Maccabi Tel Aviv blanked Maccabi Petah Tikva 4-0 in Israel Premier League action as four different scorers featured for the hosts.
Eran Zahavi broke the ice when he latched onto an Osher Davida ball in the 10th minute, while a quarter-hour later Dor Peretz found the back of the goal thanks to a Zahavi through-ball to give the yellow-and-blue a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
Milson added the third marker in the 77th minute and Dan Bitton fed Gaby Kanichowsky for the fourth and final strike of the game to wrap up the victory. Robbie Keane’s squad will now get ready for Olympiacos in UEFA Conference League round-of-16, first-leg action on Thursday.
“I’m happy, it’s great to score goals and I’m happy about the clean sheet and not conceding as well,” Keane said. “We are always talking about not giving us goals and if you don’t you’ll always have a better chance to win. We should have scored even more, but the players were offside too many times.”
“I don’t think that I came into this game over-confident,” Petah Tikva coach Ron Kozuk said. “We made mistakes and we paid a very high price for that. When you make mistakes against a quality club you’re going to pay for it. It was not a good game for us and I wanted to change up the formation in the first half, but was unable to.”
At Sammy Ofer Stadium, Maccabi Haifa got by Hapoel Hadera 1-0 as Gadi Kinda scored the lone goal of the game in the 62nd minute to give the Greens the three points to keep them near the top of the table ahead of their UEFA Conference League round-of-16, first-leg clash against Fiorentina on Thursday.
“Last week we saw a lot of very nice goals and terrific play,” Haifa coach Messay Diego said. “But this game was a much more difficult and tactical game. However, I am happy that we collected the three points in this tough game ahead of our European match against Fiorentina. They are a very strong team that play in Italy’s Serie A, but we will be ready.”
“There is a gap between the clubs,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas began. “We came here to make Maccabi Haifa uncomfortable which we did but they rightfully ended up winning the game. We could have done a bit more on the attack with a bit of pressure and some extra passes, but we made sure to come in prepared for this game. If we didn’t, as we have seen with other teams, the result could be much more difficult to handle.”
Maccabi Haifa was deducted one point on Tuesday in continuing discipline relating to fan unruliness. The Greens now trail leader Maccabi Tel Aviv by one point.
Hapoel Beersheba defeats Beitar Jerusalem
Down south, Hapoel Beersheba defeated Beitar Jerusalem 1-0 thanks to a 36th-minute goal headed home by Helder Lopes off a Roie Gordana free-kick for the lone marker of the match.
“This was a big win with a ton of character,” Beersheba coach Elyaniv Barda explained. “I am satisfied with the fight and focus that the guys put in and especially the character above all. Of course I wanted more and we had trouble with their pressure which we couldn’t find solutions for. But in a game like this you need to know how to win 1-0, which we did.”
“I have to give credit to the team, they really put in a good game and effort,” Beitar coach Barak Itzhaki said. “I don’t like moral victories but I can take away a lot of hope. If we continue to play this way the results will come. We knew that Beersheba was a dangerous team and they have scored many goals. We lost a bit of focus and if we hadn’t the result could have been different.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Jerusalem slipped by Maccabi Bnei Reineh 1-0 thanks to Jelle Duin’s 30th-minute goal as the capital city Reds took the points.
“We gave out too many gifts to the opposition,” Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie began. “It happened at least four times, but we were ready for their dangerous players. We did have some good minutes but we couldn’t find the second goal. I generally don’t like 1-0 games, but it was tough and it was a good game from us nonetheless.”
“Over the last while we have been there and want to win but we just haven’t been able to do enough,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer lamented. “The team that wanted it more and was aggressive rightfully won the game. We will fight until the end to collect as many points as we can.”
Elsewhere, Hapoel Haifa defeated Maccabi Netanya in dramatic fashion 2-1 as the visiting Carmel Reds scored the winning goal via an 89th-minute penalty to take the victory and the points.
Oz Bilu gave the hosts a quick 1-0 lead in the third minute, but Dmitry Antilevsky headed home the tying goal in the 79th minute to even knot up the score. However, Tomer Yosefi’s penalty 10 minutes later handed Roni Levy’s team the lead for good.
“We began the game very poorly,” Levy said after the contest. “We spoke about the fact that Netanya would come in blazing as they want to get into the championship playoffs and that we can’t be too calm from the get go. We want to solidify our spot in fourth place and even threaten to move into third but we are missing some key players.”
“This isn’t the first time that we are on the cruel side of the game,” Netanya coach Guy Tzarfati said. “We made some mistakes that cost us and somehow that happens to us week after week. We led 1-0 and we had chances as did our substitutes, but the bottom line is that we lost the game that we should have won.”
Also, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petah Tikva played to a 0-0 draw as the sides split the points.
“This is a very bad situation,” Tel Aviv coach Yossi Abukasis said. “We are battling and we want to score and win but we are unable too. We are playing without any confidence and we need to collect points in order to stay in the league. We wanted to win but we could have easily lost.”
“I told the guys that I am proud of them,” Petah Tikva coach Benny Lam said. “The fans respected that they ran hard, played with desire and worked, so I am happy with them as well. Sure, we needed an extra pass to score a goal but all in all I have no complaints about their effort.”
In the Galilee, Bnei Sakhnin and Ashdod SC drew 1-1 to split the points for their efforts at Doha Stadium.
Clauido Spinelli nodded in the opening goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, but Stav Nachmani knotted the game up less than a quarter-hour later as each team took home a point for their efforts.
“I believe that the early goal we scored kind of forced us to play a bit more defensively,” Sakhnin coach Slobodan Drapic said. “We should have done that as Ashdod came here to take a point and we wanted to win. However, we just didn’t have enough quality to decide the game and I hope that this will not affect our playoff chances.”
“We didn’t come to take just one point, but all three from the first moments of the game,” Ashdod coach Eli Levi responded. “We came into a tough away game at a very difficult stadium and if we count who had more opportunities it was us. I have to give the guys credit after the loss to Maccabi Haifa as to how they came here to play and work very hard.”