Ironi Tiberias opened the 2026-27 Ligat Ha'al season with a 1-0 win over Hapoel Petah Tikva on Saturday, but the story that dominated the aftermath was not Itamar Shviro's decisive penalty — it was a goal that never counted at all.
Shviro sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot to give Tiberias the lead, and that penalty proved enough for all three points at Barel Stadium in Nof HaGalil, Tiberias's home venue for top-flight matches.
Hapoel Petah Tikva pushed hard for an equaliser and thought they had found one in the 85th minute when Franck Rivollier turned the ball home. Referee Shnir Levi disallowed it after a VAR review, ruling that striker Shvit Mazal — who had been lying on the turf in an offside position during the buildup — got back to his feet and became involved in the passage of play.
The decision infuriated the visitors, and ONE reported the club's forceful response: "a completely legal goal, luck had nothing to do with the play at all," arguing that Mazal never touched the ball or interfered with a Tiberias defender even after standing up, and pointing out the striker was in fact injured during the sequence rather than gaining any advantage from it.
It was a bitter way for Omer Peretz's side to begin the campaign. Petah Tikva dominated long spells of the match without finding a way past a well-organised Tiberias defence, and the disallowed goal compounded a frustrating afternoon on the road.
Rivollier, the man whose effort was chalked off, is back for a second spell at Hapoel Petah Tikva after returning on a free transfer. The France-born forward, who is also eligible for Cameroon, first joined the club in January 2025 from Bulgaria's Spartak Varna and was part of the squad that won the Israeli second-division title before this season's promotion push.
Mazal, the offside player at the centre of the dispute, signed for Hapoel Petah Tikva on a two-year deal this summer. The 24-year-old striker came through Hapoel Tel Aviv's youth system before spells at Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Ramat Gan and Ashdod.
Levi, the referee who reviewed the VAR footage and upheld the offside call, was voted Israel's outstanding referee of the past season, adding to the sting of the decision for a Petah Tikva side that made the trip north in numbers — roughly 400 travelling supporters were in the away end.
For Ironi Tiberias, the win offers an ideal start to a campaign in which the club has stated its priority is simply staying in Ligat Ha'al. For Hapoel Petah Tikva, it means an opening-day defeat and a fresh round of debate over marginal offside calls as the new VAR-heavy season gets under way.
