Israeli Premier League: Middle Eastern Fantasy

Israeli football as a fantasy story: new ownership for Beitar Jerusalem, an opportunity for European success, and dreams for the title.

Beitar Jerusalem is facing exciting days recently. A few hours before their match, Beitar announced officially that Hamed bin Khalifa bought 49% of the club. With a chance for a new future and Emirati investment, they are also looking for success in the league. With four winless league matches, they are trying to avoid the bottom places. Their opponents, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, are still struggling. They didn't win in their last seven league matches, and on Thursday, they were eliminated from the Europa League. With that record, Hapoel Be'er Sheva is only one point away from the relegation zone.

In the beginning, there was a feeling that it would be another bad match of Hapoel Be'er Sheva. The team was not looking good enough, while Yarden Shua scored Beitar's first in the 16th minute. The second half began with a major change for Hapoel Be'er Sheva when Elton Acolatse has returned after three weeks. In the 65th minute, another returning foreigner, Josué equalized with a successful penalty kick. Five minutes later, the Portuguese scored again, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva took the lead back.

With the final whistle, Hapoel Be'er Sheva could finally celebrate a win after a long time. Beitar Jerusalem begins a new era in its history, but they still need to make better performances.

ייישששש!!! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Posted by ‎מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע - Hapoel Beer Sheva FC‎ on Monday, 7 December 2020

Missed Wins

Maccabi Tel Aviv missed a chance to qualify to the next stage at the Europa League after their draw against Qarabağ. Now they are getting ready for the decisive match against Sivasspor, but before that match, they had to play against FC Ashdod.

Ashdod made decent results until that moment, but their match against Maccabi Tel Aviv was something different. Fahad Bayo, the Ugandan foreigner, scored Ashdod's first goal in the 20th minute. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a team that knows how to make a comeback, and so they did in the second half with goals of Luis Hernández and Yonatan Cohen. Ashdod continued to play well, and their two best players, Shlomi Azulay and Sagiv Yehezkel, made another comeback.

After FC Ashdod won 3-2, Maccabi Tel Aviv is in a complicated situation. The team is not being in good form in their last two matches. That could be crucial before their next Europa League match, and Giorgos Donis needs to look for solutions soon.

סיום המשחק באיצטדיון הי"א: מ.ס אשדוד מנצחת 2-3 את מכבי תל אביב ❤💛 צילום: טל אקוקה
Posted by ‎מועדון ספורט אשדוד‎ on Monday, 7 December 2020

Nikita on Fire

Maccabi Haifa made an impressive win against Beitar Jerusalem last week. As they are still aiming to keep their difference from Maccabi Tel Aviv, they had to win against Ironi Kiryat Shmona.

In the first half, both teams have faced a bizarre moment. Ofri Arad tried to tackle Lúcio Maranhão, and the referee called for a penalty kick. Then came a too long VAR check that lasts 9 minutes before the referee decided to revert his decision. The first half ended with no goals, and only in the 74th minute, Dolev Haziza scored the first for Maccabi Haifa. In 10 minutes, Haifa scored twice with an own goal by Idan Nahmias and another one by Nikita Rukavytsya. Maccabi Haifa won 3-0 and got more points to the title race.

The Australian international striker Rukavytsya is currently in a tremendous season. It was his 10th league goal after eight matches. The last one to score 10 goals so fast was Dia Saba in 2018. Rukavytsya is only the seventh player in league history to do so.