Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Petah Tikva 5-2 in Israel Premier League action as Timoti Muzi scored a hat trick for the 10-man capital city squad in the victory.
Prior to the game, a special ceremony was held for all of the victims of the October 7 attack on Israel – from the soldiers to the hostages and their families who paid the ultimate price while protecting the land.
Petah Tikva opened the scoring as Shavit Mazal gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead, and Omer Peretz’s team soon thereafter went up a man when Yarden Shua was shown a yellow card and then handed a red for dissent toward the referee.
However, the yellow-and-black didn’t let up, and the hosts had a chance to draw even just before the break, but Omer Atzily’s penalty was saved by Omer Peretz as Petah Tikva went into halftime holding a 1-0 advantage.
To begin the second half, Beitar bench boss Barak Itzhaki made wholesale substitutions that paid off handsomely for his squad. Muzi slammed home his first goal of the match to draw the hosts even, but Chipyoka Songa quickly helped the visitors retake the lead. However, Atzily scored a brilliant free kick to knot the game up at 2-2 in the 60th minute.
With Beitar pushing to take the lead, Muzi did just that, adding his second strike of the match from a corner kick, while Johnbosco Kalu then made it 4-2 thanks to a Muzi assist. The winger wasn’t done just yet, as he slotted home a 94th-minute spot kick to polish off the victory.
Thanks to his wonderful performance, Muzi was called up to the Israel National Team for its upcoming games against Norway and Italy.
'It pushed us even more'
“The truth is that I always let my players relax for two or three minutes at halftime,” Itzhaki said. “I came into the dressing room and calmly said to the guys, ‘Is there anyone here who doesn’t believe that we can do this?’ In the second half, things came together for us, and even though after we scored we also conceded, it pushed us even more.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Beersheba slipped by Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-1 as Dan Bitton’s second-half penalty handed the Southern Reds the three points and the win.
Ofir Davidzada opened the scoring from the left wing, but Stav Turiel quickly drew even with a brilliant free kick. However, Bitton’s second-half penalty decided the game and gave the hosts the victory.
“I’ll start with what didn’t work,” Be’er Sheva bench boss Ron Kozuk began. “We started great, and after that, because we didn’t execute tactically, Hapoel came back within a second. I needed the break to talk to the players about what we wanted to do, and I’m glad they did what we needed in the second half.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa played to a thrilling 1-1 draw as Itamar Noy gave the yellow-and-blue a 1-0 lead in the second half, but Djordje Jovanovic slotted home a late penalty to split the points.
“The most important thing is the disappointment when you have the chances to score and you play a very good match,” Haifa coach Diego Flores said after the game. “You had the chances, especially in the first half. You play a Classico away, and you feel you have to win. The guys made a big effort, but you don’t get the result. At the end, I’m very happy with the effort and the football our players brought to this stadium, but I’m disappointed because I think we could have won this match.”
Hapoel Haifa and Ironi Kiryat Shmona played to an entertaining goalless draw that saw Carmel Reds ’keeper Niv Antman save a pair of penalties, including one in the 94th minute off Anthony Limbombe’s spot kick to preserve a point.
Haifa bench boss Gal Arel spoke about the draw.
“I’m disappointed with the point but not with the effort the players showed. We’ll have to forget this game very quickly, but it gave me a lot to think about, except for the point. As for Antman’s penalty saves, kudos to him – penalties are part of the game, and everything balances out in the end.”
Ironi Tiberias blanked Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 as Stanislav Bilenkyi scored the lone goal of the match to give the Kinneret-based squad the points and the win.
Tiberias head coach Eliran Hodeida summed up the victory.
“We needed maturity to win this game, and I think we showed it today. I am proud of the players as we talked about the approach we were going to take after we had been very soft at the beginning of the season. We played tactically well.”
Ashdod SC sunk Maccabi Bnei Reineh 2-0 as the hosts scored a pair of stellar second-half goals to take the three points.
After a goalless first half, Jean Florent Batoum polished off a terrific passing play thanks to an assist by Eugene Ansah, while youngster Ori Azo went coast-to-coast across the entire pitch to score the insurance marker for the port city side.
Bnei Sakhnin defeated nine-man Maccabi Netanya 2-1 on the road, with Iyad Abu Abaid’s injury-time penalty breaking the deadlock following a red card to Heriberto Moreno Borges Tavares.
Sakhnin’s Ahmad Taha’s goal in the 34th minute was canceled out by Maor Levi 30 minutes later, but the late spot kick decided the game.
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