Last-minute soccer drama, big wins shake up table

Ahmed Salman gave the visitors a shock 1-0 lead early, but Yona drew the hosts even in the 22nd minute. As Barak Itzhaki’s Beitar squad poured on the offense throughout the second half, it finally broke through deep into injury time when Yona once again curled the winner past Sakhnin’s keeper Muhamed Abu Nil to send the fans home with huge smiles on their faces.

“We had a tough time breaking their defense down, but we had so many chances that we rightfully scored and took the win,” exclaimed Itzhaki. “We showed a lot of character and we didn’t stop attacking as the fans pushed us and we were able to come away with the victory.”

Itzhaki also commented on Yona’s development.

“I really believe in Adi and I’m giving him the chance to play and he has come in with a lot of pressure and expectations. I’ve seen his improvement over the period he’s been with us. Goal-scoring is what he needed to work on and he’s done that which we can all see.”

Dan Bitton scored in the first minute of play after a poor clearing attempt by ’keeper Omer Nirron due to pressure from Igor Zlatanovic, while the same Zlatanovic found the back of the goal in the second half to take the win.

Southern Reds coach Ran Kozuk spoke about the victory.

Elsewhere, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petah Tikvah played to a 2-2 draw as Ido Shachar stole a point for the yellow-and-blue in second-half injury time at Bloomfield Stadium.

While Maccabi dominated the play in the first half, it was Petah Tikvah which struck first in the 44th minute as Márk Koszta, who replaced an injured Jocelin Ta Bi earlier in the half, converted a beautiful cross from Andrade Cle to take a 1-0 lead.

Only a few minutes later, Koszta scored again, beating out Ofek Malika one-on-one, and Petah Tikvah took a surprising 2-0 lead into the break.

Maccabi got onto the scoreboard in the 62nd minute, with Shachar passing the ball nicely into the box for Noam Ben Harush to put it into the back of the net for the home side to get a goal back. As Zarko Lazetic’s squad pressed for the equalizer, Sayed Abu Farhi missed a penalty, but a beautiful strike by Shachar from outside the box split the points.

“Of course I’m not happy as we didn’t win especially when we’re in our stadium,” Maccabi coach Žarko Lazetic summed up. “Yes, that’s football, even if we deserved to win. They scored two goals from two shots in the first half. We lost momentum around the penalty, but in the end only one point for us and we have to move on.”

“It feels like a loss,” lamented Petah Tikvah coach Omer Peretz after the game. “It’s disappointing, we can look at it glass half full, taking a point at Bloomfield. Maybe it’s good for us to reveal a bit of a different type of game and that we can withstand that pressure. We will look forward now.”

Ali Muhamed threaded the needle to Michael Ohana, who handed the ball off to Melamed, who easily beat Reineh’s keeper Lior Gliklich to give Haifa a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. Things went from bad to worse just a few minutes later when Aleksa Pejic was issued a red card for yanking down Melamed in the midfield, which led to Haifa doubling the advantage via Kenny Saeif ahead of the halftime break.

Eitan Azoulay added a penalty marker in the 64th minute, while Melamed then completed his brace five minutes later to wrap up the victory.

Maccabi Haifa coach Bark Bachar spoke about the victory.

“We started well, we knew what we needed to do and we were in the right positions. After four draws we felt we needed a win to free ourselves and that’s what we’ve done the past couple of weeks although the win against Kiryat Shmona wasn’t as good as this one. The fact that there is improvement in our decision making shows that it’s already working.”

Also, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Ironi Kiryat Shemona played to a dramatic 2-2 draw as Adrian Ugarriza scored his second goal of the match via a dramatic penalty deep into second-half injury time to split the points.

The Reds struck first as Roei Alkukin put home a Stav Turiel cross to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, while they doubled the advantage early on in the second half when Alkukin played facilitator for Turiel in a terrific 1-2 punch.

Ugarriza scored from the top of the box for the Northerners to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 58th minute, and as they pressed for the equalizer, Hapoel was reduced to 10 men after a reckless tackle by Alkukin.

“They [the referees] did everything so we would lose. The referees are imposing themselves on the game. When VAR is needed, they’re not there and when it’s not needed, they intervene. Something needs to be done about this because it decides games. Anything I say will sound like whining, but that’s the truth.”

Kiryat Shmona coach Shai Barda also shared his thoughts on the draw.

“In the first half we weren’t in the game; we need to be more precise. Last week Hapoel Tel Aviv scored four goals, but here we showed character but we really didn’t play well until the 55th minute. To come back from a two-goal deficit to 2-2 you need to know how to take this point and just be content with it.”

Hapoel Jerusalem sunk Ashdod SC 2-0 as Cedric Don scored a second-half brace to hand the Capital Reds the three points.

Jerusalem head coach Ziv Arie commented after the win.

“Ashdod is a very good team that started well and we didn’t. After that, it turned around and the second half was more balanced. I’m happy that unlike other games, we managed to win this one at the end. It’s very important for us and we’re looking ahead to the next match.”

Hapoel Haifa blanked Ironi Tiberias 2-0 thanks to a second-half own-goal by Ondrej Baco as well as a Naor Sabag strike to sew up the victory.

Carmel Reds coach Gal Arel shared his thoughts on the win.

“We understood this was a must-win game. We’ve gone through a difficult period and then in the first half we hit the woodwork twice but I also liked the defensive effort. It was important for us not to concede.”