It was a weekend of changes in the Israeli Premier League, as the leaders are swapping position, and good news for the fans' future have come.
Maccabi Haifa hosted Maccabi Petah Tikva on Saturday. Maccabi Petah Tikva is one of this season's surprising teams, which could make the match to be a bit more complicated than expected, and so it was.
After a goalless first half, Maccabi Petah Tikva started to take control. In the 61st minute, Ayid Habshi scored an own goal and gave Maccabi Petah Tikva the lead. Haifa failed to find the net, and they could feel how they are missing the match. In the 81st minute, Tai Baribo clinched the win for Maccabi Petah Tikva with the second goal.
A 2-0 win for Maccabi Petah Tikva against Maccabi Haifa and things became more complicated in the top place for 48 hours.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is First Again
Maccabi Tel Aviv got a chance to take the first place. They played against Beitar Jerusalem, which is still struggling in their journey to the championship group.
That was enough for Maccabi Tel Aviv to thrash Beitar Jerusalem. It began with a goal in the 28th minute, when Itay Shechter scored. At the beginning of the second half, Maccabi Tel Aviv added two more with an own goal of Yarden Shua in the 48th minute and a successful penalty kick by Enric Saborit in the 53rd minute. Michael Ohana gave a bit of hope to Beitar Jerusalem with a goal in the 70th minute, but Avi Rikan scored the final goal in the 76th minute.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is marking their 15th undefeated match in a row. Since Patrick Van Leeuwen has been appointed as Maccabi Tel Aviv's manager, he managed to win 37 out of 39 points. This record is enough to take back the top spot of the table.
הצגה ששווה מקום ראשון 🔝 https://bit.ly/3qtu4o7
Posted by Maccabi Tel Aviv FC - מועדון הכדורגל מכבי ת"א on Monday, 8 March 2021
Bad Days for Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Hapoel Be'er Sheva is in troubles. Roni Levy, the newly appointed manager, didn't win in his first two matches on the job. Moreover, Josué was sent off once again in the last game, and he will miss the decisive matches of the regular season. The home match against Hapoel Tel Aviv, which is still trying to avoid relegation, could be an important day.
Hapoel Tel Aviv had a chance to win a critical match, and so they did. In the 44th minute, Iyad Abu Abid scored the only goal for Hapoel Tel Aviv. The real drama was in the late minutes. It began in the 92nd minute when the referee sent off Marcelo Melli after a VAR check. Three minutes later, Hapoel Be'er Sheva scored the equalizer, but the referee decided to disallow the goal due to an offside. The replay proved there was no offside, but the VAR decided not to revert the decision.
With or without these mistakes, Hapoel Be'er Sheva is now only one point away from 7th place, as there are two matches left. Being outside the top six could mark Hapoel Be'er Sheva's first season outside the championship group after seven consecutive appearances.
The Fans are Back
The Israeli Ministry of Health made a series of decisions that reverted the long-time coronavirus restrictions. One of them was to allow the entrance of 1500 fans to football matches.
The decisions are being made after more than 5 million people already got the coronavirus vaccine. Therefore, under the current situation, the government allowed entrance for those who received Green Passport, an official confirmation that they got the vaccine or recovered from coronavirus.
If there will be no unexpected changes, the next round should be the first to be played in front of fans in Israel since March 2020.
Photo by Maccabi Tel Aviv FC
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