Yellow-and-blue edges closer to clinching title

Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Maccabi Bnei Reineh 3-2 in Israel Premier League action as the visiting yellow-and-blue scored all three goals in the first half to close in on the championship.

Osher Davida opened the scoring as he took a misplayed ball by Bnei Reineh ’keeper Gad Amos and put it into the goal for an early lead while finished off a team play from Eran Zahavi and Dor Peretz to give Maccabi a 2-0 advantage in the 20th minute.

Muhammed Osman pulled back a marker five minutes later, but Peretz found Maccabi’s third goal of the match in first-half injury time to grace a 3-1 lead at the break.

Kayes Ganem cut the Maccabi lead to 3-2 in the 54th minute, but that was as close as the hosts would get as Robbie Keane’s squad closed out the win.

“This was a tough game against a very good team that is very physical,” Keane said. “They made our lives very difficult. We weren’t able to control the ball the way we wanted to, but I’m very happy with the win. Sometimes you have to work very hard to win.

“This is another game that gives Reineh more and more credit,” Sharon Mimer said. “I can say that I am very proud of my team and my players, even more than some of the games that we did win. We gave Maccabi some gifts and that gave them confidence, but we have shown time and time again that we won’t break.”

Meanwhile, by the Carmel Mountain, Maccabi Haifa defeated Hapoel Haifa 2-0 as Dean David scored a second-half brace to hand the Greens the derby points and the win to stay in the title race.

After a goalless first half, Frantzdy Pierrot sent David a through-ball that he put past the Carmel Reds ’keeper Yoav Gerafi in the 72nd minute to break the deadlock. Two minutes later, David found the back of the goal from 16 meters out to sew up the victory.

“Hapoel Haifa is a very good defensive club,” Maccabi Haifa head coach Messay Dego began. “We had to figure out when it was best to press them. 

I was a bit upset as to how we played in the first half, but we took some chances in the second half. The dream is still alive and if we still have a chance to win the title we will do our utmost.”

“We had a very weak day and we couldn’t control the ball at all,” Hapoel Haifa coach Roni Levy said. Unfortunately that didn’t help our cause. When we play an open style of game that doesn’t play to our advantage and every loss, especially a derby, is a bitter defeat for us and the fans.”

Beitar Jerusalem crushes Hapoel Tel Aviv

At Bloomfield Stadium, Beitar Jerusalem crushed Hapoel Tel Aviv 5-1 to cruise to the big win and take the three points.

Ori Dahan struck first as he opened the scoring for the yellow-and-black in the fourth minute while 45 minutes later Mayron George doubled the advantage for a 2-0 lead. Yarden Shua added the third marker just five minutes later while Ismaila Toro gave Beitar a 4-0 lead by the 79th minute.

Mavis Tchibota pulled back a goal for Hapoel Tel Aviv by penalty, but Nehoray Dabush put in the visitors’ fifth goal of the match to polish off the four-goal victory.

“Terrific, no question about it,” a content Beitar head coach Barak Itzhaki said. “To come in here and win this way it feels great. We took a 1-0 first half lead and we weren’t that great but we put on quite a performance in the second half. The guys are just champs.”

“Really rough feelings,” Hapoel Tel Aviv head coach Yossi Abukasis said. “To lose such an important game the way we did after the first half – which was perhaps one of our best – and then fall apart in the second half is very disappointing and painful. We will have to figure out a way to deal with this.”

Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheba got by Bnei Sakhnin 2-1 as the Southern Reds came back from a deficit to take the victory.

Following a goalless opening half, Basil Khuri scored off a counter attack in the 57th minute, but a Dor Hugi own-goal three minutes later evened up the score. However, Constantinos Soteriou picked up a red card, resulting in a Helder Lopes penalty that he calmly slotted home to give Beersheba the slim win.

“This was a crazy game,” Beersheba beach boss Eliyaniv Barda said. “The game began to our advantage and we had chances, but we couldn’t score. The guys worked very hard and we are the best home team in the league. We want to play our best and collect as many points as we can over the course of the next month.”

“We were leading 1-0 and we tried to pressure Beersheba,” Sakhnin coach Slobodan Drapic said. “Not every club will go and do that. We made mistakes and lost the game. We are trying to get more and more of our young players time to play and from there we will see what we have for next season.”

Also, Hapoel Jerusalem downed Hapoel Hadera 2-1 thanks to a pair of quick second-half goals to take all the points.

Ido Levy opened the scoring for visiting Hadera as he headed home Samy Bourard’s cross to give Haim Silvas’s squad a 1-0 lead, but five minutes into the second half Ohad Almagor drew the hosts even. Just two minutes later Dia Lababidi redirected a Cedric Don ball for an own-goal which was the eventual winner for Ziv Arie’s team.

“The small changes we made in personnel specifically for Hadera’s system worked out well,” Jerusalem’s Arie said. However, most important was how the players reacted positively. I thought that once we took the lead we would be able to have a bit more control but we ended up with a couple of injuries.”

“After we took the lead, Jerusalem took some chances and I’m disappointed that we couldn’t take advantage of them,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas said. 

“This was a wide open game and I knew they would take some risks in the second half as they went forward, but I felt we would be able to score a second goal with the weapons that we have.” Maccabi Netanya blanked Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-0 as the diamond city side scored a goal in each half to take the victory.

Netanya grabbed a 1-0 lead after Joel Abu Hana’s ball went off of Obeadia Khattab and into his own net in the 16th minute, while Igor Zlatanovic doubled the advantage in the second half to snatch the three points.

“We deserved the win,” Netanya coach Marko Balbul exclaimed. “The result should have been even more than it was but I am very content. We were able to calm down after the State Cup loss which was pretty painful for all of us.

But the guys with mentally and physically put on quite the show in terms of the game they played and the result.”

“This was not a good game from us in terms of pressure and energy,” Petah Tikva assistant coach Ben Binyamin said. “We didn’t come into this game properly and we have to see why that was the case. We were weak in the middle and we didn’t do what we needed to do in this game.”

Finally, Ashdod SC slipped by Hapoel Petah Tikva 1-0 as Ezekiel Henty scored the lone goal of the game at the stroke of halftime to give the port city squad the conquest.