Maccabi Tel Aviv blank Beitar on Glouch brace, Nes Ziona stun Hapoel Tel Aviv

Sep 17, 2022 | Football

Maccabi Tel Aviv blanked Beitar Jerusalem 4-0 as starlet Oscar Glouch scored a pair of goals in the dominant win at Bloomfield Stadium. Beitar gave the yellow-and-blue fits for the first 38 minutes as Vladen Ivic’s squad couldn’t break through the capital city defense, but that all changed when Gaby Kanichowsky broke the ice as he took a Glouch pass to give Maccabi a 1-0 lead. The hosts doubled the advantage just ahead of the break when Glouch made his way through the Beitar defense and scored into the far corner. Eran Zahavi added a penalty goal in the 83rd minute while Glouch scored his second of the game a few minutes later to wrap up the win.

“It may have been 4-0 but until the first goal it was difficult to break through their defensive line,” Ivic commented after the victory. “We know that Beitar are having some tough times but we wish them luck and I am sure the next time they will be better. Once we scored the first goal the second goal was going to come quickly as the players started to become more creative.”

“There’s not much to take from this game,” Beitar coach Yossi Abuksis began. “Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer Sheva aren’t in our league, they are in a league of their own. But that doesn’t mean we should look like we did for many minutes in this game. We had some chances in the second half but then there was the penalty and the game was over at 4-0.”

Sektzia Nes Ziona downed struggling Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-3 in a barnburner of a matchup that saw Almog Buzaglo bag a brace at the Moshava Stadium in Petach Tikva. Pablo Gonzalez gave the Reds a 1-0 lead when he headed home Yahav Gorfinkel’s cross in the 20th minute but an Edi Gotlieb own goal 12 minutes later drew the hosts even at 1-1. However, that’s just when the goal scoring fun began with a quartet of goals by the the halftime break.

Buzgalo took advantage of an Or Roizman through ball, Gonzalez scored his second of the game but just as the half beckoned Omer Senior stabbed the ball into the back of the Nes Ziona goal to give Kobi Refuah’s team a 3-2 lead. Buzagalo evened the contest up in the 59th minute when he scored off of a give and go between Roizman and Ori Magbo while twenty minutes later Levan Kutalia scored into an empty goal to give Nes Ziona the lead for good as they collected the 3-points and the win.

“The players really deserve this win,” an enthusiastic Berkovic said after the victory. “We were close in other games but we scored four goals here and that was just great. It’s never fun to lose but I was under no pressure at Nes Ziona. We have to keep working on our defense and now we have some time off to do that. I really believe in my players.”

“We are giving the opposition too much freedom as we are giving up very soft and easy goals,” a devastated Refuah said. “Right now this is what we are dealing with and it’s not what we expected to start off the season. It’s legitimate that there are thoughts as to what my future with the team will be. This is my responsibility and I am the one who puts the lineups on the pitch.”

Maccabi Bnei Reineh and Ashdod drew 1-1 to split the points up at Green Stadium in the Galil. After a goalless first half, Shlomi Azulay had a chance to give the port city the lead but his 50th minute penalty was saved by Yoav Gerafi, while Ashdod took advantage of their keeper’s heroics to grab the lead five minutes later via a Nenad Cvetkovic spot kick. However, Azulay looking for redemption found just that in the 72nd minute when he put home a Russian Barsky corner kick to earn a point.

Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Netanya played to a disappointing scoreless draw to each take a point.

“We had situations that we needed to score,” Netanya coach Benny Lam said. “I am disappointed that the game ended 0:0 and that is not how I like to play. I came to win as I do at every stadium. We are having a tough time as the ball is just not going into the goal but we do have players that know how to score.”

“The goalies draw reflects the game in my mind,” Haifa bench boss Nir Klinger commented. “Both sides had chances and the game could have gone one way or the other. I know we could have collected more points over the course of our games this season but it’s a tough league and not easy to take points.”

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