Mac. Haifa enters derby with chance to go top of table

The Greens, who trail current- leader Hapoel Tel Aviv by one point, need a victory over their cross-town rival to go top of the standings.

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Haifa 311 (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Maccabi Haifa 311
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Maccabi Haifa will be aiming to return to first position in the Premier League on Monday night when it visits Hapoel Haifa in the local derby at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium.
The Greens, who trail current- leader Hapoel Tel Aviv by one point, need a victory over their cross-town rival to go top of the standings and coach Elisha Levy urged his players to prove their worth on Monday night.
“I’ve seen that Hapoel Haifa players have been talking a lot in the press,” Levy told his players. “Let them talk as much as they want. We need to do our talking on the pitch. That will be the best answer.”
The first Haifa derby of the season ended in a goalless deadlock and Hapoel will be confident of frustrating its illustrious rivals once more on Monday.
Hapoel has lost just once in its past seven matches, while Maccabi has struggled in the last couple of weeks, losing 4-1 to Hapoel Tel Aviv before barely beating rock-bottom Hapoel Ramat Gan last week.
Maccabi Netanya snapped Bnei Yehuda’s four-match winning streak on Sunday, drawing 1-1 with Dror Kashtan’s in-form team at Bloomfield Stadium.
Pedro Galvan gave Bnei Yehuda the lead with a splendid free kick in the 66th minute, but Nir Nahum equalized from a tight angle nine minutes later to ensure the points would be shared.
The single point leaves Bnei Yehuda in sixth position on 39 points, with Netanya three points back.