Hapoel Afula secured a 3:2 victory over Hapoel Ra'anana in the third round of the Liga Leumit regular season at the weekend. The result keeps both sides level on points at the top of the table after two matches each.
A. Khalaila opened the scoring in the eighth minute before E. Elimelech struck twice in quick succession in the twelfth and eighteenth minutes. Afula led comfortably at the break, but the match turned volatile when a red card arrived in the forty-fifth minute plus two.
The home side were reduced to ten men and the away visitors followed suit when their own dismissal came in the seventy-fifth minute. By then the game had opened up considerably, with both teams playing with ten men and nothing to lose.
P. Michael pulled the trigger twice after the second red card, netting in the seventy-sixth and eighty-fifth minutes to complete the comeback. He stretched the back line and was left flat-footed only briefly before finding the net again.
Ra'anana dominated possession at sixty-three per cent and registered 118 attacks compared with Afula's 85. Seven shots on target for the hosts yielded five goals, while the visitors managed eight on target for only two.
Both clubs now sit on six points after two games, with Afula fourth and Ra'anana third in the standings. The result ended a two-match winning run for the away side, who had beaten Maccabi Herzlia 3:2 on their previous outing.
