It was yet another thrilling weekend for Israeli soccer as both Hapoel Beersheba and Beitar Jerusalem won their respective away games at Bloomfield Stadium, taking the title race into the penultimate matchday neck-and-neck.
Beitar Jerusalem defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 as substitute Timoti Muzie scored the game winner in the 80th minute to keep Barak Itzhaki’s team in the championship race.
After a goalless first half, Dor Peretz’s header gave Kenny Miller’s Tel Aviv squad a 1-0 lead, but Omer Atzili found the equalizer via a Yarden Shua through-ball. Muzie then scored the winner after Gonzalez sent him a beauty of a pass to claim victory and stay two points behind Beersheba and in the title hunt with a pair of matches to go. Next up for Beitar is a match at Hapoel Petah Tikva, scheduled for Tuesday evening at Moshava Stadium.
Izhaki spoke about the conquest after the match.
“All of the teams have so many games one after the other, and we have to do our best to conserve our energy and play the way we are supposed to, which will lead to the results. It wasn’t pleasant to have to come into the game five points behind Hapoel Beersheba because they played a day before, but we all have to have the right mindset. Right now destiny is not in our hands, but we will do the maximum that we can.”
Miller spoke about the defeat for his side.
“We still have a lot to play for, including a Cup final, so we will be approaching the rest of the games the same way. Not coming away with anything from this game was robbery; we should have won the game and put it away earlier. We will play the same way against Beersheba as we did here, and we played very well. We have given up some goals the past few games, the exact same way, and that needs to be addressed.”
Muzie reflects on win
The game’s hero, Muzie, also reflected on the win.
“Our character beliefs need desire, we stayed with our game plan and I’m happy that we have been able to comeback yet again. It was a great ball from Gonzalez and I even could have scored beforehand but I made sure to do so the second chance I had. We will do the maximum that we can to keep pace and win the title.”
Hapoel Beersheba, meanwhile, blanked Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 as second-half goals by substitutes Ofir Davidzada and Amir Ganach against a 10-man Tel Aviv side allowed the Southern Reds to move closer to capturing the league championship.
Beersheba now prepares to host Maccabi Tel Aviv on Tuesday night at Turner Stadium.
Loizos Loizou had the game’s first chance as Beersheba’s keeper, Ofir Marciano, made the save, while at the other end Eliel Peretz’s attempt was caught by Assaf Tzur. Andrian Kraev was booked for his first yellow card after a foul on Muhammad Abu Romi, and soon thereafter, Kings Kangwa put a free kick into the box, which Djibril Diop headed over the goal in the 23rd minute.
Kraev picked up his second yellow card and was sent off when he fouled Kangwa, leaving Elyaniv Barda’s team with 10 men in the 30th minute. However, it didn’t stop Stav Turiel from helping Xander Silva produce a prime opportunity in front of the goal that just came up short as the match headed into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
Several substitutions from both teams
Both teams made substitutions to begin the second half, with Javon East and Amir Ganach coming on for Beersheba, and El Yam Kancepolski entering for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Lucas Ventura and Kangwa each had chances from the area, and at the other end, Diop almost put in a Turiel cross into his own goal in the 58th minute.
The two teams made more substitutions with Amit Lemkin, Shachar Piven, and Daniel Dappa all entering the fray for the hosts, while Miguel Vitor and Davdizada came in for the visitors. The subs paid dividends almost immediately as Davdizada got the ball from Kangwa, came down the left side of the pitch, and slotted the ball past a diving Tzur to give Beersheba a 1-0 lead in the 71st minute. The Southern Reds doubled the advantage 10 minutes later when Ganach just got the ball over the goalline to polish off the victory.
“Some difficult things happened to us today,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda said. “Playing 80 minutes with 10 players, [especially when] that was a very soft second yellow card and the first yellow too. If you came with the approach of not giving yellow cards, then it should be the same for both sides. The red card decided the game; today, we didn’t know how to play well with 10 men.”
“The win was most important for us, and we may be close to winning the championship,” Hapoel Beersheba Head Coach Ron Kozuk said. “The red card helped us a bit, but it wasn’t the deciding factor. The guys were a bit tied and that’s why I made some substitutions at halftime and soon thereafter. I understand the exhaustion, and I have to tip my hat to the guys for their effort.”
Also, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Petah Tikva played to a 1-1 draw. The Greens opened the scoring via Guy Melamed in the first half, but Yonatan Cohen found the equalizer late in the second half to split the points.
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