Summary: Maccabi Bnei Reina vs Beitar Jerusalem 1:2/Sport 1
Beitar Jerusalem fans threw many plastic chairs at Bnei Reina's celebrating players on Saturday evening, immediately after their team's 2-1 loss at Nof Hagalil Stadium. The throwing of the chairs was a direct continuation of the riots between fans of both teams that broke out during the first half - which led to the intervention of the police, which increased the separation between Beitar fans and the grandstand where the Reina people were sitting.
Beitar Jerusalem was also very angry with the boys who brought Reina's bullets. The club from the capital claimed that they delayed the game and also threw balls onto the field to stop the match. Defender Orel Degani said: "Something needs to be done about it. You move the ball out and they throw four balls in. It's not football, you can't play like that. This has to be addressed."
Vargas dodges the chairs
A disappointed Yossi Abukasis said: "The first 10 minutes of the second half decided the game, minutes of our lack of concentration. In the first goal we were with a lot of players in defense and we didn't keep close, then at the horn there was a mix... 10 minutes of lack of concentration and mistakes. We got into our situations, certainly in the end, Berkowitz's miss symbolizes the game.
Abukasis added: "Three players came in and we got into good situations, it's just a matter of concentration and a bad day. There are days when the ball doesn't go in. It wasn't a good game for us, but we got into a lot of situations, certainly at the end, and it's a shame that the bad 10 minutes were decisive."
Orel Degani: "The first half was not good, but we went down with 0-1. We started the second half poorly. We got enough chances to equalize, but we didn't succeed. They didn't get too many chances, it's not like they swept the game."
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The winning coach, Sharon Mimer, concluded: "The heart burns from within with pride. I have a team that doesn't break, that comes to play against better quality teams, with a higher budget than bigger clubs - and we're here to show them that little Reina is also in the right league. We'll be proud against a team in this league."
Mimar added: "At the beginning of the year we built with players who had gone through something in football, we wanted players with experience and quality. This is the third time we have come back from falling behind against quality teams. We don't have a mental break and that shows the good character of the team. I go into every battle with peace of mind."
On the order of games, the coach said: "When you see it at the beginning of the season you hope to start without a series of losses that will cause crisis and pressure. But we're playing 4-4-2 against the big guys and we want to beat them too. I believe in my team. I enjoy every training session with the players, they don't just look good on the pitch. On the other hand, once we start talking, we will go to bad places. We're still little Reina and we have to be modest."
Shlomi Azoulay, who scored the equaliser: "We haven't won for a long time. There were good results, but for a long time we didn't taste victory. Beitar may be a little better on paper, but the order of greatness is similar. These are our tests and I believe that if we maintain stability we will succeed. It's too early to know where we'll be, but the owners' goal at the start of the season was to avoid bottom struggles."
- More on the subject:
- Beitar Jerusalem
- Benny Reina
