Maccabi Haifa traveled to the capital to host Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, in a direct battle for third place in the table, with the points gap standing at only 2. The Greens arrived with a significant list of absences due to injuries, but Barak Bachar tried to bring out the best in them by trying to incorporate players from the youth team.
Stormy opening
In the first seconds of the game, Dean David took advantage of a mistake in the Beitar defense, grabbed a ball near the Jerusalem area and kicked, but the goalkeeper managed to block it.
In the 5th minute, a free kick for Beitar Jerusalem close to the corner flag was disallowed. A minute later, Beitar again tried to threaten the Greens with a drive into the box that ended with a shot on goal. Kiyof touched the ball, which hit the crossbar and was disallowed.
In the 13th minute, Amit Arazi lifted a ball from the middle of the field towards the Beitar arena, Dea Saba touched the ball but was unable to control it and the ball rolled into the goalkeeper's hands.
Flares were thrown, which also hit one of the fans, and the game was stopped.
In the 14th and 15th minutes, Two unpleasant incidents:
The first Maccabi Haifa player Dia Saba was injured when an object was thrown at him, causing him severe pain. And the secondWhen flares were lit and thrown in the stadium stands, which also hit one of the fans, resulting in The game was stopped and resumed. Only after more than 20 minutes, with police approval, from the minute the game was stopped.
Sabrina Conqueror
In the 23rd minute, a Maccabi free kick from the right wing crossed to the other side, reaching Sabrina, who sent a cross, but the Beitar players cleared it.
Minute 28, Maccabi Haifa moves the ball from the right wing, Sabrina tries to find Dean David inside the box who clears the ball.
In the 31st minute, Sabrina pressed high, took advantage of a mistake in the Beitar defense, snatched a ball inside the box and pushed it into the left corner – 1:0 to the Greens!
Just a minute later, a great save by Kiyof prevented the equalizer.
Fracture in shape
In the 42nd minute, Mahmoud Jaber snatched a ball in the middle of the field, found Dean David among the yellow-black defenders, passed the goalkeeper and finally scored – 2:0 to Haifa!
A turbulent first half that began with pressure from Beitar ended with Haifa taking a double lead.
second half
Already in the 46th minute, Beitar received a free kick that went over the crossbar.
Minute 47, another Maccabi Haifa steal goes to Din David, who entered the box, bounced over the goalkeeper and scored, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside claim.
In the 56th minute, Dean David received a deep ball, passed his keeper and shot towards the goal, but the ball was deflected.
In the 60th minute, after a foul by Abdulai Sak in the penalty area, Beitar won a penalty and reduced the score to 2:1.
In the 67th minute, a dangerous free kick from Beitar went past all the defenders, Kiyof missed the ball, which fortunately for the Greens went out.
Maccabi Haifa almost increased their lead in the 69th minute when Dea Saba intercepted a ball and passed it to Din David, who missed in front of the goalkeeper. In the 72nd minute, the same move, only this time the ball reached Mahmoud Jaber, who also missed the frame.
In overtime, Beitar got another chance with a free kick, but Haifa's defense managed to keep it out and secure a valuable victory.
An important victory with an eye on the derby
Maccabi Haifa completes three games without a loss, increasing the gap from the top spot to five points, and manages to make the Green fans a little happy before it arrives at Sami Ofer to host the Haifa Derby this coming Saturday.
The article was excellent and matched exactly what was in the game.
I liked the article, you wrote exactly what happened in the game. Thank you for the excellent coverage.