Israel round-up: Hapoel drop vital points

Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC are all but out of the Israeli championship race after dropping two valuable points at Bloomfield stadium with a 1-1 draw against Hapoel Petach-Tikva on Monday.

Tal equaliser
Niv Tal's 80th-minute equaliser, which cancelled out Sergei Kleschenko's first-half opener, left Hapoel two points behind leaders Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC and second-placed Maccabi Haifa FC. With just one match of the season remaining, Hapoel need a near miracle to retain their hopes of lifting the league crown.

Haifa hopes alive
On Sunday, two goals from Idan Tal, and one apiece from Adoram Keisi, Giovani Rosso and Michael Zandberg saw Maccabi Haifa wrap up a 5-1 win against bottom club Hapoel Kfar-Saba which keeps alive their hopes of retaining the title for the third season in succession.

In the driving seat
Haifa are level on points with leaders Maccabi Tel-Aviv who improved their goal difference to +32, three better than Maccabi Haifa's, with a convincing 5-1 win against Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv which leaves them firmly in the driving seat to win the title.

Cup final
On Tuesday second division side Hapoel Ramat Gan will try and cause another upset by winning the State Cup for the first time in their history. Ramat Gan, who knocked out holders Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the semi-finals, face Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the showpiece event in the National stadium.

Repeat achievement
Beer-Sheva will be aiming to repeat their achievement of 1997 in winning the competition for the second time. Around 13,000 fans will travel from Beer-Sheva for the game while and Ramat Gan are expected to bring around 5,000 fans for their first ever appearance in the final.