Beitar Jerusalem crushed Maccabi Netanya 8-2 in Israel Premier League action as Yarden Shua scored a first-half brace and added an assist on Adi Yona’s goal while Yarden Cohen, Boris Enow, Gonzalez, Johnbosco Kalu and Ziv Ben Shimol all found the back of the goal to cruise to the victory and pull to within four points of table leader Hapoel Beersheba.
After a bit of extracurricular activity from the Beitar fans with flares that left a trail of smoke, Bassam Zarora put Netanya onto the scoresheet as he pounded home a rebound to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. However, Jerusalem came right back down the pitch and found the equalizer when a total team effort saw Yarin Levy send Cohen the ball to the left of the box as he crossed it right back across the goal line to an oncoming Shua, who put it into the net.
Nana Antwi then flew down the right flank and sent the ball to Gonzalez, who was in the middle of the box and sent a cheeky backheel behind Niv Antman for a 2-1 lead in the 19th minute.
As the match headed into first-half injury time, Levy sent the ball to Shua, who went past the Netanya defenders and cut to the middle of the box and he put the ball into the goal for a 3-1 lead.
Oz Bilu redirected a Muhamed Aziz attempt past Silva to cut the lead down to just 3-2, However, Gonzalez flicked the ball to an oncoming Enow, who went into the box and quickly slotted it by a diving Antman to regain the two-goal lead. Then Yona took a Shua pass and scored from 30 meters out to give Jerusalem a 5-2 lead at halftime.
Netanya’s Roni Levy made four substitutions to start the second half to calm the game down for Netanya as it pushed for a goal, but Zarora’s attempt was pawed to safety by a leaping Silva, while Dor Micha’s shot was saved by Antman to keep the score as is. But it wouldn’t remain like that for long as Cohen scored off a Johnbosco Kalu pass in the box, Ben Shimol sent a scorcher past Antman and Kalu found the box of the goal as well to polish off the six-goal rout.
Jerusalem coach Barak Itzhaki spoke about the win.
“There were some great goals in this game, and other terrific plays as well as we were able to create so many chances. After the last two games I was very optimistic that we would be fine because we had some many opportunities and we were there. I wasn’t worried, the goals were going to come and that’s what happened here.”
Shua, the man of the match, also looked back on the victory.
“I think we really controlled the game and it was going to come at some point. You can see how much the new players gave us in this game, and it was great to have Omer Atzily back on the pitch as well.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv beats Ashdod SC
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Ashdod SC 3-2 as a trio of scorers found the back of the net for the yellow-and-blue.
Amir Sahiti opened the scoring as he slotted home a beautiful pass by Roy Revivo, but Ibrahim Diakite hammered home a header to draw the visitors even at the 37th minute. However, just ahead of the break, Revivo sent a magnificent long ball to Sayed Abu Farhi, who found the back of the goal to send the hosts into halftime holding a 2-1 advantage.
An active Sahiti sent Helio Varela a perfect ball in the box and he slotted it behind the Ashdod ’keeper to go up 3-1, but once again Eylkn Almog cut the gap back down to a lone goal. However, that would be as close as Ashdod would get as Maccabi took the victory.
“I think we created a lot of chances and we should have scored more,” Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Ronny Delia said. “We needed to close out the game earlier, but we created many chances and scored three goals, so there are a lot of positive things.”
Tight match ends in Hapoel Petah Tikva victory
Elsewhere, Hapoel Petah Tikva slipped by Maccabi Haifa 1-0 as Mamady Diarra scored the lone goal of the match in the 59th minute to take the points and stay in the Championship Playoff picture.
Petah Tikva coach Omer Peretz discussed the victory.
“It’s a great feeling to experience these type of things. It wasn’t simple here and the players suffered on the pitch. We knew we’d get one or two chances in the second half and I’m happy we did. It wasn’t great football from our side, but at this stage every game is like a cup final and most importantly we want to bring home the points.”
Maccabi Haifa bench boss Barak Bachar talked about the defeat.
“We had enough chances to win the game. We deserved at least two goals in this match. We made a mistake and conceded and that happens. Hapoel Petah Tikva is a dangerous team, but we weren’t exposed for most of the game. When you lose it’s frustrating, but if we continue with this ability we’ll keep progressing.”
Bnei Sakhnin and Hapoel Tel Aviv played to a goalless draw as the sides split the points.
“We knew this was the type of game we were expecting,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda said. “We knew we would have to create a lot in the attacking third and I think we created enough. When you don’t score in games like this, they can also turn against you, so we knew how to preserve the 0–0 draw. We brought on all the tools at our disposal and usually it works, today was not one of those days.”
Ironi Tiberias defeated Maccabi Bnei Reineh 3-2 as Guy Hadida scored the winning goal in second-half injury time to give the Kinneret side a dramatic three points.
Following a goalless first half, Stanislav Bilenkyi gave Tiberias the lead, but Asil Kanani knotted the game up at 1-1 in the 74th minute. However, the Tiberias captain Hadida nodded home the winner off a Eli Balilty corner in the 95th minute to snatch the win for Eliran Hodeida’s team.
“We deserved to win throughout the entire match,” Hodeida began. “We controlled the game, but apparently we enjoy these tight matches and dragging everything to the last second. The goal is the result, no matter how we achieved it. I’m happy the players showed character in a critical minute and won the game.”
Finally, Ironi Kiryat Shmona blanked Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 as Ariel Sheratzky scored the game’s only goal in the second half to hand the northerners the points.
“This is a very important win,” Kiryat Shmona coach Shai Barda began. “We really wanted it and we also recorded a clean sheet after a very long time without one. Now our focus is on Bnei Sakhnin, so there’s not much time to celebrate.”
Jerusalem’s Ziv Arie summed up his side's loss.
“We didn’t play badly, but we didn’t take our chances, and now we have to move on. I’m always satisfied with my players’ effort and I’m not worried about anything.”
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