The Israeli Premier League is starting to get the pace, just before another international break.
Here is the best of the Israeli action from in the past weekend.
On The Way to The Top
Maccabi Haifa is aiming for the title this season. The draw against Maccabi Tel Aviv made them a bit disappointed, but they wished to keep their undefeated record.
On Saturday, they hosted FC Ashdod. The first half was balanced until the last minutes when the referee awarded a penalty kick to Maccabi Haifa. Nikita Rukavytsya took the penalty and scored his 6th goal in four matches this season. Tjarron Chery has doubled the lead in the 63rd minute. FC Ashdod tried to get back to the match when Sagiv Yehezkel scored in the 70th minute, but they didn't equalize it.
Maccabi Haifa won 2-1, and they are the clear leaders with 10 points, just like Bnei Yehuda in the second place, but with one game in hand.
Is It A Fresh Start?
Maccabi Tel Aviv has started the league badly, with no wins in their first four league matches. They had to recover from the 4-0 defeat against Villareal at the Europa League, and their opponents were Bnei Sakhnin.
Last week Bnei Sakhnin made a challenging match against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, but not this time. Yonatan Cohen scored the first for Maccabi Tel Aviv by a penalty kick. In the 67th minute, a mistake in the defensive line led to the second goal of Maccabi Tel Aviv, scored by Aleksandar Pešić. It was the debut goal of the Serbian player, who played in the last season for Ittihad Jeddah. In the additional time, Osama Khalaila scored for Bnei Sakhnin, but it was too late for them.
The reigning champions can be proud of their first league win this season, but they are still far from showing a decent performance. They will take the international break to think about how to return to the championship race.
Exhausted from Europe
Hapoel Be'er Sheva impressed last week against Bayer Leverkusen, although they were defeated 4-2. They hoped to repeat their performance against Hapoel Kfar Saba.
Just like in the previous matchday, the players were tired and barely managed to be the better team on the field. On the other hand, Hapoel Kfar Saba played defensively and didn't use the opportunity to make a surprising win. Hapoel Be'er Sheva will try to figure out how they can combine between the league and the Europa League. If they would not do so, Hapoel Be'er Sheva could be in trouble until the end of the group stage.
The Brother is Here
Bnei Yehuda decided to appoint a new manager during the coronavirus break. They sacked Elisha Levy, the former national team manager, and appointed Nir Berkovic. The new manager is the brother of Eyal Berkovic, and it is his first chance in the top tier after four seasons in the second division.
After a win against FC Ashdod last week, he faced a stronger opponent, Beitar Jerusalem. In the 19th minute, Niv Zrihan scored the first goal for Bnei Yehuda. No one was surprised, as Zrihan scored 16 league goals, and 7 were against Beitar Jerusalem. Bnei Yehuda won 1-0, and Nir Berkovic can celebrate a great opening.
Thumbnail photo by Maccabi Haifa offiicial Facebook page.
