Hapoel Tel Aviv goes top but draws again
12/16/2012 02:25
Haifa remained rock-bottom, still with just a sole victory, while Netanya failed to take all three points for a sixth straight match.
Hanan Maman Photo: Adi Avishai
Hapoel Tel Aviv climbed to the top of the Premier League standings for at least
48 hours on Saturday night, but it dropped two more important points in the
title race, drawing 2-2 against Hapoel Ramat Gan at Bloomfield
Stadium.
Tel Aviv didn’t show any improvement from last week’s goalless
deadlock against Hapoel Acre and once more failed to pick up all three points
against a supposedly inferior opponent from the bottom half of the
table.
Only a Maccabi Tel Aviv loss at Maccabi Haifa on Monday will keep
Hapoel in first place until next weekend.
Ramat Gan defender Tal Hen
gifted the hosts the opener in the 14th minute, losing the ball on the edge of
the box to Tal Ben-Haim, allowing Omer Damari to easily slot in the
opener.
However, the visitors equalized through Anton Arkhipov four
minutes from the break and had their chances to move into the lead, only to fall
behind once more in the 72nd minute after Damari scored again.
But Ramat
Gan would leave Bloomfield with a deserved point after Israel Zaguri scored from
the penalty spot in the 82nd minute, with Tel Aviv’s Iyad Khutaba being sent off
for blocking Arkhipov shot with his hand on the goal-line.
Ramat Gan’s
new coach Eli Cohen was delighted with the draw.
“We played well and the
players deserve every credit for showing maturity and character,” Cohen
said.
Ashdod SC missed a chance to put pressure on the top two on
Saturday, losing 1-0 at Hapoel Ramat Hasharon, with Ran Itzhak scoring the only
goal of the match in the 77th minute.
Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Haifa
played out a dreary 0-0 draw on Saturday, showing exactly why they are
struggling so desperately this season.
Haifa remained rock-bottom, still
with just a sole victory this season, while Netanya failed to take all three
points for a sixth straight match.
Bnei Sakhnin snapped Hapoel
Beersheba’s three-game winning streak on Saturday, triumphing 3-2 at Doha
Stadium.
Dovev Gabai gave Beersheba the lead in the 22nd minute, but
Sakhnin leveled the score six minutes later through Shimon Harush, and Ahmed
Kasoum (66) and Hamad Ganayem (79) completed the comeback in the second half
before Gabai netted a meaningless consolation goal (80).
On Sunday, Betar
Jerusalem hosts Ironi Kiryat Shmona and Bnei Yehuda welcomes Acre.