These are busy days for the Israeli Premier League.
With a derby in Haifa and a few surprising results, Israeli football is fully returned from the international break.
Haifa is Red
Maccabi Haifa kicked their season well, which made them the clear favourites before the derby against Hapoel Haifa.
Things were unpredictable when Nes Zamir scored the first goal for Hapoel Haifa in the 69th minute. Maccabi Haifa equalled the score in the 84th minute. Nikita Rukavytsya scored a penalty kick, which was his seventh goal this season. In the additional time, when both teams were ready for a draw, Liran Sardal scored a shocking goal, and Hapoel Haifa took the lead back. Hapoel Haifa won 2-1, and the derby was red again.
It was Maccabi Haifa's first league defeat, and this result made other teams think about closing the gap.
Aiming for The First
Beitar Jerusalem hosted Maccabi Netanya in a match where both teams were targeting the top places. Beitar Jerusalem got interesting news earlier, when according to sources, the team's owner, Moshe Hogeg, was travelling again to the UAE. It's not the first time that Hogeg was looking for Emirati investments in the club, but there is no development yet in this course.
Meanwhile, the teams came in an attacking mood, as they were trying to look for the target in every chance they had. Maccabi Netanya took the lead at the 15th minute, with a decent goal by Gabi Kanichowsky. Beitar Jerusalem scored their equalizer in the 37th minute, as Uri Magbo made the strike.
With a 1-1 draw, Maccabi Netanya missed an option to climb to first place. Those who did it well were Ironi Kiryat Shmona, that defeated Bnei Yehuda 2-0, with goals of Lúcio Maranhão and Eugene Ansah.
Winning Again
Maccabi Tel Aviv got the opportunity to add points to its tally. They faced Hapoel Hadera, one of the winless teams in the league.
Obaida Khatab was the first name on the scoreboard, but it was an own goal. Maccabi Tel Aviv should have been more dominant, but Hapoel Hadera got more and more chances to equalize as time went by. Giorgos Donis and his players could be thankful that they managed to win 1-0. The Greek manager will need to think about what he should do to play better, especially in their next Europa League match at home against Villareal.
Continuous Disappointment
Hapoel Be'er Sheva is presenting two opposite teams this season. On the one hand, they play perfectly in the Europa League, even in games that they are failing to win. Meanwhile, in the league, they didn't win since the first matchday.
FC Ashdod is an opponent that could be an easy task for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, but once again, the reality was different. FC Ashdod scored the first goal in the 20th minute when Shlomi Azulai found the net. It took only six minutes until Ashdod scored again, as the team's prolific scorer Sagiv Yehezkel was the one to do it. After falling to a 2-0 down, the match was over for Hapoel Be'er Sheva. They barely got chances to score, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva is on a streak of five winless league matches.
