Ori Uzan's penalty in injury time gives Hapoel Petah Tikva a 2-2 draw with Betar at Teddy.
By JEREMY LASTbetar jlm hapoel pt 224.88(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Betar Jerusalem's fans were left fuming on Sunday after seeing their team fall to a 2-2 draw with Hapoel Petah Tikva at Teddy Stadium.
Ori Uzan scored a penalty in the 94th minute to give the visitors a deserved share of the points and leave last season's champions languishing in ninth position, a full nine points away from Maccabi Haifa at the top of the table.
It was a very tough outcome for Betar which had taken a 2-1 lead with only five minutes to go.
Just when it looked like the team's season was about to fall apart even further after a 1-0 defeat at Ironi Kiryat Shmona two weeks ago, the prodigal nephew on Betar popped up and seemed to save the day, until the fateful penalty squared it up for good.
Jerusalem had been playing poor soccer for most of the Israeli Premier League match. But with 85 minutes on the clock, it was none other than Aviram Bruchian who turned the tables with a well placed strike which appeared to have won all three points and pushed Betar up to fifth place.
Substitute Idan Tal had broken forward and unleashed a powerful effort which Hapoel goalkeeper Shavit Elimelech managed to save. However the former Hapoel Tel Aviv goalie was unable to stop the rebound from Bruchian which would have made his uncle and legendary former Betar midfielder Uri Malimilian proud.
But it was not over yet in what turned out to be an incident-packed second half.
Jerusalem center back Shimon Gershon went in hard on Hapoel striker Emmanuel Banahene in the area and referee Chaim Ya'akov had no choice to point on spot.
As Uzan converted, the majority of the crowd fell silent, seeing that there wasn't even time for the game to kick off again.
The result will continue to pile the pressure on Betar coach Reuven Atar, who had been brought in at the start of the season to replace Itzhak Schum.
The one positive which will come from the game for Jerusalem will be the performance of left back Eliran Danin, who came back from seeming extinction to start in the Betar defense in place of Yoav Ziv who has been disappointing of late.
Danin showed he has can still put in the classy defensive performances that made him a fan favorite a few seasons back.
Michael Zandberg had scored the opener for the home team in the 20th minute. After a slow start Bruchian passed the ball into Barak Itzhaki who laid it on for Zandberg who wouldn't make any mistake.
The goal gave the home team the confidence boost it had been looking for and suddenly Jerusalem was all over its opponent, surging forward with attack after attack resulting in stinging shots forcing Shavit Elimelech into numerous saves in the Petah Tikva goal.
But the visitors were not staying back and a free kick from Yossi Rozen concerned the celebrating Betar faithful as it thundered against the cross bar barely ten minutes before half time.
Betar goalkeeper Tvrtko Kale was substituted four minutes into the second period due to an injury and was replaced by Betar second string goalkeeper Ariel Harush.
Hapoel came out storming in the second half and Israel Under-21 international Shimon Abuhatzira scored for Hapoel in the 70th with his sixth goal of the season, latching on to a through ball from Peruvian striker Junior Viza and lobbing deftly over Harush to level the scoreline.
The game became even more tense as the minutes ticked away and Petah Tikva went looking for the winner. Substitute Sagiv Cohen was close to grabbing all three points for Hapoel with nine minutes left, only to see his close range effort go just wide.
Then came the climax with Bruchian's and Uzan's goals finishing off the match.
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