A vicious battle in FC stadium resulted in a 0-0 draw.
Hounded by the ghost of the past - a final minute winning goal from the R&B in the last meeting, Michmoret had no intention to lose again in FC stadium. The R&B, on the other hand, were on the run: 8 points in the last 3 games, winning two of them 6-2. Thus, Michmoret adopted the obvious tactic against a more technical team: long balls to their fast attackers, avoiding a passing game in the middle, and an aggressive (sometime even brutal) defense. Curiously enough, it worked. The R&B, which suffered from a bad day of Boom-boom Dudu and Ilan A, could not create any meaningful presence in midfield. However, FC easily stopped Michmoret, and so, let alone some brutal fouls and Roi C's injury, which left him out of the rest of the game, there were no significant events in the 1st half.
As the 2nd half opened, the R&B gradually took control of the game, and Michmoret's defensive game became more and more brutal. FC managed to take control, but this was all. Although Michmoret lost a player due to a red card, FC could not really convert the chances. A 0-0 draw in the end.
FC's assistant-coach Noam L, said after the game: "I think we can be pretty happy with the score. Michmoret is higher in the table, we suffered from a bad day of our main scorer and an early injury of Roi C. I hope this is only a minor setback for us."
C ya all next week…