Classics come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s baseball, basketball, football, hockey or soccer one never quite knows when they’ll occur, but when they do, with a hot crowd along with all the pomp and circumstance, it’s like the prefect storm.

That’s what Israeli soccer fans witnessed this week at Bloomfield Stadium when Hapoel Tel Aviv welcomed Beitar Jerusalem in a matchup that always seems to give the fan what they’re thirsting for and once again the clash didn’t disappoint.

From an incredible atmosphere, fantastic game play as well as a pair of players who made an impact after not having been part of their respective team’s plans over the first couple of matches, to spectacular clutch goals, this contest had absolutely everything that one could ask for.

You never quite know who will be the hero in these types of games and boy was everyone surprised.

After a good twenty plus minutes where each side couldn’t really get anything going, perhaps due to the constant stoppages for flares that were tossed on the field or the arrival of Knesset Member Itamar Ben Gvir to the Beitar stands, the game finally started to heat up.

End to end action began, fans got into the game as they had been before kickoff with Tifo, flags and fun as both teams started to work their way around the pitch looking for one opening or another to take a lead and that’s what happened when Stav Turiel blasted home a penalty to give the Reds a 1-0 lead as well as the momentum.

But instead of doubling the advantage before the break after a goal was called off due to a foul in the box, Barak Itzhaki’s squad knotted the score up at halftime when Dor Micha, who had come on for an injured Yarin Levy just minutes earlier nodded home the tying goal. Micha, who has not been playing much this season and was visibly frustrated for a number of weeks due to his situation, came in and did what a wily veteran would do. He found a way to help his club and prove to his former teammate and now manager that he still has plenty left in the tank and a lot of what he can contribute on the pitch and not just off of it.

“Dor is a very important player for us,” Itzhaki said after the game. “Hee may not have played much but just like a player who has to wait for their opportunity to shine, he did that and came into the game and played really well. But I want to look at the game as a whole and not just one player in this case.”

While Beitar didn’t have their “A” game on this night, they were able to keep Hapoel somewhat in check and took the lead via central defender Gil Cohen in the box as the yellow-and-black kept fending off a number of dangerous chances that Silva was helped out by the woodwork to keep the ball out of the goal. That was at least until the game hit injury time.

With the Reds pressing and pressing in desperation, head coach Elyaniv Barda, made a double substitution and brought on Omri Altman who was now in his third term with Hapoel Tel Aviv but who had been relegated to riding the pine and in most cases this season, not even in the squad.

But lo and behold, hours before the whistle there was the 31-year old as part of the players who would be dressed. And he didn’t disappoint despite not having been relied on up until those fateful final moments of the game. Andrian Kraev, the Bulgarian central defender, a star in his own right (how did Hapoel get so lucky and find such a gem?) headed home the equalizer and Omer Atzily’s free kick grazed the bar and went out setting up an all-time incredible ending.

“From day one Altman has been training with us in the most professional way possible,” Barda explained following the match. “He went to training camp with us, had a great camp, he was integrated into the squad, then there was a decline in his minutes, but he will stay at Hapoel Tel Aviv because I want him. Sometimes there are reasons why things like this happen and it’s because he really kept himself fit and was ready to come in and make a difference. He deserves a ton of credit.”

Altman, turned on his many years of experience as he received the ball heading towards the Beitar box forcing Gil Cohen, who had scored less than a quarter hour earlier, to not only tie the midfielder up, but also trip him and seemingly yank him down as he was about to cross into the area. Cohen got a red card for his efforts and Silva set up, or at least was supposed to set up a wall in front of him that would block the forthcoming free kick. However, that’s not exactly what transpired.

Four Beitar players set up a wall, one more lay on the ground behind them, while another defender was just to the left of the wall with two Hapoel Tel Aviv players in front of him. Silva needed to ensure that the wall was rock solid, but the keeper, who always seems to have one flub up or so a game (although he did escape a 10-man effort versus Haifa to take a point in the last game) had yet another one.

Just before Altman took his free kick, the two Reds ran to their left leaving a hole between the Beitar players that the midfielder said thank you very much too and sent the ball right through the crack and into the back of the goal leaving.

Game. Set. Match.

“I told Amit Lemkin and Mor Buskila to stand there in the box and block the keeper’s vision and just before I get to the ball, scatter to wherever you want. From there the ball went exactly as to where I aimed it. This was definitely one of the greatest moments in my career and there was an outburst of emotion and happiness, I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”

The Hapoel players and their fans were delirious, the Beitar players, stood in stunned silence as did their supporters in disbelief as to what had just happened. Both sides in essence couldn’t believe what they had all seen and experienced.

Itzhaki’s charges had their heads hanging lower than their toes as they trudged off the pitch with their tails between their legs as Barda’s crew were flying sky high.

“I really enjoyed seeing my players even when we were losing,” Barda added. “The guys worked hard and deserved this win. There was simply electrifying atmosphere here, unlike the last few games when weren’t as good, this time we came in very focused from the first minute. I really hope that this will continue as we also want to improve. This week we worked very hard to fix some of the issues in the first games and hopefully we can create continuity.”

As for looking a bit ahead, could Hapoel Tel Aviv who had just been promoted from the second division find themselves playing in the Championship Playoffs come the spring?

“It’s very early on to talk about the playoffs and we lost points just last week. We have another game coming up in Ashdod where we need to take three points so it’s really early to even think about that.”

Regardless of what will be a number of months down the road as for right here and right now there was the thrill of victory and agony of defeat all wrapped up in one nice tidy package on either side of the pitch.

Once again Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem played to a classic that will go down as one of the great games in yet another chapter of their long and arduous rivalry.