Roni Levi’s pupils arrived at the game after a pair of victories during the previous week. That week began with a decisive victory over Hapoel Ace and continued with a midweek victory over Hapoel Kiryat Shemona during the completion games for the Toto Cup. The Greens wished to continue with the positive momentum in order to create a streak of wins in the league and definitively launch the team on a new path. Some 7,000 Green clad fans arrived to support the team and help the boys in Green achieve their aim. The team coach, Roni Levi, expressed full confidence in the 11 players who opened the game against Hapoel Acre.

The first minutes of the second half took place mainly in center field. The two teams played a tightly controlled, tactics oriented game. In the 8^th minute, the hosts got their first chance when they received a penalty kick from 18 meters, but the goalkeeper, Vladimir Stoikovitch was well prepared and intercepted it. Slowly, as the game progressed, Haifa gained domination of the Center field, but the Acre players stiffened their defense and interfered with the Haifa midfielders attempt to link up with their forward players.

In the 27^th minute Eliran Atar passed a ball to the box which was head butted by the center defender Dekel Kinan. Itamar Nitzan however was ready for this butt. In the 41^st minute the host team gained the advantage when the forward player Guy Melamed received a ball within the Green box and was not confounded by Stoikovitch but kicked the ball straight into the net. The Judge Daniel Bar Natan added 3 minutes to the first half, and 2 during overtime. Eliran Atar attempted to score by an outfield kick but Nitzan was vigilant. In the 85^th minute Haifa made its third substitution when Hen Ezra took the field in the place of Lodovik Obraniac.

The second half did not start well for the Greens. Within two minutes it’s midfielder, Ofir Kriaf, was penalized with his second Yellow card, and immediately after with the red, leaving Haifa with only ten players. Just when Haifa thought it couldn’t get worse, a second player was removed only seven minutes later! The center defense Mark Valienta was also penalized with a red card and, as stated, removed from the playing field. Petach Tikva’s midfield, Eitor Monroy, made the penalty kick and launched a powerful ball which struck the goalposts and was deflected into the box. In the 58^th minute Roni Levi performed a substitution when he removed the team captain, Yossi Benayun, and inserted the young center defense Aid Habashi. Fifteen minutes later the Green coach carried out another substitution when he replaced Glaynor Felat with the young forward Shahar Hirsh. In the 79^th minute Stoyka performed an amazing save and prevented the hosts from gaining a second goal after Omer Peretz received a ball within the box and launched a powerful ball which forced the Green Giant to stretch out his limbs in order to deflect the ball to the corner. In the 85^th minute Haifa performed its third substitution when Hen Ezra entered the field in the place of Lodovik Obraniak. The most significant moment of the game took place on the 89^th minute when a Green Penalty ball was launched towards Dekel Kinan.  The center defense rose to intercept the high ball and was tackled by Xsabia Toma. This tackle was observed by Bar Natan who blew his whistle and awarded the Green team with a kick from the penalty kick from the 11 meter white spot.

Eliran Atar assumed responsibility and performed a flawless penalty kick which struck the net! The forward scored the tie making goal and brought the 7,000 Green fans in the bleachers to their feet in a standing ovation! The score remained unchanged for the remainder of the game and Haifa had extracted a Tie from a complex situation.

The team coach, Roni Levi, was interviewed at the end of the game and said: “a good word is in order for the players and the crowd who all held faith and didn’t give up”

On the Red card with which the Spanish center defense was awarded he said: “For my point of view Mark Valienta did not deserve a red. I think the decision was reached too lightly, and I need to enquire into the causes of this decision. Sometimes mistakes are made under pressure and we need to deal with the outcome.” On the game itself Levi said: “We played against a good team on its home court and stood with our backs to the wall. All in all we maintained a good position on the field. It is true I aspire for much more but it will take the team time to bond and learn to work together the way we all want it to.” The coach went on to say: “As I already said, in our situation we need everyone together and united, because these are the moments when we need everyone to stick together- this is our strength. I think the tie we achieved today is more than an ordinary tie. To make this sort of a comeback is an indication of our character and mentality and I believe these traits will aid in our improvement.” About the display of support from the Green crowd: “When I played in Maccabi Haifa I never felt this level of support, the Maccabi Haifa fans have become, over the years, the best fans in the country. There are no such crowds anywhere.”