Maccabi Tel Aviv overwhelmed host Maccabi Netanya 5-1 in Israel Premier League action on Monday night to move back into a share of first place with Maccabi Haifa, which drew 1-1 with Hapoel Haifa in their derby.
Ido Shachar gave the yellow-and-blue an early lead when he scored from the penalty spot, while Roy Revivo put home a free kick from 20 meters out to double the advantage in the 398th minute. However, just before the break, Itamar Shviro found the back of the goal to cut the lead to 2-1 at halftime.
But that would be the closest that the diamond city squad would get as Gaby Kanichowsky made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute, Milson added Maccabi’s fourth marker 10 minutes later, and Shachar scored his second of the game deep into second-half injury time to polish off the win.
“It was great to see this,” Maccabi head coach Robbie Keane said. “The guys played really well in the second half after we had started the game a bit differently.”
“It’s a horrible feeling,” a disappointed Netanya coach Guy Tzarfati said. “It’s never fun when you lose, and certainly not by this score. I’m disappointed for the fans who came to see the game and saw this result. I can’t accept this, and it will be dealt with.”
The Haifa derby, meanwhile, between Maccabi and Hapoel ended in a tight draw as the two sides split the points at Sammy Ofer Stadium.
Gadi Kinda was tripped up in the box minutes into the game, but Lior Refaelov’s penalty kick was saved by Reds’keeper Yoav Gerafi. However, just minutes later, Kinda nodded home an Anan Khalaili ball to give the Greens a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.
Hapoel drew even early on in the second half as Tomer Yosefi pounded the ball home in the box to earn a point for his squad.
“We didn’t start the game off well, and we could have made some better decisions,” Maccabi Haifa coach Messay Dego said. “If we could have scored that second goal, we could have killed off their game, but we were playing against an excellent team, and we just have to keep going.”
“This was a good performance from us,” Hapoel Haifa coach Roni Levy said. “The guys did a very good job both tactically as a whole and on the attack. We kept finding solutions to issues that Maccabi Haifa was causing us, and all in all, I am very proud of the players and the fans for the result.”
Israeli teams abroad have their hands full this week
In European action, Maccabi Haifa will look to advance to the UEFA Conference League round-of-16 as it plays at Gent on Thursday in the second leg of their two-legged playoff tie after the Greens won the first match 1-0 last week.
At Doha Stadium, Bnei Sakhnin stunned Beitar Jerusalem 2-1 as Obeida Darwish scored a late second-half injury-time marker to give the Galilee squad the win.
Alexandra Paun gave Sahknin a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute, but early in the second half, Nehoray Dabush found the equalizer to draw the visitors even at 1-1.
However, Darwish’s dramatic 94th-minute winner gave the hosts the points and sent Beitar to a third loss in a row.
Following the game, Beitar interim head coach Gal Cohen was relieved of his duties and Barak Itzhaki was named as the club’s new bench boss.
“I believe that we deserved to win this game,” Sakhnin bench boss Slobodan Drapic said. “We have played positively all season long. We made a mistake in the second half, but we had some luck as our substitutes worked out, and we took the three points. We are building something here, and I hope that this win will give us some breathing room to take the club to some very nice places.”
“This is Beitar Jerusalem, and we give up goals in the toughest minutes of the game and against the flow of play,” Cohen said. “Our substitutes played well, but the same thing happened to us in the derby, and it’s like a knife to the heart. This is painful.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Bnei Reineh played to a goalless draw as the sides split the points at Bloomfield.
“We had five chances in this game, and I told the guys that if we keep it up, we will record some very good results,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Yossi Abukasis said. “We pushed everyone forward and we were very organized, all we were missing was scoring the goal. If we continue this way, we will be fine as we have improved in a number of areas – except in one, which is scoring.”
“It was very important for us to take a point and not record another defeat,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer noted. “We took a point at a very difficult stadium, and the guys really deserve a ton of credit for that.”
Down south, Hapoel Beersheba and Maccabi Petah Tikva drew 1-1 as both goals came in the second half. The teams each took a point for their efforts.
After a goalless first half, Ben Sahar scored from close in to give Petah Tikva a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute. But Beersheba’s brand-new striker Artur Shushenachev found the equalizer 30 minutes later to split the points.
In the capital city, Hapoel Jerusalem and Ashdod SC played to a 1-1 draw to split the points at Teddy Stadium.
Shlomi Azulay scored a 26th-minute penalty to give the port city squad a 1-0 lead, but Ofek Nadir scored early on in the second half to tie the game up for the hosts as each side took a point.
“It’s too bad we lost out on some points,” Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie said. “We controlled this game for 90 minutes, and this was perhaps our best game of the season.
“Jerusalem controlled the pace of play, but we were certainly dangerous at times,” Ashdod coach Eli Levy said. “The result reflects this game, and my guys worked really hard. Maybe we could have gotten a bit more out of the game, but we also don’t want to be pigs. We took a point, and now we will focus on next week. This was the type of game that we would have once lost.”
Elsewhere, Hapoel Hadera blanked Hapoel Petah Tikva 2-0 to take the points.
Newcomer Godsway Donio nodded home an Elad Madmon cross in the first half, while James Adeniyi found the back of the goal in the second half to take the victory.
“We have definitely improved, no doubt about that,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas said. “We have seen an improvement in our confidence and in our training sessions, and the new players have changed the entire team. There is a new spirit and a lot of people who want us to succeed.”