Maccabi and Hapoel drew 1-1 in a charged Haifa Derby that saw Guy Melamed take center stage after having recently crossed town from the Carmel reds to the greens as well as a late goal from Barak Bachar’s captain Lior Refaelov to rescue a point for his squad. After a goalless first half, a Sean Goldberg own goal gave Hapoel a 1-0 lead while it looked like Gadi Kinda had drawn Maccabi even soon thereafter but the Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) determined that there had been a handball and the marker was disallowed. As the greens continued having chance after chance, their captain Lior Refaelov finally broke through and blasted the ball into the far corner of the goal in the 98th minute to split the points.

“We can divide this game into two halves,” Maccabi Haifa Head Coach Barak Bachar began. “In the first half I felt we should have taken the lead and on our first attack we could have scored. Guy Melamed also had opportunities but this has been the story of the season, creating chances and not scoring. We didn’t start the second half well and then we conceded a strange goal from a set piece. We deserved a win so this draw is very disappointing.”

“It’s a very cruel was as to how this game ended,” Hapoel bench boss Roni Levy said. “I’m proud of my players. There was a lot of pressure and Maccabi Haifa is a team with exceptional talent.”