Local Soccer: Haifa wins a snoozer at home

Maccabi Haifa returns to its winning ways, defeating Bnei Yehuda 1-0 in a lackluster match.

By ALLON SINAI
bnei yehuda 88 (photo credit: )
bnei yehuda 88
(photo credit: )
Maccabi Haifa returned to its winning ways on Sunday night, defeating Bnei Yehuda 1-0 in lackluster match at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium. Lior Rafaelov's 60th minute goal was all that separated the teams and the win means Haifa enters next week's match against Betar Jerusalem with seven points out of a possible nine. "We didn't play well in the first half, to put it mildly. But you need to know how to win theses kinds of matches as well," Haifa coach Elisha Levy said. "We will be confident entering the Betar game." After a slow start to the match, Haifa began to pile the pressure on the visitors and, in the eighth minute, Thembinkosi Fanteni squandered the match's first good chance when he shot straight at Bnei Yehuda keeper Dele Aiyenugba. For all their possession time, the hosts struggled to create scoring opportunities and Guy Luzon's men almost took advantage on the break. In the 27th minute, Moshe Biton's curler from 20 meters out was on its way to the top right corner of the Haifa goal, but Nir Davidovich acrobatically kept the ball out. Coming so close to conceding a goal aroused Maccabi, and the team almost scored twice within a one-minute span. In the 31st, Gustavo Boccoli's volley was well saved by Aiyenugba and thirty seconds later, defender Dekel Keinan had all the time in the world in the Bnei Yeuhda box, but ballooned his shot from 10 meters out. The final, and perhaps best, chance of the first half fell to Biton 10 minutes later. The forward wasted a golden opportunity when he sent his shot wayward from five meters and the match was goalless at the interval. The deadlock, however, was finally broken in the 60th minute thanks to Rafaelov. The midfielder exchanged passes with young teammate Biram Kiyal and elegantly tucked the ball under Aiyenugba to score the opener and winner. The remainder of the match passed almost without incident, with Haifa content on protecting its slender lead and Bnei Yehuda simply unable to threaten Davidovich's goal. On Monday, Hapoel Tel Aviv visits Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the final game of the week.