“This wasn’t one of the biggest goals of my career, it was the biggest,” Or Blorain told me with a huge and wide smile on his face as he departed Hapoel Beer Sheva’s post match press conference with a hop, skip and a jump.

Blorian had scored the winning goal over Beitar Jerusalem to take the 2-1 victory in a top of the table battle that could have seen the result go either way as the yellow-and-black outplayed the southern reds for large swaths of the match.

With the score knotted at 1-1, where the opening goal was via a header by Igor Zlatanovic to give the hosts a 1-0 lead and the tying marker was also nodded home by Grigori Morozov, it was fitting that the third and final goal of the match would also come from the head.

Blorian was able to direct the ball behind a stellar Yehonatan Ozer off a magnificent Kings Kangwa corner to hand Beer Sheva not only the 3-points but also open up a 4-point lead over Beitar.

It was certainly a massive goal by Blorian who looks to be staying in the desert for the balance of the campaign as he looks to pick up an Israeli league championship before heading to North America and the new cool league for Sabras in the MLS.

There had been a lot of talk over the past couple of weeks that the 6”2 central defender would be off to Kansas City via a buyout during the winter transfer window and be in the United States for the start of the MLS season. However, it looks like Blorian wants to take care of some unfinished business in the Holy Land first before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and will stay until the end of the season that could end in a Double before moving on what would be a free transfer in the summer.

Blorian was clear that he is committed to Hapoel Beer Sheva and that the deal with Kansas City is still not finalized but as they say in sports, anything can happen and with the transfer window set to close on Wednesday at 7pm, let’s see what will occur as the deadline approaches.

For now, Blorian, his heads coach Ron Kozuk and Hapoel Beer Sheva are in the driver’s seat but they also are aware that there are plenty more big matches coming up with the playoffs as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv along with Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem and the Southern Reds will all battle it out. First place isn’t the only thing on the line but there are also European qualification spots up for grabs and teams that won’t be in the running to lift the championship plate can play kingmaker and spoiler along the way making this season into one of the best in recent memory.

Beitar, who on one hand can hold their heads up high for competing with Hapoel Beer Sheva toe-to-toe and some could argue that the yellow-and-black should have deserved better are also without a doubt disappointed and now have Maccabi Tel Aviv right up their tails, just 5-points out. Those 5-points can easily be cut to just two by this time next week as the teams will be playing one another at Teddy Stadium on Monday night.

One of the big questions heading into the game is if Omer Atzily would be available for the matchup or not after suffering an injury prior to the away match at Ashdod a couple of weeks ago. He was running around the field at Bayit Vegan on Tuesday and are cautiously optimistic that he will be included in the squad, but the club has been optimistic now for the past 10 days or so and Atzily has been MIA.

One player that will be available for Beitar will be their new defensive back Nana Antwi who just signed with the club and will immediately take part in the club’s training sessions ahead of the Maccabi game. The 25-year old can play on the right side in multiple positions and can also in a pinch play left back which may be the case at Teddy Stadium next week with both Grigori Morozov and Yarden Cohen unavailable due to yellow card accumulation.

On the topic of Morozov, although he scored Beitar’s lone goal at “This is Turner” Stadium, he was once again a liability on the defensive end standing all alone in the box when Igor Zlatanovoc headed home the opening goal, with no fault to second choice keeper Yehonatan Ozer who was stellar all game long. But he was just not good enough all game long which has been the case for months. Cohen on the left side is by far the superior player of the two and that’s why Beitar upgraded by inking Antwi.

Kudos has to go to Ozer who was absolutely fantastic. The shot stopper made one save after the next at every possible angle. Having started in goal for Miguel Silva who was suspended due to a red card that was picked up in the State Cup loss to Bnei Yehuda, Ozer received full support from his teammates and professional staff in what was a chance of a lifetime to start in a 1 vs 2 clash away. It doesn’t get any better than that for a player’s exposure and his showing did just the trick.

Ozer was subjected to 17 shots with 9 at the target as he made one save after the next to keep Beitar who deserved better in this game, close.

Ozer was good, very, very good.

While there was plenty of talk that he should start against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the chances of that happening are very slim because Itzhaki’s isn’t interested in shooting himself in the foot and having a goalkeeping controversy on his hands. That’s all he would need as he is trying to get out of a 2 draw and 2 loss rut.

Itzhaki was trying as hard as possible to downplay the defeat explaining that if he would have been told prior to the season that they would be 4-points out of first place he would have grabbed it. Or the fact that a team like Beer Sheva has been building a tradition for years while Beitar is just at the beginning stages of this process.

It’s all true, but it’s also Itzhaki trying to brush off the loss and moving on with another huge game coming up. The bottom line is that the Beitar Head Coach is doing what he needs to especially on the mental side of the game.

Brush off the loss, the first one in league play since they took on Hapoel Beer Sheva back at the beginning of November when they fell 1-0. Beitar had gone on a good run and they have to get back to what they had been doing during those dozen or so contests.

Beer Sheva is clearly the team to beat and they are the ones who are rightfully favored to win the title. Beitar have plenty of work to do to stay in the championship race and will need to really keep an eye on Maccabi Tel Aviv, the same Maccabi that Itzhaki was asked numerous times if they should be eulogized to which the answer was never.

It’s a good thing that’s what Itzhaki said because the yellow-and-blue are breathing right down the collective Beitar necks right now and there is no question that they are going to try and avenge the 6-2 loss that they suffered at home on the Bloomfield Stadium pitch.

As every week goes by, the Israeli soccer story continues to develop and morph into one of the best of the best that the country an offer.

This is yet another chapter.