Hapoel Tel Aviv tonight (Saturday) defeated MS Ashdod 1: 2 in the opening round of the 2021/22 season in the Premier League, the first victory in the opening round of the Reds after seven years. Doron Leidner (59) and Ofek Bitton (88) won. The Reds, Oz spent only shrank in the 90th minute, and the joy of the players in the red at the end was felt.
Assistant Hapoel coach Salim Toema, who stood on the lines due to the dismissal of Nir Klinger, said after the game: "Finally after seven years that Hapoel Tel Aviv did not see a victory in the first round of the league, it did. It was very important to start on the right foot, ".
Toema added: "We are still in the first round, I do not think there is any pressure. We did not start well in the first half and in the second half we made all kinds of changes and looked better. I am glad we did it, and that we are going on a leisurely break."
On the fact that the young actors stole the show today, the former actor said: "Nir built the staff properly, in a very balanced way with veterans and youngsters. You can not only build on the veterans, but also on the youngsters who do the job very well. We have a long season and everyone They will play, whoever is good at a given time will be in the squad. "
"It was important to start the season with a win after a long time of not doing it. I don't think I conveyed a message to Nir, I play to be good. The message is that we are connected, play well and want to continue like this," said Doron Leidner, the first goal scorer.
"We always hope to play as offensively as possible, Hapoel Tel Aviv has always been at the top of football, and we try to please the fans."
Ran Ben Shimon, tonight at Bloomfield, Alan Schieber
Ashdod coach Ran Ben Shimon: "We were the better team on the field until the goal we conceded. We did not know how to rise from it. Let no one make a mistake, we played better, we were the better team and got a goal regardless of the game, but sometimes not good enough to be a good team. "We have to finish the game with the opportunities we had. I think the exchanges did not help us either. I have no doubt that Ashdod will be strengthened, and soon. The level of the entire league except Maccabi Haifa is very close and very similar."
Ran Ben Shimon added: "The league will be decided on the small things, I have no doubt that we are no less good than Hapoel Tel Aviv. We will now go on vacation, organize the lines and come back stronger. "Because of other things. We have a good and stable team. We also started a loss last year."