Soccer: Fabio Junior gives Hapoel derby victory

Dimitar Telkiyski gave Hapoel Tel Aviv a hugely important 3-1 victory over arch-rival Maccabi Tel Aviv

By ALLON SINAI
hapoel TA soccer 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
hapoel TA soccer 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Two late goals by much maligned striker Fabio Junior gave Hapoel Tel Aviv a hugely important 3-1 victory over arch-rival Maccabi Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium on Sunday night. The score was tied at 1-1 at the break, after two extraordinary goals, but Junior, who came on as a substitute at halftime, broke the deadlock with a goal in the 87th minute and wrapped up the win with his second on the final kick of the match. Dimitar Telkiyski gave Hapoel the lead 10 minutes into the game with an exquisite volley, but a comic blunder by the visitors keeper Vincent Enyeama handed Maccabi the equalizer, with Erez Mesika taking advantage of an empty net and scoring from 40 meters out. The encounter seemed to be heading for a draw, but Junior's late late show snatched the three crucial points, which take Hapoel out of the relegation zone. Hapoel had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the 10th minute thanks to Telkiyski's moment of brilliance. The Bulgarian midfielder, who has been a revelation since joining the team in the January transfer window, struck an amazing volley from the edge of the box, sending the ball into the top right corner of Dragoslav Jevric's goal. The encounter settled down after that, with Maccabi dominating the possession, but failing to convert its control into scoring opportunities. The hosts did, however, finally score a deserved equalizer in the 33rd minute after some awful goalkeeping by Enyeama. The Nigerian keeper made a complete mess of a relatively easy clearance and passed the ball directly to Mesika, who curled the ball beyond the Hapoel defense into the back of the net from 40 meters out. Maccabi was encouraged by its fortunate goal and had two chances in the final minutes of the first half to take the lead. In the 37th minute, Yannick Kamanan hit a powerful left-footed shot from a tight angle which was cleared by Enyeama and three minutes before the break Jonathan Assous ballooned a good opportunity after stealing the ball in the center of the field and surging into the visitors box. The second half was far less lively than the first, with both teams struggling to carve out any real scoring chances. It seemed as though the effort put in by both sides' in the second half would bare no fruit, but three minutes before the final whistle Junior slid the ball under Jevric and deep into stoppage time he added a third goal for good measure.