Zirei Umm al-Fahm and Maccabi Neve Shaan played out a 1:1 draw in the Liga Alef North 2 stage on Thursday night. The hosts took the lead in the first half before the visitors equalised late on. Both sides had chances but neither could find a winner at the final whistle.
Y. A. Nasser opened the scoring for Zirei in the 24th minute. The home side built pressure after that, though they couldn't stretch their advantage. Maccabi kept their shape and waited for an opportunity to respond.
And here's the thing — the away side found their moment when it mattered most. F. Mahamid netted in the 84th minute to rescue a point for Maccabi. The visitors came for a cross he never reached from the previous attempt, but this time he made no mistake.
The statistics tell a clear story. Zirei dominated possession at 71 per cent and registered 98 attacks compared to 65. They had more shots off target, 11 to 5, while Maccabi were slightly more clinical with five shots on target against four. Four yellow cards for the visitors versus one for the hosts suggests the away side felt the pressure and threw bodies in the way.
The draw keeps Maccabi fourth on 36 points from 22 games, while Zirei remain in 10th place with 30 points. By then, both teams had shown this is a competitive division where results don't always reflect the numbers.