Football Israel Round 11 began with a blast as Beer Sheva won in the desert, Beitar Jerusalem lost yet again, Ramat HaSharon set Bnei Yerhuda to its 10th straight game without a win and Hapoel Tel Aviv honored the memory of Arik Einstein on its kits! And BTW Maccabi Tel Aviv won again and is the class of the league!

Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 Hapoel Raanana

Maccabi Tel Aviv took the bull by the horns in the first 10 minutes of the game and took a big 2-0 on the help of goals by a first minute header by Monas Dabour off a brilliant cross by Tal Ben Haim and a 6th minute goal by Mahran Radi from the top of the box. The shocking start to the game basically made Raanana throw out whatever plans they had for trying to get at least a point in the game at Bloomfield Stadium. Maccabi Scored again on a Tal Ben Haim goal and Raanana took one back with a nice Mamdou Thiam strike, but it was too little, too late for Raanana. Maccabi took the pedal off the gas in the 2nd half as the club has three big games coming up, with Beitar Jerusalem, Bordeaux in the Europa League and then the Derby with Hapoel Tel Aviv!

Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Hapoel Akko

Haifa made their return to prominence in the Ligat Ha’Al felt throughout the table as a 2-1 victory moved them to 5th position and closer to where followers of the league would usually find them. Youngster Shoval Gozlan scored the winner in the 86th minute after Akko had been reduced to 10 men. But it was Akko who came out on fire and took a shock 1-0 lead on the 9th minute on a goal by Juliana Spaddacia. Haifa tied it up on a goal by Shlomi Azoulay in the 52nd minute and the rest was history.

Hapoel Beer Sheva 3-0 Maccabi Petach Tikva

A new coach for Maccabi Petach Tikva, but the same old result as Yetev Luzon loses in his debut in Beer Sheva. After a scoreless first half Elisha Levy’s players woke up as did the 6000 fans when Maor Bozaglo scored on a magnificent bicycle kick goal after a pass from Serge Naasar. Leading up to the pass by Nasser was a 70 meter run upfield by Bozaglo who is having a terrific year! Serge Nasser hit the Petach Tikva goal for the 2nd strike by Beer Sheva and Tomer Suissa put the icing on the cake after scoring with the help of Kobi Dejani. The win moves Beer Sheva into first place for the time being until Maccabi Tel Aviv plays on Monday night.

Kiryat Shemona 2-2 Hapoel Tel Aviv

In a wild game up north Hapoel Tel Aviv and coach Ran Ben Shimon split the points with his former club. The Reds struck first on a gorgeous passing play as Avraham Chakol sent the ball to Roei Gordana who gave it to Israel Zaguri who slotted in through to Omer Damari and he put the ball home. But the lead was short lived when Ahmed Abed scored on a free kick that went to the bottom left hand corner of keeper Boris Kleiman who did not look good on the goal. 

Kiryat Shemona took the lead in the second half on a Tamir Kahalon penalty after Chakol smashed into Abed in the box, but Hapoel Tel Aviv’s Israel Zaguri tied it up on a big time goal and the clubs split the points. Hapoel Tel Aviv have now gone three rounds without a win.

Ashdod 1-0 Beitar Jerusalem

Beitar Jerusalem haven’t won in Ashdod since April 2010 and that streak will continue as the home side won yet again against the yellow and black. Ashdod got enough offense by the 3rd minute as Yero Bello scored the only goal of the game to add to Beitar’s misery and their third straight defeat. If not for Ariel Harush’s heroics the Ashdod victory could have been much worse for the visitors.

Bnei Sakhnin 2-0 Hapoel Haifa

Shlomi Dura’s Haifa squad lost their third consecutive game and this one came against his former team Bnei Sakhnin at Doha Stadium. After a scoreless and uneventful first half, a Yossi Dura red card on a violent tackle put the visitors at ten men and saw the match escape with the following five minutes as a Hemed Genaim free kick strike and a Muhamed Gadir goal gave the hosts their second win in a row.

Ramat HaSharon 1-0 Bnei Yehuda 

Shocking! Ramat HaSharon has moved out of the Ligat Ha’Al basement and Bnei Yehuda has moved in after a huge 1-0 victory at Grundman stadium. An Amir Hadzic header handed the home team the win and their fourth straight game with at least a point. For Bnei Yehuda things could not have gotten any worse as they have now gone 10 games in a row without a win and coach Dror Kashtan is now contemplating resigning amidst a fan rebellion against president Moshe Damayo.