WOW! Who would have ever thunk it!

In any Israeli soccer fan’s wildest dreams would Beitar Jerusalem smash, demolish, destroy, pound, blast, you name the adjective, Maccabi Tel Aviv by a 6-2 scoreline and at Bloomfield Stadium no less.

There’s no way, no how that this was on anybody’s bingo card for the Match of the Week.

Not only was this not even a thought in the far reaches of space, it was 1-0 for Maccabi after a first half that they controlled from top to bottom with chances a plenty with the goal coming on really a fluke backheader by Heitor off a throw in.

Sure, Barak Itzhaki’s Beitar came out in the second half flying up and down the pitch and quickly drew even with a goal by captain Yarden Shua and then took the lead with a tremendous strike by Adi Yona. However, the piece de resistance was yet to come minutes later when a mini-confrontation between Maccabi keeper Roi Mishpati and Shua resulted in the former head-butting the latter who, with a bit of English went crashing to the ground as the shot stopper was sent off immediately to places unknown in a shocking turn of events.

From there the field was tiled one way and one way only as Beitar poured on the offense against a ten-man Maccabi team and a keeper that hadn’t played since having been injured at the end of July in Champions League qualifying versus Pafos.

Atzily slotted home the penalty following the head-butt, Yona and Shua added their second markers of the match and late substitute Ziv Ben Shimol put the cherry on top with the 6th goal.
A Maccabi fans was looking advice as to what road he should take home back to the north from Tel Aviv and it was recommended to him to take… Route 6. That’s probably the last road the yellow-and-blue supporters wanted to be on after conceding half a dozen goals in what will be a game to remember for all of the wrong things as many of the faithful booed the squad off the pitch after the referee blew the final whistle.

It was one of the most shocking turnarounds in Israeli soccer history that took place in such short order and in such a stunning fashion.

That’s what makes sports so great.

Once the dust settled around the stadium, the Maccabi fans trapesed out of Bloomfield while the Beitar fans sang and cheered to their hearts delight in section 5 which is usually where the Hapoel Tel Aviv fans sit. The VIP section was also overrun by giddy yellow-and-black supporters and as the match came to an end they too broke out into song and dance.

But going back to the match itself, it was one where the best of the best came out from Beitar and where the worst of the worst was seen from Maccabi.

Itzhaki no doubt gave his team a good talking to at halftime, but it was also one of encouragement as Shua explained after the game. The former striker knew that his squad had it in them to mount a quick comeback and go from there. He did not have a clue as to how the half would play out but he did know he had the quality to flip the score with a bit of concentration and effort and that’s what happened.

Beitar worked hard for this result and they were rewarded for that effort and rewarded handsomely pulling to within just 5-points to the top of the table where Hapoel Beer Sheva sits.

Itzhaki knows his team is good and has the capability of challenging for the title although at this point in time he is not going to say a word about being a championship contender. He skirted around those words at the post match press conference and spoke about how it was an impressive win, that the team is progressing but in no way, shape or mind does he want this victory to get to the players heads. That’s the last thing he wants to have happen.

But he will have to deal with the expectations as the stadiums around the country are packed to see his version of The Beatles with a team that can compete with anybody with the likes of Adi Yona, Omer Atzily, Yarden Shua, Dor Micha, Johnsbosco Kalu and the rest of the band.

Zarko Lazetic made a critical mistake in this game and that was to roll out the same Starting XI that he did at Aston Villa save for Heitor who replaced the injured Ali Camara. These players who put in a tremendous effort in England under extreme conditions security wise not to even mention the fact that they played a Premier League club backfired in the worst way. The Serbian’s troops who put in a terrific first half were exhausted heading into that second half and Ithaki knew it as his team put the pedal to the metal at the start of half number two.

Lazetic explained his reasoning as to his actions stating that he wanted to reward his players who had to be at Villa Park five hours prior to kickoff and due to the yeoman’s effort that they put in which is extremely admirable. However, the bench boss needed to think here with his brain and not with his heart and rotate his starting lineup against a team like Beitar.

Maccabi certainly knows what Beitar and its coach are all about, but this was a critical faux pas that by at least making some changes at the break, but like many a coach before him those subs came after it was already 4-1(!) which was way, way too late. Lazetic had to have known that his players were not going to be able to keep the pace after 90 minutes at Villa followed by a 5+ hour flight home on Friday, it’s asking too much especially when he has the personnel to freshen up his squad.

His heart was in the right place, but this was a game that he needed to lead with his head. Itzahki was most probably a bit surprised that Maccabi would not switch it up which is something that he had experienced in the past when he was a player in the yellow-and-blue ranks, but he apparently bought the lucky lottery ticket.

One player who may not see the pitch for a long, long time is Mishpati after his ill-timed head butt that was out of place and earned him a straight red card that will now keep him out of action for their next match and probably for much longer than that with Gerafi reclaiming the first choice keeper kit.

Mishpati can think and explain to anyone that will listen that Shua acted and put on a show when he went flying to the ground and no doubt he did, but the keeper head-butted him plain and simple and that could have potentially ended his playing time for the foreseeable future or perhaps permanently with the club.

The bottom line is that you’ve got to be smarter than that as that one move not only finished him off but also for all intents and purposes finished off Maccabi as they fell apart so swiftly and efficiently.

Lazetic is not in trouble to the dismay of some of the club’s fans some of which were waiting for the team after the game at the Kiryat Shalom Training Center, but he certainly didn’t do himself and the team any favors in a game that could vaulted Maccabi over Hapoel Beer Sheva and into first place. The yellow-and-blue will now have a short break as some players will head to their respective national teams and then will reconvene ahead of their EuroCup clash against Lyon in Serbia before they have a run of four games in ten days with dates versus Ashdod, Hapoel Haifa and the southern reds.

Beitar and Itzhaki will also be on break and after a few days off the squad will head down south to Eilat for a mini-training camp as the yellow-and-black will prepare for a good run into January with the State Cup beginning in late December. Luckily Luka Gadrani should be available by the end of November after suffering what looked like to be a brutal knee injury, one that would have put him on the shelf for a year. But Beitar dodged a big bullet as one of the anchors of the team only missed a couple of games, although here’s no question he would have wanted to be a part of the game at Bloomfield.

Did the break come at the right time for Beitar? Maybe yes and maybe no. On one hand you never want to lose positive momentum but on the on the other hand this will give a chance for Gadrani to get back onto the pitch as well as Yarin Levy and an opportunity to rest up with a bit of R&R in order to come back in even better shape.

However, even more importantly it will give Itzhaki a chance to reset and take a step back as he may not want to acknowledge just yet that Beitar is a title contender, but will soon enough be forced to, because with the squad that he has, it seems that the sky’s the limit.