Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem fought out a 1-1 draw at Bloomfield in then final fixture of round 21 of the Winner League on Monday night.

As we’ve become accustomed to both this season and last, emotions were on show Israel marks nearly 16 months since the beginning of the Swords of Iron war. Beitar lined up wearing special orange kits with the words, “Shiri Ariel Kfir Yarden Bibas #untilthelasthostage” across the back of the jersey, a message indicating that we will continue to fight for the release of all hostages, including the wife and children of Yarden Bibas, who himself was released on Saturday.

Prior to the kick-off, Maccabi captain Eran Zahavi ceremoniously removed the jersey of Emily Damari, who was released two weeks ago, from the row of chairs on which jerseys bearing the names of the Maccabi fans who are still being held hostage in Gaza. The fans then cheered when the big screens projected a video from Damari thanking fans for their efforts towards her release and urging people not to give up the fight for the release of the remaining hostages, including her close friends and fellow Maccabi fanatics Zivi and Gali Berman.

Once the game kicked off, the teams played aggressively as expected – with referee Snir Levy handing out four yellow cards to Beitar and two to Maccabi during the game – but they also showed nerves in the battle between the teams who sat 3rd and 4th in the standings.

A defensive lapse in the fifth minute almost resulted in a Maccabi goal, but Beitar keeper Miguel Silva made a diving save from a Weslley Patati attempt from outside the box. Two minutes later, Bloomfield nemesis Omer Atzili almost opened the scoring down the other end with some fancy footwork inside the box, but his attempt went wide of the goal. Shortly afterwards 100-gamer Joris Van Overeem almost made a costly mistake by passing the ball back to Simon Sluga, who had to work hard to prevent Patrick Tuwamasi from getting an easy goal.

In the 24th minute, Patati looked to break the defensive line with an aggressive run down the wing, which was stopped by what was deemed an illegal tackle by Uri Dahan, who earned a yellow card for the challenge. Maccabi created another golden opportunity from the resulting free-kick, with a set-play resulting in a beautiful cross from Patati into the box, but Dor Peretz was unable to convert his header, which sailed over the crossbar.

Maccabi made its first substitution in the 42nd minute after Nemanja Stojic appeared to pull an upper-leg muscle, being replaced with Stav Lemkin. Neither team was able to affect the scoreboard in the first half, with the teams going into the changerooms 0-0 after 45 minutes.

Both teams continued to try to create opportunities after the break, with Beitar attackers finding themselves offside in dangerous positions. Each teams made substitutions in the 57th minute, with with Gabi Kanichowsky replacing Issouf Sissokho in the midfield for the home team and Beitar making its first substitution with Tuwamasi making the way for Mayron George.

Maccabi created a number of opportunities as the clock approached 70 minutes, including three corners, a free kick and another opportunity with Peretz shooting another shot wide of the target. Beitar coach Barak Izhaki seemed to recognize that a change was needed, with Atzili and Mizrachi making way for Timothy Muzie and Jean Marcelin. Shortly after in the 72nd minute, Ismaila Soro’s shot for the visitors from outside the box incredibly went through everybody for the first score of the game, with Beitar going up 1-0. There was almost an immediate response from the home team, but Peretz against missed the target after finding some room at the top of the box.

Maccabi had another good opportunity in the 79th minute with Silva saving a Peretz shot on target. The Yellow & Blue finally got on the board from the resulting corner, with Idan Nachmias heading the ball in to equalize at 1-1 with 10 minutes left in regulation.

In the 81st minute the teams made their final substitutions of the game, with Zahavi making way for young star Elad Madmon, while Adi Yona came on for Dor Micha for the visitors. There was no immediate impact from the substitutions, but Beitar almost went up in the 88th minute with a Shua attempt shot which was deflected and then saved by Sluga. Then, just minutes later in the 90th minute, Beitar was awarded a penalty after an errant tackle in the box on Shua, however Sluga saved the striker’s penalty to the joy of the home crowd. Minutes later Madmon had a final opportunity to win the game, but his missed header wide of the target summed up the night for Maccabi, with the teams splitting the points.

“Of course, that’s part of football,” Maccabi coach Žarko Lazetic said after the game. “I’m happy because we created a lot of opportunities, and that’s the first objective. So yes, we have to improve, of course, but that’s part of football.”

“We played against a very good team who created opportunities after we missed balls,” Lazetic continued. “You can expect this in my opinion, because they have good quality and played with good intensity today. This is something that we can expect. Of course, we can create much much more and that’s the point.”

“First, before the game I don’t come to any game – with respect to Maccabi – wanting to leave with one point,” Izhaki said after the game. “Also, the way we played throughout the whole game, there were moments that we could have gone ahead. It’s a shame that we did not leave with 3 points, especially after the missed penalty.”

“Today it’s normal that every goal keeper and the goal keeping department analyses the penalties,” Sluga said of his last-minute penalty save. “You cannot know where he’s going shoot, but you can work on it and take your chances. I didn’t know where he would shoot, it was an instinct, and thank God I saved it.”

“Of course after the penalty, it’s frustrating that we didn’t win,” Beitar defender Gil Cohen summed up his feelings after the game. “We had other opportunities during the game. But we’re happy with the result and we’ll continue onwards.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva sits at the top of the standings with 47 points after 21 games, followed by Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv on 42 points each after the completion of 20 games (but that may change after the tribunal’s decision regarding last week which was put to and end without a result), with Beitar two points behind on 40 points after 21 games.

Beitar now prepares for a home game against Hapoel Hadera at Teddy Stadium on Saturday afternoon, while Maccabi will travel to Netanya for an away clash against Hapoel Kiryat Shmona on Monday night.