Israel round-up: Haifa on top despite defeat

Maccabi Haifa FC go into the winter break in the Israeli Premier League with a two-point advantage over Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC after a busy weekend of action.

Third defeat
The leaders suffered only their third reverse of the season, crashing to a dramatic 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC on Saturday. Amir Turgeman's dramatic 84th-minute winner moved Tel-Aviv into fourth place, six points behind Haifa. Baruch Dago, given the role of playmaker in the absence of captain Avi Nimni, opened the scoring from the penalty spot after seven minutes following a handball by Arik Benado.

Turgeman the hero
The Haifaites equalised seven minutes later when Yakubu Ayegbeni beat three defenders before firing a low drive that took a deflection past Tel-Aviv keeper Liran Strauber. However, the visitors regained the advantage a minute after the interval as Dago squared the ball into the path of Andreas Prochanenkovs, who slotted it past Dudu Awat. Haifa piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser and got their reward nine minutes from time when Adoram Keise rose highest to head in, but Tel-Aviv were not to be denied and substitute Turgeman sealed the victory much to the delight of the 1,500 travelling supporters.

Penalty miss
Hapoel Tel-Aviv narrowed the gap at the top of table after beating Maccabi Netanya 2-0 at Bloomfield stadium. Two goals, two red cards and a penalty which was retaken and then missed marked an eventful first half in which Hapoel broke the deadlock when Yossi Abuksis burst into the area and fired past Martin Peshko. Amir Shelah was then sent off for handball and Shimon Gershon successfully converted from the spot before being ordered to retake his kick. His second effort rattled the crossbar and the visitors cleared the danger.

Hero to villain
Hapoel did score a decisive second goal on 20 minutes when Salim Tuamah arrowed a fierce left-foot shot into the far corner, but less than four minutes after scoring, Tuamah received a red card following a push on Guy Zarfati in an off-the-ball incident.

Tracholski double
Hapoel Beer-Sheva continued their charge up the table with a convincing 4-0 victory over bottom club Hapoel Petach-Tikva. Polish striker Bartush Tracholski broke the deadlock as early as the third minute, before Ophir Haim's volley doubled the lead on the half-hour mark. Elad Bonfeld scored Beer-Sheva's third two minutes after the restart and Tracholski scored his second of the night in the 53rd minute to make sure of the points. The margin of victory meant that Beer-Sheva leapfrogged Maccabi Tel-Aviv into third place on goal difference.

Run over
Roni Gafni's first-half goal helped Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv to their fifth victory of the season as Eli Ohana's side beat Beitar Jerusalem 1-0 on Sunday. The victory saw Bnei Yehuda complete the double over Eli Cohen's side, ending Beitar's five-match unbeaten run in the process.

Asulin on target
Elsewhere, Lior Asulin's winner nine minutes before the interval earned Maccabi Petach-Tikva a precious 1-0 victory over struggling FC Ashdod, while Claudio Millar scored the only goal of the game against Hapoel Ironi Rishon as Hapoel Kfar-Saba ended a run of three successive defeats.