Before the hot Haifa derby that will take place this Thursday (2/12/2021), last night (Sunday, 28/11/2021) the Haifa teams played as part of the 10th cycle of the Premier League. While Hapoel Haifa surrendered at home 3:1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv, champion Maccabi Haifa beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 3:1 away. On Thursday, as mentioned, they will meet for a direct confrontation for control of the northern capital, when the Greens will host the game.
Hapoel Haifa 3:1 Maccabi Tel Aviv
6000 spectators came to Sami Ofer to watch the intriguing game between the Reds from Haifa and the Yellows from Tel Aviv. In the ranks of the Reds, the injured league goalscorer, Alon Turgeman, who has already scored 9 goals, is missing. The one who will not want to remember this game is Hapoel Haifa's Nigerian midfielder, Izochukwu Anthony. In the 11th minute, Bernaldi Quas picked up a corner kick for the yellows and Anthony hit his goal, the goal of the cup holder's advantage.
The guests continued to look for more goals, and Tal Ben Haim missed a good situation after passing the entire red defense. It won't be as easy for him on the Louis Promenade as in his breakthrough against the Hapoel Haifa defense. Kavas also tried his luck several times and was unable to subdue the Levita fan. In added time, the hosts registered their first attempt on the frame, after Dodi Twito's strike landed in the hands of Daniel Peretz. 1:0 to Maccabi Tel Aviv at half time.
The second half began, and the Reds conceded the second at the very beginning. In the 47th minute, Kwas found Ben Haim with a ball that canceled out the defense, and the winger scored against Levita. The back of Hapoel Haifa was careless and took a second ball out of the net. Itai Boganim missed an opportunity to shrink and on the other hand Eduardo Guerrero missed an opportunity to finish the game.
In the 70th minute, the Reds managed to get on the scoreboard. Sako Toure found the free Liran Serdal on the right who was up to the task in front of Daniel Peretz. In the 80th minute, Anthony, who scored an own goal earlier, did it again. Gabi Kanikowski's corner kick landed on the defender's knee and entered Levita's net. Anthony meets the definition of a tragic hero, Maccabi Tel Aviv wins 3:1 mainly thanks to him.
Hapoel Haifa will come to the derby in 3rd place with 17 points.
Hapoel Tel Aviv 3:1 Maccabi Haifa
Two teams with ambitions for the top met at Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa, and 13,500 people came to watch the game. The guests from the Carmel showed off new gray uniforms, rather ugly uniforms, it must be said. The game wasn't very impressive either, and the first dangerous situation for the greens ended with Dolev Haziza lifting a firecracker into the box, from where Dan Einbinder kicked the crossbar and almost scored an own goal.
On the other hand, the Reds managed to sting. In the 33rd minute, Oral Greenfeld whistled for a penalty after Mohamed Abu Fani Sek tripped Farley Rossa. It didn't matter to Einbinder, and he sent an accurate ball into Josh Cohen's net from the penalty spot. With the opening of the added time Charon Sherry found Omar Azili. The winger passed Yoav Hoffmeister and shot from 20 meters into the net of Ernests Stakes. 1:1 at half time.
At half time, David replaced Ben Shahar, who was weak, and brought results within a minute and a half. Sherry led a burst from the guests and Usher Davida kept the ball away from his feet only to bring it to the feet of David who scored from close range the turnaround for Haifa. Barak Becher's bingo replacement, the greens are ahead in Bloomfield. Then began a series of misses in stationary situations: Bogdan Palanich and San Menachem missed a third goal for the greens, Lucio Marinao missed an opportunity to equalize on the other hand.
In the final minutes, the VAR (screen referees) saved Greenfeld from serious mistakes. In the 78th minute, the referee sent Maor Levy away after elbowing Davida in the face. The screen referees called Greenfeld and this eased Levy's punishment, canceled the suspension and drew only a yellow card. After that, Greenfeld did not see Stekos make a mistake and trip Atzili, until the screen referees signaled him to whistle for a penalty and he followed their advice.
Atzili took the penalty himself in the 91st minute and it was accurate. His number 7 goal of the season, Maccabi Haifa beats Hapoel Tel Aviv 3:1 after a turnaround and seems to be ready for the derby. It will reach it from the 2nd place and with 20 points, 2 below the leader Hapoel Beer Sheva.
