Maccabi Haifa triumphs, Hapoel TA too

A 0-0 draw at Maccabi Tel Aviv on Saturday meant that the Greens remained 10 points behind the yellow-and-blue.

By ALLON SINAI
MACCABI HAIFA striker Dino Ndlovu 370 (photo credit: Uzi Gal)
MACCABI HAIFA striker Dino Ndlovu 370
(photo credit: Uzi Gal)
Maccabi Haifa lived up to its promise to fight for the Premier League title until the final whistle to the season on Tuesday, thrashing Hapoel Ramat Hasharon 6-0 at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium for its 16th victory in its past 19 matches.
A 0-0 draw at Maccabi Tel Aviv on Saturday meant that the Greens remained 10 points behind the yellow-and-blue.
However, four goals from Dino Ndlovu on Tuesday ensured Haifa cut the gap to seven points for at least 24 hours, with Tel Aviv not visiting reigning-champion Ironi Kiryat Shmona until Wednesday night.
Haifa ran riot from the first whistle, with Ndlovu scoring his first goal of the night after just six minutes following a clever Yaniv Katan pass.
Taleb Tawatha continued his superb season by finding the back of the net in the 21st minute and Ndlovu added three goals in the second half (50, 66, 69) to double his tally for the season and become the first player to score four times in one Premier League match since teammate Weeam Amasha, who netted Haifa’s sixth goal (89) on Tuesday, accomplished the feat at the start of last season.
“This is the best game of my professional career,” said Ndlovu. “I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. It comes down to what I do on the field and I scored four goals tonight.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Bnei Yehuda 2-1 at Bloomfield Stadium to solidify third place, stringing together three straight league wins for the first time in four months.
Bnei Yehuda took the lead in the 15th minute through Nenad Marinkovic, but Toto Tamuz equalized from the penalty spot 16 minutes later and Hapoel clinched all three points after ’keeper Dele Aiyenugba turned Hanan Maman’s pass into his own net in the 67th minute.