The Israel Premier League season got underway with plenty of action on the pitches across the country, although a number of teams did not play due to their participation in European competition.
However, there were also numerous cases of fan violence outside the stadiums following a couple of games, with some supporters needing to be taken to the hospital. While the various teams issued condemnations, the police and league have been put under the microscope to clean up the issues that could very well plague a season in which attendance records are set to be broken.
Up at the Carmel, Maccabi Haifa defeated Hapoel Ramat Gan 2-1 as Bruninho scored a brace to help the Greens open the season with a victory. Haifa will now prepare for a date with Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Classico at Bloomfield Stadium next Monday night.
The Greens applied all kinds of pressure early on as they repeatedly penetrated the box, with Kenji Gorre doing as he pleased. However, Jelle Bataille’s chance went off the right post, while Eitan Azulay’s shot whistled just past the left post and went out.
But out of nowhere, Bruninho sent a stunner from just to the left of the box and 30 meters out that easily beat Ramat Gan goalkeeper Amit Reef into the top-right corner for a well-deserved 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute. Gorre’s sharp-angled shot was saved, Bruninho’s next attempt went wide right, while at the other end, Idan Baranes’s header sailed just over the bar as the half came to an end with the hosts holding the 1-0 advantage.
Top-right screamer puts Haifa in a 2-0 lead
It didn’t take long for Haifa to add a second marker as Silva Kani made his way into the box and got the ball to Bruninho, who again sent a screamer into the top-right corner to give the Greens a 2-0 lead in the 46th minute.
David Asanka had a pair of close chances to cut the lead but came up short, but Maxim Plakushenko slotted home off a counterattack to pull the visitors to within 2-1 in the 61st minute.
Ramat Gan kept pushing forward as both sides made wholesale substitutions. But it didn’t matter, as the Greens held on to take the win.
Maccabi Haifa coach Barak Bachar summed up the victory.
“It was a good game for us, and we scored a goal in each half. We shouldn’t have conceded, and we were under pressure near the end, but we moved to three central defenders that helped us out. We are still working on our squad, and we are working with what we have right now.”
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv cruised past Hapoel Jerusalem 5-2 as Dor Peretz scored a hat trick to help the yellow-and-blue take the three points and the win ahead of their UEFA Conference League second-leg showdown against Lugano for a place in the league stage of the competition.
Vitalie Damascan opened the scoring in the first minute when he took the ball and turned in the middle of the box before beating goalkeeper Ofek Melika for a quick 1-0 Hapoel lead after just 37 seconds of play.
However, Roy Revivo found the equalizer via a header, and Peretz converted a penalty as Maccabi headed into halftime with a 2-1 advantage.
Peretz added his second goal of the game in the second half when he stabbed home a Helio Varela cross for a 3-1 lead, while Sayed Abu Farchi also scored. Peretz then completed his hat trick for a trio of markers and the first hat trick of the season.
Maccabi goalkeeper Melika was issued a red card after he came outside the box for a play that ended with the shot being stopped and the ’keeper tripping up an opposing player.
Abu Farchi was selected to put on the goalkeeper’s kit, and he did so with pride, although he conceded a goal to Ohad Almagor as Maccabi took the comfortable victory.
“We conceded an early goal and responded the way we should have,” Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Kenny Miller said. “In the second half, we saw some very, very nice goals scored. At 5-1, we should have defended better after the sending-off. It was a difficult game for us. We’re in the middle of a demanding run of matches, away from home, and we’re putting in very, very good performances.”
'It's a great feeling... It's a team effort'
The man of the match, Peretz, also shared his thoughts.
“It’s a great feeling to do this here after last season, which was really special for me. I hope we can stop conceding the easy goals we’ve been allowing. It’s a team effort, not just the defense; it’s all of us.”
Elsewhere, Maccabi Netanya and Bnei Sakhnin played to a goalless draw as the Diamond City squad controlled the match for the majority of the game but could not find a way past the visitors’ stingy defense and fine goalkeeping by Raul Balbarau, as the sides split the points.
Netanya bench boss Roni Levy reflected on the game.
“We controlled the game, and while we really found some solutions to break down Sakhnin, we weren’t able to score. We had a mix of players who featured in this game, including youngsters Benny Feldman and Yarin Abuhazira, but we need to have patience with them. When you have a lot of players packed into the box, it’s very hard to break down a team, and we tried to get the ball into the area.”
Sakhnin coach Yossi Abukasis spoke about the draw.
“I’m happy with the result but not with how we played. We barely controlled the ball, and we didn’t deserve much.”
Also, Ironi Tiberias slipped past Hapoel Petah Tikva 1-0 as Itamar Shviro scored the lone goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 51st minute to take the three points and the win.
Finally, Maccabi Petah Tikva outclassed Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-1 as a pair of first-half goals by Samuel Owusu and Marko Rakonjac were able to hold up after Adrian Ugarriza’s second-half strike cut the lead in half, as the newly promoted club took the win and the points.
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