Maccabi Haifa remains in the hunt for first
03/09/2013 23:48
Amasha, Greens beat Netanya 2-1 to boost chances; Ramat Hasharon make playoffs.
MACCABI HAIFA’S Liroy Zhairi, Eyal Golasa and Yaniv Katan (from left to right) celebrate. Photo: Uzi Gal
Maccabi Haifa kept its Premier League title hopes alive with a hard-fought 2-1
win at Maccabi Netanya on Saturday night, while Hapoel Ramat Hasharon locked up
the sixth and final ticket to the championship playoffs in the final weekend of
the regular season.
Haifa cut the gap from league-leader Maccabi Tel Aviv
to seven points after Weeam Amasha scored an 81st-minute penalty to give the
Greens their 12th win in their past 15 matches on Saturday.
Ahmed Saba
gave Netanya the lead in the 24th minute, tucking in the ball from close-range,
but Haifa got back on level terms just five minutes later. Alon Turgeman’s
volley from the edge of the box bounced off the post, but ricocheted into the
back of the net off the body of Netanya ‘keeper Luigi Cennamo.
Haifa had
to wait until nine minutes from time to net the winner, with Shlomi Azulai being
brought down in the box by Ido Levy and Amasha stepping up to score from the
spot to keep the Greens in the hunt.
Maccabi Tel Aviv can reestablish a
10- point gap with a victory over Beitar Jerusalem at Bloomfield Stadium on
Sunday.
“It was important for us to prove that we are a good team and
return to winning ways after last week’s draw against Hapoel Haifa,” said
exhilarated Haifa coach Arik Benado. “We proved we are true men and I’m proud of
every one of my players. We will always believe in our chances. The players are
committed whether the gap is 15 or two points.”
Three teams entered
Saturday with a chance to advance to the championship playoffs, but Ramat
Hasharon quashed Beitar Jerusalem and Ashdod SC’s hopes by defeating Hapoel
Beersheba 1-0 on the road.
Moshe Abutbul scored the only goal of the
match in the 48th minute to clinch the playoff berth for the surprise team of
the season.
The league will be split into two sections from next weekend,
with the top six sides to play each other twice more to decide the champion,
while the bottom eight teams will play each other once more to determine the
relegation battle.
Hapoel Haifa climbed out of the relegation zone for
the first time since the second week of the season on Saturday, beating Hapoel
Ramat Gan 2-1 at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium.
Haifa jumped from 13th to 10th
position after Liran Cohen (47) and Danilo Nikolic (65) canceled out Ran
Itzhak’s 13th-minute bicycle-kick opener.
Haifa’s Oshri Roash was sent
off in the 90th minute after intentionally fouling David Manga from behind to
deny him a clear shot at goal and Ramat Gan dropped into the relegation
zone.
However, the battle against demotion looks set to go down to the
wire, with just four points separating the bottom five teams after rock-bottom
Hapoel Acre drew 0-0 with Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bnei Sakhnin lost 2-0 to Ironi
Kiryat Shmona.
Ahmed Abed (18) and Osei Mawuli (90) scored for Kiryat
Shmona, which leapfrogged Hapoel Tel Aviv into third place.
On Monday,
Bnei Yehuda visits Ashdod SC.