Betar stays perfect away from Teddy

After wining five in a row Bnei Yehuda has lost two and drawn one of its last three premier league games.

By ALLON SINAI
beitar players 88 (photo credit: )
beitar players 88
(photo credit: )
It would appear the Bnei Yehuda bandwagon is beginning to grind to a halt as Betar Jerusalem maintained its perfect record away from home with a 3-2 win in Herzliya Sunday night. After wining five in a row Bnei Yehuda has lost two and drawn one of its last three premier league games. Betar has now overtaken its Sunday night opponents and is third in the table, equal on points with Hapoel Tel Aviv, but behind the second-place team on goal difference. Betar dominated Bnei Yehuda for the entire first half and was only eventually slowed down by midfielders Maor Melikson's being sent off at the start of the second half. Bnei Yehuda, which was hosting Betar at its homeaway-from-home in Herzliya, missed its real home, Bloomfield Stadium, whose pitch is being resurfaced. The hosts couldn't take advantage of their one-man advantage and, despite creating numerous chances, didn't manage to equalize. Betar began the game well and seized the initiative from the first whistle. Ten minutes from the start striker Lior Asulin found himself totally free five meters from Bnei Yehuda's goal, but his awful shot went well wide of the mark. The hosts briefly breathed a sigh of relief, but two minutes later they were one goal down. Striker Jeff Tutuana's header was well saved by keeper Vincent Enyema, but Asulin easily headed the rebound in from the goal line. Betar continued to press forward and was rewarded with a second goal. Melikson dribbled his way into Bnei Yehuda's penalty box and passed the ball to Omri Afek whose powerful shot was deflected into the goal leaving Enyema helpless. Bnei Yehuda was fortunate to end the half only two goals behind. Thirty seconds into the half the hosts got on the board. Midfielder Asi Baldot was free inside Jerusalem's box and easily headed the ball from the corner into the net. Less then a minute after conceding the goal, Betar reclaimed its two-goal lead. Midfielder Barak Itzhaki ran clear of the Bnei Yehuda defense and beat the keeper with an accurate right-footed shot. The incidents kept coming and moments after scoring the goal, Betar found itself one man down. Melikson celebrated his team goal by jumping on the Stadium fences and, after receiving a yellow card earlier in the match, the referee had no choice but to show Melikson a second yellow and send him off. Bnei Yehuda pushed forward searching for goals, but couldn't beat the Betar defense until substitute Eli Biton scored in the 90th minute.