It was a dramatic weekend of Israeli Premier League action, with late winners, red cards, and goals galore across the country.
At Bloomfield Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv left it late to snatch a 2-1 win over Hapoel Jerusalem.
The game seemed to be slipping away when Roy Revivo was sent off with a second yellow card and Guy Badash converted the ensuing penalty to put the capital club ahead in the 67th minute. But Ido Shahar quickly drew the hosts level, and deep into the final minutes, Ali Camara rose to nod home the winner from an Itamar Noy cross, securing all three points for Zarko Lazetic’s side.
“There were a lot of emotions, and that’s the beauty of football,” Lazetic said. “Everyone expects us to dominate and score four goals. The red card made us realize we had to do something. We had many chances and could have scored earlier, but sometimes it's just not possible.”
A disappointed Hapoel Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie said: “The loss happened because in the final minutes we did things we hadn’t done the entire game, we let Maccabi back into the match. The same thing happened to us here last year as well. It's okay, we'll deal with it. We have injuries, but we’re playing with what we have.”
Camara was all smiles following the game.
“I'm not the only happy person in the stadium; the fans and the players are happy too. The three points were very important for us.”
Beitar Jerusalem beats Kiryat Shmona
Beitar Jerusalem also had to dig deep, edging Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-1 at Teddy Stadium despite being reduced to 10 men early.
Kiryat Shmona controlled the pace of play from the get-go, but Beitar opened the scoring when Grigori Morozov sent a smart cross into the box right to Adi Yona, who slotted the ball home to take the lead in the 32nd minute.
Omer Atzily doubled the advantage less than five minutes later when he scored just inside the right post to give the hosts a 2-0 lead by the break.
However, just as the second half began, Ailson Tavares picked up a second yellow card and was sent off in the 48th minute, which was followed by central defender Brayan Carabali pulling down Muhammad Abu Rumi in the box, setting up Cristian Martinez’s marker from the penalty spot as Kiryat Shmona cut the lead to 2-1.
Despite playing with 10 men for the majority of the second half, Beitar was in full control on the pitch and held off the visitors to take the points.
“I have to admit that we went into halftime holding a surprise 2-0 lead,” Beitar Jerusalem coach Barak Itzhaki began. “It wasn’t a great half of play by us, but we knew how to score twice. When you get a red card and give up a goal at the start of the second half, you feel as if the team is going backwards, especially after the trauma from earlier in the week. But the guys showed character through the tense finish.”
Moved soccer week in Israel
There was no such tension at Bloomfield earlier in the weekend, where Hapoel Tel Aviv produced a 6-2 demolition of Ashdod SC. The visitors struck inside the opening minute through Karim Kimvuidi, but from that point forward, it was one-way traffic. Roei Alkukin scored twice in the first half, while Stav Turiel was at the heart of everything, assisting two goals, forcing an own-goal from Ashdod, and scoring one himself with a thunderous strike. Jean Florent Batoum briefly cut the deficit after the break, but Chico’s header capped off a resounding win for the Reds.
Hapoel Petah Tikva matched that scoreline with a 6-1 thrashing of Maccabi Bnei Reineh.
Cle opened the scoring and assisted James Adenyi for his first, before Adenyi doubled his tally just before halftime. Antonio Sefer pulled one back midway through the second half, but Petah Tikva responded in style, with Roie David and substitute Chipyoka Songa combining for three goals in the final 20 minutes to seal a statement victory.
The round wrapped up in Netanya, where the hosts stormed back late to beat Ironi Tiberias 5-2.
Peter Michael’s early goal and Waheb Habiballah’s strike in the 70th minute had the visitors on course for an upset, even after Maxim Plakuschenko’s equalizer from the spot. But the final minutes belonged to the diamond city side – Wilson Harris scored twice in the space of ten minutes to flip the scoreline, before Heriberto Tavares and Yuval Sadeh struck in stoppage time to complete a five-goal second-half blitz.
Between late comebacks, battling performances with 10 men, and lopsided routs, the Premier League delivered one of its most thrilling rounds yet, keeping the race wide open as the season gathers pace.