Maccabi Petah Tikva saw off Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2:1 in the Ligat Ha'Al on Saturday, a result that keeps them in second place with six points from two games. Kiryat Shmona remain sixth on three points after their second defeat of the season. The match opened with an early exchange that set the tone — Owusu gave the hosts the lead in the twelfth minute, and Rakonjac levelled just eleven minutes later.
The equaliser came at twenty-three minutes, and here's the thing about these opening exchanges: they tell you who wants the match more. Kiryat Shmona pressed forward, looking to impose their rhythm. Petah Tikva stayed compact, waiting for the space to open. By then you could see the visitors had the tempo, but the hosts had the structure.
What changed the game came later, when Ugarriza's seventy-ninth-minute strike turned the fixture. Petah Tikva had been the side without the ball for most of the contest, but they made their moment count. The visitors had 68 per cent possession and played 536 passes, yet they only managed two shots on target. Efficiency matters more than volume, and in this case it decided everything.
The statistics tell a familiar story — Kiryat Shmona dominated the middle third with 334 passes in the opposition half, while Petah Tikva managed 157. But shots tell you more than passes. The hosts registered four shots on target against two, and their expected goals of 1.34 reflected that. One big chance created each side, and Petah Tikva took theirs.
Several substitutions reshaped the second half, with Darwish, Abdullazada, and Sholmyster all coming on for the visitors. Petah Tikva brought on Spence and Owusu in the seventy-third minute, then added Sheratzky and Hazan later on. The manager was looking for fresh legs, and the winner came from that energy.
The result means Petah Tikva hold a perfect record, two wins from two, while Kiryat Shmona's unbeaten run ended. In a league where margins are thin, these three points could prove decisive. The hosts will take confidence from turning a draw into a win, and the visitors will need to reflect on a match they controlled but could not finish.