Betar Jerusalem climbed to fifth place in the Premier League standings with its
fourth win in five matches on Sunday night, beating Hapoel Haifa 3-0 at Teddy
Stadium.
Betar extended its unbeaten streak to six games after picking up
just a single point from its first four encounters of the campaign, while Hapoel
Haifa remained rooted to the bottom of the standings.
Jerusalem made the
most of Haifa’s pathetic defending, with Hen Azriel giving the hosts the lead in
the sixth minute and Croatians Dominik Glavina (55) and Dino Skvorc (74)
clinching the win in the second half.
“I always knew this squad had
potential,” said Betar coach Eli Cohen. “I knew that we would work hard and gel
as a team and these young players deserve every credit.”
Despite
remaining in last place on six points, Haifa coach Nir Klinger was optimistic of
his team’s chances of survival.
“A team that wants to stay up can’t
afford to concede three goals from set pieces,” Klinger said. “This wasn’t our
day, but I still believe that we can avoid relegation.
“We didn’t look
good tonight, but there is plenty of time to turn things around.”
On
Monday, Maccabi Haifa, which is just one point and one place ahead of its
cross-town rival, hosts Bnei Sakhnin.
The Greens will be guided by youth
team coach Arik Benado, with Ran Ben-Shimon, who currently coaches AEK Larnaca
of the Cypriot league, still the favorite to be announced as Reuven Atar’s
long-term replacement sometime this week.
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