A soccer game can swing out of control in an instant. One mistimed tackle, one flash of a red card, and everything a team worked on all week can unravel. That’s exactly what we saw this weekend in several Israeli league matches, when referees’ early decisions completely changed the balance of play.
Some sides collapse under that pressure, their game plan gone within minutes. Others adapt, regroup, and find a way to survive. On Sunday night, Barak Itzhaki’s Beitar Jerusalem showed the latter, grinding out a scoreless draw with Maccabi Haifa despite playing nearly the entire match with 10 men.
Zohar Zasno saw an early exit less than 10 minutes in, but with the home crowd behind it and Itzhaki’s smart adjustments – including a key substitution to counter Diego Flores’s tactics – Beitar weathered the storm and reached halftime unscathed.
Sure, there were some nervy moments near the end of that first half with chances by Matias Nahuel, Suf Podgoreanu, and Jelle Bataille, but they came out clean and into halftime where they were able to reset and see if they could find a way to come out with a point or more.
Hope permeated through the stadium with about a half-hour remaining when Ali Mohamed tripped up Ariel Mendy and referee Snir Levi showed red as quick as a bunny rabbit. But VAR – yes, the good ol’ Virtual Assistant Referee – would have none of that, as the call was overturned to the dismay of the yellow-and-black supporters.
Goalkeeper Miguel Silva continued to keep the Greens at bay, as the Portuguese shot-stopper usually has a zinger or two at some point during a match but stood tough time and time again as the minutes ticked off the clock, one at a time.
Those last 10 minutes seemed to go at a snail’s pace, with the Teddy pitch tilted southbound and one-way traffic that felt like it went on forever – especially in those final few minutes when it seems you’re locked in an escape room and can’t find a way out.
When the fourth referee put up the electronic board with added time, Beitar had to have been hoping the number would be somewhere between 2–4 minutes. However, the officials put up the number 7 – fittingly for Yarden Shua, who wears that number and made his return to the Beitar lineup after being suspended by the club for disciplinary purposes.
A collective groan could be heard from the 30,000 strong across the street from the Malha Mall as the catcalls became louder and louder by the second while the Haifa chances came closer and closer to the goal. Beitar actually had the best chance of injury time when Dor Hugi lined up a free kick from the top of the box, but his attempt went wide, keeping the score as is with both teams picking up a point apiece for their efforts.
“We created fewer chances in the second half than in the first half,” Greens bench boss Flores said in his postgame comments. “We are disappointed because it was a good opportunity to win. But we played well, we created chances, and the team had a good match. If I had to play another match like this with the same conditions, where we had ten chances, we would normally score a goal or two.”
Not disappointed with the result
“You have to know how to take a point from situations like this, so I’m not disappointed with the result,” Itzhaki said following the match. “In these types of games where you lose a player in the first ten minutes, you have to play defensively, which is something I’m not a big fan of. But you want to stop Haifa from creating chances and we wanted to go on counterattacks. There will be games like this and the players have to give that extra, even if you’re tired.”
Itzhaki continued: “It’s not simple to change up an entire game plan, but as a coach you have to be ready for this…
For over 90 minutes we had to manage without a player, and it’s not easy. They deserve a lot of credit.”
Perhaps, though, Flores put it best.
“When you win you are God, when you lose you are the devil. When you draw away you are closer to the devil than God.”
And to that we can say, Amen.
In other action, Maccabi Tel Aviv pounded Maccabi Netanya 4-0 as captain Dor Peretz scored a brace while Ion Nicolaescu and Itamar Noy also found the back of the net to take the three points.
Yellow-and-blue head coach Zarko Lazetic said: “I want to congratulate my players. It’s never easy after a game in Europe. We need to play much better in many parts of the game, especially in the last 20 minutes. It was a good start, but we have to be better.”
“Nothing is working on defense,” Netanya bench boss Yossi Abukasis lamented. “Today and last week our defense was terrible; players lost focus. We are not close to the level of these two teams, and we played them when we were not ready.”