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Maccabi Haifa Coach Decries Team's Collapse After Humiliating Loss

Maccabi Haifa suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat against Hapoel Be'er Sheva at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Monday, missing their chance to reclaim the top spot in the Israeli Premier League. The loss, which occurred during the eighth round of the league, followed a period where Maccabi Haifa had led the standings.

4 newsrooms · 1 language · since 26 Oct, 20:18

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Maccabi Haifa Coach Decries Team's Collapse After Humiliating Loss — Illustration by baba

What happened

01Hapoel Be'er Sheva defeated Maccabi Haifa 5-2 at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Monday, hindering Haifa's league title aspirations.
02Maccabi Haifa collapsed in the second half, conceding three goals in ten minutes following a red card.
03Coach Barak Bakhar called the defeat a "slap" and admitted his team is still not ready to compete for the championship.
04Commentators Itay Shechter and Tal Ben Haim criticized Maccabi Haifa's entire defensive unit and urged the signing of a central defender.
05Sport5 analysts praised Hapoel Be'er Sheva's coach Ran Kozuch for outmaneuvering Barak Bakhar tactically during the match.
06Captain Kangi Gura apologized to the fans and promised the team would learn from the mistakes made during the loss.
07Maccabi Haifa faces crucial upcoming matches against Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem as they look to regroup.

After a competitive start, Maccabi Haifa collapsed during a ten-minute span in the second half, conceding three quick goals following a mistake and a red card. Coach Barak Bakhar described the defeat as a "slap" and admitted the team is "still not there" in terms of championship readiness, noting they conceded easily from set pieces and made numerous errors.

Following the match, Sport5 commentators Itay Shechter and Tal Ben Haim criticized Maccabi Haifa's entire defensive unit, highlighting the absence of their foreign defender and pointing to Steifman as bearing significant responsibility. They stressed an urgent need for the club to sign a strong central defender, while praising Hapoel Be'er Sheva's coach Ran Kozuch for outmaneuvering Bakhar tactically.

Looking ahead, Maccabi Haifa faces a challenging schedule with upcoming matches against Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem. Captain Kangi Gura apologized to the fans, promising that the team would learn from their mistakes and work to recover.

Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated 02:06

Latest report: N12. Read N12’s original