1985–86 Liga Leumit

In the 1985–86 Liga Leumit season Hapoel Tel Aviv won the title. Hapoel Haifa, Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Sha'arayim were all relegated to Liga Artzit. Uri Malmilian of Beitar Jerusalem and Doron Rabinzon of Maccabi Petah Tikva were the league's joint top scorers with 14 goals.

Liga Leumit
Season1985–86
ChampionsHapoel Tel Aviv
9th title
RelegatedHapoel Haifa
Hapoel Jerusalem
Maccabi Sha'arayim
Top goalscorerUri Malmilian
Doron Rabinzon (18)

The league championship was decided on the final day, with a match between the two title chasers, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Hapoel Tel Aviv, who needed a win to secure the championship, scored a controversial goal in the 86th minute to win 1–0 and the title.[1]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel Tel Aviv (C) 30 17 8 5 52 26 +26 59 Qualification for the Intertoto Cup
2 Maccabi Haifa 30 16 9 5 47 18 +29 57
3 Maccabi Tel Aviv 30 16 9 5 48 27 +21 57
4 Beitar Jerusalem 30 15 7 8 48 33 +15 52
5 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 30 12 10 8 27 19 +8 46
6 Hapoel Kfar Saba 30 11 9 10 41 34 +7 42
7 Maccabi Petah Tikva 30 11 7 12 34 41 −7 40
8 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 30 10 9 11 24 24 0 39
9 Maccabi Netanya 30 11 6 13 34 35 −1 39
10 Shimshon Tel Aviv 30 9 11 10 32 38 −6 38
11 Maccabi Yavne 30 9 10 11 21 32 −11 37
12 Maccabi Jaffa 30 9 9 12 24 34 −10 36
13 Hapoel Petah Tikva 30 9 8 13 42 44 −2 35
14 Hapoel Jerusalem (R) 30 8 6 16 31 45 −14 30 Relegated to Liga Artzit
15 Hapoel Haifa (R) 30 6 6 18 24 60 −36 24
16 Maccabi Sha'arayim (R) 30 4 10 16 22 41 −19 22
Source:
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results
Home \ Away BEI BnY HBS HHA HJE HKS HPT HTA MHA MJA MNE MPT MSH MTA MYV STA
Beitar Jerusalem — 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–3 2–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 5–2 0–1 4–0 1–1
Bnei Yehuda 1–1 — 1–0 5–0 1–0 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 4–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–0
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1–0 0–0 — 3–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1
Hapoel Haifa 2–6 0–0 0–2 — 2–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 1–3
Hapoel Jerusalem 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 — 1–1 3–1 2–2 3–2 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 1–3 0–1 2–2
Hapoel Kfar Saba 4–0 0–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 — 2–0 2–1 2–3 3–2 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–2
Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 2–3 1–0 3–1 4–2 1–1 — 0–2 0–0 4–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 3–1 5–0 1–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–1 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 — 1–0 3–1 5–1 5–1 3–2 0–0 3–0 2–1
Maccabi Haifa 1–1 0–0 5–1 4–0 3–0 4–1 1–0 1–1 — 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 4–0
Maccabi Jaffa 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 — 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 2–1
Maccabi Netanya 1–2 1–0 0–1 4–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 1–3 0–0 1–0 — 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–1 1–0
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–3 2–0 1–1 3–2 1–0 0–1 4–1 0–3 — 4–0 4–4 0–0 1–0
Maccabi Sha'arayim 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–2 — 1–2 2–1 1–1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 2–0 6–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 — 1–1 1–0
Maccabi Yavne 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 — 1–0
Shimshon Tel Aviv 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 3–3 1–1 0–2 1–4 1–1 1–3 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 —
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final match
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–0 Maccabi Haifa
Event1985–86 Liga Leumit
Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Haifa
1 0
Date24 May 1986
VenueBloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv
RefereeZvi Sharrir
Attendance13,993
WeatherSunny

On 24 May 1986, Hapoel Tel Aviv came face-to-face with Maccabi Haifa in a Liga Leumit fixture at Bloomfield Stadium, during the final rounds of the 1985–86 season. That match was the season's deciding match. Maccabi Haifa led by one point prior to the match. Hapoel Tel Aviv won with one goal scored at the 86th minute by striker, Gili Landau, winning the match and the championship.

