The Israeli Premier League presented a week of interesting results and a lot of missed opportunities.
Although Maccabi Tel Aviv has been dropped to second place, they are still counting a great run of 22 unbeaten matches. Their next match was an away match against Ironi Kiryat Shmona, which is also spending a long time without winning against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Their last win was in 2014, and they will wish to break both streaks.
As usual, Maccabi Tel Aviv was more dominant, but in the 38th minute, they have been in a deficit. Their centre-back, Eytan Tibi, got his second yellow card and sent off. A few moments before half time, Roi Kehat scored a surprising 1-0 lead for Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Maccabi Tel Aviv pushed and looked for the equalizer but failed to do so. Moreover, in the 90th minute, Mohammed Shaker completed a tremendous night for the Northern side, scoring the second for his team.
Maccabi Tel Aviv lost 2-0, and their position in the championship race became a bit unstable.
Posted by עירוני איתוראן קרית שמונה on Sunday, 25 April 2021
A Draw is Not Enough
After conquering the top position in the league, Maccabi Haifa wished to stay there for one more week. They played against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, who barely won in the last weeks. Hapoel Be'er Sheva won only twice in their previous 14 league matches, and both wins were against the two bottom-ranked teams.
From the first moment, the teams tried to look for the goal constantly, providing a high level of football. In the 24th minute, Or Dadya crossed a decent ball, and Sagiv Yehezkel gave Hapoel Be'er Sheva's first advantage in the match. Maccabi Haifa was close to equalizing, and it happened in the 52nd minute when Tjaronn Chery found the net directly from a free-kick.
Until the final whistle, both teams have failed to score again. With a 1-1 draw, Maccabi Haifa didn't manage to make a significant change on top. At least they extended the gap to a 2-point lead.
The End of The Road
Hapoel Kfar Saba has finally relegated to the second division after a 1-0 defeat against Maccabi Netanya. It was an obvious end for bad management, led by the team's owner, Itzhak Shum. The former Israel national team player made a series of awful decisions, including sacking managers constantly. In the relegation group games, they have been played with a caretake manager.
The other team that may join them next week is Bnei Yehuda, which had the same problem with their owner, Barak Avramov. Most significantly was the team's decision to play more than two months without appointing a manager. After they lost 3-2 against Hapoel Hadera, they are 7 points away from 12th place, with only three matches to go.
Thumbnail photo by Ironi Kiryat Shmona official Facebook page.
