Ashdod snatch victory away from possession-hungry Raina
Ashdod secured a 2-1 win against Maccabi Bnei Raina in the third round of the Liga Leumit Regular Season on Monday evening, at a match that ended with the hosts still on the ball but not on the scoreboard. Both sides arrive at the same point tally after two games, though the way they got there tells a different story.
E. Mamatah opened the scoring for Raina in the thirteenth minute, and to be fair, the home side looked comfortable carrying the play. N. Dabush equalised for Ashdod just before half-time in the thirty-first, and that shift in momentum was subtle but real — Raina still had more of the ball, but Ashdod began to look like they had something to say.
And here's the thing about late goals: they tend to rewrite the evening. A. Habashi found the net in the seventy-seventh minute, and by then Raina had already run out of legs. The home side had 132 attacks and 64 per cent possession, yet Ashdod managed to take the points with fewer chances on target. Three shots on goal against four — that's the kind of efficiency that keeps you awake at night.
Both teams sit level on three points after two matches, Raina in twelfth and Ashdod in eleventh, a gap that could easily be a point or two once the season settles. The recent form doesn't suggest either side is comfortable — Raina's 1-4 defeat to Bnei Yehuda and Ashdod's 0-2 loss to Hapoel Afula both still fresh — but this result at least gives the visitors a foothold.