Background

At the beginning of the 1985–86 season, 16 football (soccer) clubs competed in the Liga Leumit, which was the top division at that time in Israel. Maccabi Haifa, which won the two previous league championships took early charge of the league, leading by five points at the 9th round. However, a rather poor string of results saw Hapoel Tel Aviv overtake Maccabi Haifa, taking a five-point lead at the top at the 19th round. At the 24th round, Maccabi Haifa was back on top, with 46 points and a two-point lead over Hapoel Tel Aviv, with Maccabi Tel Aviv also in the running, just points away. After the 29th round, with one match left to play, Maccabi Haifa led the table with 57 points. Hapoel Tel Aviv was second with 56 points. The two teams were to meet in the last round for a match that would decide the championship.

Pre-match
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Maccabi Haifa 29 16 9 4 47 17 +30 57
2 Hapoel Tel Aviv 29 16 8 5 51 26 +25 56
3 Maccabi Tel Aviv 29 15 9 5 42 24 +18 54
4 Beitar Jerusalem 29 14 7 8 43 31 +12 49
5 Bnei Yehuda 29 12 10 7 26 17 +9 46
Updated to match(es) played on 17 May 1986. Source: Ma'ariv, 18 May 1986, p. 27 (in Hebrew)

As Maccabi Haifa was leading by a point, a draw would be enough towards claiming their third straight championship, while Hapoel Tel Aviv needed to win their tenth championship. Due to the importance of the match, the IBA decided to broadcast the match live, the first ever live broadcast of a league match in Israel.[2][3]

Match

With 20,000 fans in the stands, Maccabi Haifa sought to stall the match to force a 0-0 draw, which would allow them to win the championship. The first shot on goal was made by Zahi Armeli of Maccabi Haifa at the 24th minute, while Moris Zano of Hapoel registered their first shot at the 32nd minute. Early in the second half, Hapoel manager David Schweitzer substituted midfielders Jacob Cohen and Elior Baranes with strikers Gili Landau and Eli Yani, and Hapoel increased their attacks. At the 86th minute, Eli Cohen passed the ball to Moshe Sinai in midfield. Sinai lobbed the ball over the Maccabi Haifa defense towards the rushing Landau, while at the far left side of the defense, Eli Yani was running back from an offside position. Referee Zvi Sharir allowed the play to continue and Landau struck the ball over the Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Avi Ran to break the deadlock. Eli Cohen was sent off for a tackle made on Rafi Osmo, but the score did not change. Hapoel Tel Aviv won the championship with a two-point lead.[4]

Details
Hapoel Tel Aviv1–0Maccabi Haifa
Landau 86'
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Zvi Sharir

Post-match

While Hapoel Tel Aviv celebrated their championship, Maccabi Haifa sounded claims against the validity of the winning goal, pointing to Eli Yani's offside position during the final pass.[5] Referee Zvi Sharir defended his decision, stating that Eli Yani was in a "passive offside".

References
  1. Five Minutes to Glory and Disappointment Ma'ariv, 25 May 1986, p. 27 & 28 Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. Maccabi Haifa: Yadin Will Start Against Hapoel T.A. David Natan, 21 October 2012, Ynet (in Hebrew)
  3. Match of the Season – In a Live Broadcast on Television Ma'ariv, 23 May 1986, p. 1 Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  4. Five Minutes to Glory and Disappointment Ma'ariv, 25 May 1986, p. 27 & 28 Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Scharf: We'll Haunt Sharir Everywhere; Yelled at His Players: "You Made a Laughing Stock of Yourselves, You Played Like Suckers Yehonatan Haleli, 25 May 1985, Ma'ariv, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
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