Hapoel Beersheba defeated Hapoel Haifa 2-1 on Saturday evening to stay atop the Israel Premier League, with Matan Baltaxa’s second-half strike making the difference at Sammy Ofer Stadium.
Zahi Ahmed gave Beersheba an early lead, heading in a Dan Biton cross. But just before the break, Tamir Arbel leveled for the hosts from the penalty spot after a reckless foul by Miguel Vitor.
Baltaxa put the visitors ahead for good when he put home a ball in the box after a Kings Kangwa corner kick to hand Ron Kozuk’s team the win and the three points.
“I will divide the game up into three parts,” Kozuk began. “We started great, we had a very good first half and played with patience and with our principles, but then came the tactical mistake that we talked about that cannot be made in a championship fight. It brought Hapoel Haifa back in terms of the result and momentum, and the second half was terrible for us.”
“Overall, we were in the game the entire time and this was a very disappointing loss,” Haifa coach Roni Levy explained. “We could have gotten more out of the game. On the other hand, the guys did give everything, they are committed, team-oriented and I am very proud of them even when they lose.”
Win for Maccabi Haifa
Elsewhere, Maccabi Haifa got by Maccabi Netanya 1-0 as Dia Saba’s eighth-minute goal made all the difference in the matchup.
Green's head coach, Barak Bachar, looked back at the win.
“We didn’t look good and I suffered for that. It’s hard to be satisfied after a game like this. Even though we started the game well, after the goal we disappeared, we didn’t manage to be aggressive, and it wasn’t a good game for us. It was important to win, there’s a battle for third place, but we didn’t win with good ability. However, at least we achieved the goal.”
Yossi Abukasis, Netanya’s coach, added: “A good game from us from the start to the end, but when you don’t give up goals you go down with nothing. We conceded a goal and then we took control of the pitch and pressed them, but we needed to score and we didn’t do that. Many situations went as they should, but there are days like that. The players did their maximum and gave it their all.”
Ashdod SC crushed Hapoel Hadera 4-1 as Muhammad Knaan scored a brace to help the port city side take the win and the three points, while the visitors were officially relegated to the second division with the los
Despite Ashdod controlling the pace of play from the outset of the contest, Jose Cortes gave Hadera a quick lead in the seventh minute. However, Eugene Ansah knotted the game up less than a minute later.
Haim Silvas’s squad then grabbed the lead via a Knaan penalty after a handball in the box, while the striker added his second goal of the game in the 63rd minute for a 3-1 advantage.Noam Muche bumped the lead up to 4-1 in second-half injury time as the loss sent Hadera down to the Leumit League.
“It’s hard to deal with the pressure, because every game is like a cup final,” Silvas said. “But it’s football, and after a few minutes we began to enjoy the game. We improved our defensive game, we concede less, and that helps us a lot because we have quality players in attack. My goal is to stay in the league, nothing would make me happier.”
“This is a difficult moment for me,” Hadera head coach Nimrod Kotika began. “That is true for the club and for the fans that we disappointed. It’s hard to talk at such moments and summarize, but Hapoel Hadera is a strong club. Bigger teams than us have been relegated and come back.”
Bnei Sakhnin defeated Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-1 to snatch the points and the win.
Itay Ben Hamo gave Sakhnin a 1-0 lead just ahead of the break, while Alexandre Ramalingom added a second goal in the 73rd minute for the hosts. Amir Altoury cut the lead a minute later, but Petah Tikva couldn’t find the equalizer as Sakhnin went on to take the victory.
“We weren’t good enough in the offensive part of the pitch,” Petah Tikva bench boss Noam Shoham said. “At the end of the day, when the game is so tight, everything is one-on-one.”
Maccabi Bnei Reineh defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 2-1 to take the points and the win.
After a goalless first half, Omri Altman opened the scoring by heading in the first goal of the game off a Saar Fadida pass to take the lead in the 47th minute, while Nemanja Ljubisavljević doubled the advantage minutes later to go up 2-0.
Samba Diallo pulled one back in the 81st minute, but that was as close as the capital city Reds would get.
“You don’t understand how important this win was,” Reineh head coach Sharon Mimer began. “We went through a serious trauma in the State Cup semifinals, but we proved here that with all the shortcomings we are made of something special.
“We came into this game with very low energy and we didn’t deserve to win. It happens,” Ziv Arie, Jerusalem’s coach, said.
Ironi Tiberias blanked Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 as Stanislav Bilenkyi scored a first-half brace to hand the visitors the win and the points.
Tiberias head coach Eliran Hodada commented following the game: “I am very happy with the players’ readiness and that they really understood the meaning of the game. I think we started really well and managed to take a 2-0 lead by the 30th minute, so all the compliments to the players.”
Kiryat Shmona bench boss Shay Barda broke down his side’s loss.
“I think the first half was poor due to a lack of commitment, and we were very soft. These are things that didn’t characterize the team at the beginning of the year, where we had three elements that worked: tactical discipline, commitment and will. However, these three elements were not there in this game.”