Hapoel Be'er Sheva Dominates but Can't Break Through Against Dinamo Zagreb

The Arena Giulesti ended goalless, but not for lack of chances. Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb played out a 0-0 draw in the Europa League that produced more shots than celebrations, with the Israeli side carrying nearly all the weight of the match but unable to break the deadlock.

From the opening whistle it was clear who wanted the ball. Hapoel Be'er Sheva piled up chance after chance, especially in the first half: in the 24th minute, Amankwah Forson rattled the right post on a counterattack, the clearest opportunity of the entire first half. Shortly after, Igor Zlatanovic also tried his luck without success on the same fast break. Dinamo Zagreb, for their part, played patiently and looked for their moments through Mislav Orsic and Luka Stojkovic, who had two headers without finding the target.

The second half followed the same script: Hapoel kept pressing with Miguel Vitor, Zahi Ahmed and Guy Mizrahi trying shots from various spots, while Dinamo leaned on substitutions (Zajc, Prevljak, Ivanusec, Kravtsov and Almena all came on) to try to freshen up the attack without seriously troubling the home defense. None of the late chances, not even Iker Almena's effort in stoppage time, found the target, and the score stayed level until the final whistle.

Dominance That Didn't Translate Into a Goal

The numbers back up what was seen on the field: Hapoel Be'er Sheva held 66% possession to Dinamo Zagreb's 34%, and fired 15 shots to the Croatian side's 7. Still, the finishing was off on both sides, with just 2 shots on target for the home team and 1 for the visitors.

That gap also shows up in the match's estimated xG: our post-match calculation, based on shot locations, gives Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1.224 expected goals against just 0.407 for Dinamo Zagreb. The number confirms the home side generated more and better chances, though it wasn't enough to tip the scoreline in their favor.

The preview had pointed to a very different scenario. Our projection gave Dinamo Zagreb a 47% chance of winning, against 29% for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and 24% for a draw, with a combined expected-goals forecast of around 3.53 (1.53 for the home side and 2 for the visitors). None of that played out: the match finished scoreless, and it was the home team, not the visitors, who came closest to breaking the tie.

What the Result Leaves Behind

With this draw, both Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb sit on 1 point in the competition, the product of a match played without a winner or loser so far. Both teams' goal difference remains at zero, a fitting reflection of a night when the boxes filled up with attempts but not with finishes.

In the end, the scoreboard at Arena Giulesti tells the story of a team, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, that pushed for 90 minutes without finding the reward, and of a Dinamo Zagreb side that held firm and orderly to walk away with a point that, judging by what unfolded on the field, they may not have expected to have to fight so hard for.