There’s two ways to look at Beitar Jerusalem’s 1-1 draw at Ashdod. On one hand, the yellow-and-black are still in first place, one point ahead of Hapoel Beer Sheva (46 to 45), however, on the other, Barak Itzhaki’s side lost four points in the two matches that the two clubs played with the first clash ending in a goalless draw. Add to the fact that over the course of the two matches Beitar scored a grand total of one goal and that Ashdod sits in 10th place with 20 points and Itzhaki can no doubt be a bit disappointed.

Beitar hasn’t lost since November 3rd when they fell to Beer Sheva 1-0 at Teddy Stadium and they are coming up to three months without a defeat which is an incredible statistic. So the draw shouldn’t be blown out of proportion, but nonetheless, Beitar and Itzhaki cannot be too thrilled with collecting just a lone point at the decrepit old stadium known as the Yud Alef.

And one shouldn’t forget that Ashdod had to play the majority of the second half with ten-men after Emmanuel Agyei was sent off with a second yellow card but Beitar just couldn’t break through and find the winner. In fact, had it not been for a fabulous Silva save on Stav Nachmani in a one-on-one situation, they may already be in second spot behind Beer Sheva.

You’ve gotta take the good with the bad and just move on as Itzhaki preached at the post match press conference. Beitar had tons of quality chances but the misses piled up while Ashdod’s Polish keeper Karol Stanisław Niemczycki made all of the timely stops with his hands and feet.

For one reason or another, the opening half hour of the contest was perhaps Beitar’s worst showing this season as they couldn’t even cross the midfield. Ashdod pressed and pressed from the opening whistle and that allowed Ilay Hagag, who had just been loaned out by the yellow-and-black to the port city side ten days ago, the opportunity to show what he could do with some playing by opening the scoring early on to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

“We didn’t get into the game, especially in the first 30–35 minutes,” Itzhaki said. “We weren’t in the match. I didn’t like the first half, but football is played over 90 minutes and I’m happy that in the second half we managed to score, especially after they got a red card. We then started putting more and more pressure on their goal. In the end we didn’t manage to score again. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Across all competitions, Hagag was on the bench for six games and made just one appearance which was for four minutes against Kiryat Shemona in a 2-1 Beitar win on Matchday Four. It was clear as day that the 24-year old midfielder needed to play and off he went, unfortunately for Beitar he had to score against them and put a massive amount of pressure onto the shoulders of Itzhaki and his squad.

“First of all, it’s true that he played with us,” the bench box exclaimed. “He was with us from the beginning of the year and he’s our player. I truly wish him a lot of success. He’s talented, but he didn’t adapt well at the start of the season. When a player doesn’t get enough minutes, it’s better to send him on loan so he can gain playing time. Now the responsibility is on him to perform.”

Sure, Beitar ended up drawing even via a terrific goal by Yarden Cohen who came out of nowhere to become one of the league’s best left backs, but that would be it in a game that they could have certainly gotten more out of.

The first time the two sides played each other Haim Silvas was on the sidelines for Ashdod and had his squad put in one of the best performances defensively that any team had been able to do to Beitar and nullified any attempt that they even thought about making.

This time around, Silvas was about to take over the reins at Hapoel Haifa and one of the country’s longest standing defenders who played abroad in Nir Bitton was in charge of the port city. Bitton, who began his career in Ashdod and made 123 appearances before moving to Celtic for a decade (158 appearances) returned to Israel in 2022 but injuries while with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ashdod this past season limited him to just a total of 51 matches over the course of three seasons.

Although he has unofficially retired, the secret is out that he will not return to the pitch and is getting a head start on his next career although he wishes he could perhaps turn back the clock and get onto the field of play again.

“When I was younger, yes. Now my knees are already telling me no, it’s impossible. I reached a point where I was really fighting with myself. Sometimes in your head you see things and want to do them, but the body no longer allows it. I reached a point where I truly made peace with the situation and right now I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I’m learning a lot along the way. That’s why, as I said, I fought to have Coach Avi Avinu next to me. Avi is a person with a tremendous amount of knowledge, with an incredible work ethic and I think we complement each other perfectly. With God’s help, we’ll also see results going forward.”

Bitton, who oozed confidence on the sidelines, was very proud as to how his players were able to play positive football and come away with a point from the table leaders.

“I told them at halftime that the result doesn’t interest me. I’m so, so proud of them. We had a very, very short time to work on things and to try to instill what we want and what the demands are and in the first half they did it in a fantastic way. We couldn’t have asked for better execution than that.

“Of course, we knew that after such an intensive first half, there would be a drop in the second half and that’s natural. The red card also affected us and affected the flow of the game. But after the red card, the sacrifice, the determination, the heart of the players, that’s what brought us the draw. I always tell them: when the chemistry and the vibe are good, luck will also be with you and here they felt that firsthand.”

Beitar was without question not the same team that had played all season long in the first half. They looked as if they had lead in their feet and across the board no one was able to create, move the ball and attack as they had. The issue of pressure is always going to be one that hangs in the air after they had moved into first place and maybe that was the tipping point in the game as the tension finally got to them.

“I don’t know if I’d say tense,” Itzhaki said. “Sometimes it just happens that the game play isn’t good in the first 45 minutes. We had a poor first half and that can happen to any team. We also conceded a goal early on that we didn’t need to concede. But again, we showed character. We showed that we continue to play our way despite a bad first half. We came out for the second half and continued to play our football. We managed to score, and we should’ve scored at least two or three more goals. But unfortunately the ball didn’t go in.”

Omer Atzily who was out with a light injury should be back on Saturday night when Beitar hosts Hapoel Haifa while the club’s new striker Efmamjjasond Gonzalez arrived and was at the match in Ashdod, watching his new team from the stands.

“Omer felt something in his muscle on Friday,” Itzhaki explained. “He did only half a training session on Saturday and he’s not fit. I believe that within a few days, after the doctors check him, we’ll know more. I don’t think it will be anything too long-term. As for our new player, what’s encouraging is that he looks very good physically, he just needs to get into match fitness. I hope to use him soon, but he needs to be ready for that.”

All in all, Beitar is still in pretty good shape with Hapoel Haifa about to arrive in the capital city. Haifa of course is now under the direction of Haim Silvas and the bench boss will look to work his magic just as he did with Ashdod against the yellow-and-black now with his new team, so Itzhaki’s got to be careful.

But the bottom line is that Beitar is still in first and there’s plenty of time to work on whatever issues came up in the Ashdod match while the players need to understand that there is a long way to go in the season, it’s a marathon and not a sprint with plenty of matches to go. As long as Beitar can keep their heads up and continue on the path that Itzhaki has forged they should be fine.

“We’re in first place and we’re not complaining about being there,” the bench boss declared. “But again, it’s still the middle of the season. We have many matches ahead of us, a few more until the end of the regular season and then the playoffs start. Every match is important. So yes, it’s nice to be in first place, but we’re looking at where we will be at the end of the season and not now.”