon next Thursday.

In other Israeli soccer news, Maccabi Netanya midfielder Ali Khatib was suspended for eight matches by the Israel Football Association disciplinary court for spitting at Bnei Sakhnin defender Idan Veitzman during Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the teams.

Betar Jerusalem was also in court on Wednesday after a lighter thrown from the Teddy Stadium stands during Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Maccabi Haifa hit linesman Amihai Moses and delayed the match for several minutes.

The decision on Betar is expected on Thursday, with the club hoping not to see its suspended sentence for similar offenses from last season being activated as that would mean it will host its next two home matches in front of empty stands.

Also Wednesday, Eli Cohen replaced Freddy David as coach of Hapoel Ramat Gan.

Ramat Gan is currently in 13th position out of 14 teams with seven points, but the main reason behind David’s departure is believed to be his differences with the club’s ownership.

Cohen guided Ramat Gan to the State Cup in 2003 and most recently had an impressive tenure at Hapoel Acre.