Precisely in front of a full stadium, Barak Bachar's Maccabi Haifa once again disappointed its fans, finishing only in a 1: 1 draw against ten players of Hapoel Nof Hagalil.
Dean David scored in extra time of the first half but Halihal established a justified equalizer in the 84th minute.
Eli Balilti was sent off (66) after a second boundary yellow.
Maccabi Haifa coach Barak Bachar said at the end: "I only blame myself. I am guilty of preparation, substitutions, running the game. I take on a game that is like a loss. Everyone has a responsibility, but mine is the biggest. I had to make two substitutions in the half after giving "A goal for nothing, and if we hadn't scored I would have made the substitutions. We are in a bad time, but this is a game we had to win, I take responsibility."
Maccabi Haifa in shock after the draw, Photo: Alan Shiber
"We can not absorb such a soft goal against a team that was better in ten players. I have to sit down, relax and analyze things, because if we do not wake up then we will continue not to win. There are not always solutions because there is also a rival team that knows how to close, and when we do not "Things are sharp then, that's how it looks, and unfortunately it's looked like this a lot lately. The championship fight has been open since the beginning of the year and will be so until the end of the season."
Nof Hagalil celebrates equality with Sami Ofer, Photo: Alan Shiber
On the other side, Shai Barda, coach of Hapoel Nof Hagalil, said at the end: "We did not deserve to lose, I think in the first half we pressed them all over the field and we knew that if we did that then they would not be given space to advance. "In football then, Abdullah comes and I am happy about this point in front of 30,000 people. The people here work from morning to night and although it is only a point, it is important."
Dean David celebrates the advantage of Maccabi Haifa, Photo: Alan Shiver
"Everyone talked about the Galilee landscape being just a backdrop, a national league team that has already gone down, but you did the job for me and today you saw that the Galilee landscape is alive and breathing. We will do everything to stay in the league. We are a young team that needs to maintain stability."
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