Salim Toama: Scored twice
צילום:רויטרס
Soccer: Tel Aviv; Haifa both win in European action
With two more games left in their bids for the UEFA cup, Hapoel Tel Aviv beats PSG 4-2 in Paris; Maccabi Haifa beats Partizan Belgrade 1-0 and greatly improve chances to advance to next stage
In a wild and eventful game in the Parc des Princes in Paris, Hapoel Tel Aviv displayed an explosive offense as they defeat French side Paris Saint Germain by a score of 4-2, and greatly improved their chance to advance to the next stage in their group G action.
The Israeli onslaught on the French goal started in the second minute of the game as Salim Toama struck twice within four minutes to open a 2-0 margin in the sixth minute.
The Tel Aviv advantage, however, was short lived as Frau scores in the 14th minute and Pauleta in the 25th minute to complete a comeback to equalize the game. It was Walid Badir who took back Hapoel's advantage just one minute before halftime. Halftime score: 3-2
Stunning victory for Hapoel (Photo: AP)
The second half was not as eventful as the first, as Hapoel tried to defend their lead and try to score more goals at the same time. Their tactic proved successful in the 57th minute as Elyaniv Barda scored and cemented the "red" victory to give them their first win of the campaign. Final score: 4-2
Hapoel's will need a victory over Czech side Mlada Boleslav December 13 in order to cement their way to the next round.
Hapoel Tel Aviv was not the only Israeli soccer team to record a huge European victory Thursday evening as Maccabi Haifa got their second victory of their campaign with a convincing win over Serbian side Partizan Belgrade to greatly improve their chance of moving to the next round. A sold out Bloomfield Stadium crowd saw a flowing and aggressive offence of the "greens" as in the tenth minute of the game, Yaniv Katan drove the ball into the net, but the goal was cancelled after Alain Masudi was standing at an off sides position.
It didn't take long for Haifa's offense to get what they came for, as Javier Anderson scored in the twentieth minute with a header after the ball was kicked to him from a corner kick. 1-0 Haifa
Despite the one goal deficit, the Serbian side did not relent and tested Haifa goalie Nir Davidovich again and again, but did not succeed. Maccabi still continued to press, but did not score again the whole game. Final score 1-0
Haifa now finds itself in second place in group A, and in a comfortable position to advance to the next round. They will face Italian side Livorno next Wednesday in Italy for the final match of the round.
In European basketball action, Maccabi Tel Aviv continues to show poor performance on their way to their second away loss in their bid to rekindle their Euroleague greatness. Maccabi lost to Cibona Zagreb in Croatia Thursday night by a score of 87-82.
