Tel Aviv rivals run riot as Maccabi, Hapoel cruise to emphatic Premier League wins

Hapoel Tel Aviv cruised to a 3-0 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while Maccabi Tel Aviv overwhelmed Hapoel Haifa 6-2 as the two Tel Aviv sides enjoyed convincing victories in the latest round of Israeli Premier League action.

With 7,000 Hapoel Tel Aviv supporters in attendance at Teddy Stadium, Daniel Dappa opened the scoring just before halftime, collecting a superb through ball from Douglas Owusu before dribbling past a defender inside the box and unleashing a powerful strike into the net.

The visitors doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute when Omri Altman finished off a magnificent backheel from Yannick Leliendal. Less than 10 minutes later, substitute Roie Alkukin tapped home a terrific Leliendal cross to complete the scoring and secure all three points for the Reds.

Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda acknowledged that his side had struggled early on before finding its rhythm after the break.

“We weren’t good enough in the first half and didn’t control the tempo enough,” Barda said. “We struggled until we made adjustments at halftime, and bringing on Roie Alkukin also helped us. The second and third goals came from excellent attacking moves involving plenty of passing and movement. They were incredible attacking sequences.”

Hapoel Jerusalem coach laments team's shortcomings

Hapoel Jerusalem coach Lior Zada lamented his team’s defensive shortcomings, particularly the goal conceded just before halftime.

“We had some good spells in the first half and played well, controlling the tempo of the game. But then we conceded a very soft goal at the end of the half,” Zada said. “It was a tough game, but we need to work hard to get results. We’re conceding too many goals, although we’re also playing many of our games against top teams with a lot of quality.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv delivered an even more emphatic performance, defeating Hapoel Haifa 6-2 as Ali Camara scored twice in the second half to help the yellow-and-blue pull away.

Elad Madmon gave Maccabi the lead from inside the box off an assist from Noam Ben Harush, but Arial Mendy equalized for Hapoel Haifa in the 38th minute to send the teams into halftime level at 1-1.

Camara restored Maccabi’s advantage with a header from a corner kick, and Dor Peretz extended the lead to 3-1 in the 58th minute. Sagiv Yehezkel added another shortly afterward, before Alon Turgeman pulled one back for the visitors in the 72nd minute.

However, Camara struck again to complete his brace, and Itamar Noy added a sixth goal from inside the box to cap a dominant performance.

Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Kenny Miller was pleased with the attacking display but insisted his team still had work to do.

“We scored a lot of goals and we had plenty of chances even before we started scoring,” Miller said. “There are a lot of things I’m happy with and a lot of things I’m not. We can’t give the opposition hope at any stage of the game. I’m very pleased with the result. We scored goals, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”

Hapoel Haifa coach Haim Silvas said his team struggled to recover after conceding from a set piece in the second half.

“We came into the game determined to show that we’re a good team,” Silvas said. “In the second half, we conceded from a set piece and then there was a kind of collapse. The game opened up and Maccabi Tel Aviv raised the tempo. We were still stunned by the goal and they scored another. From that point on, the hole was too deep to climb out of.”

Elsewhere, Bnei Sakhnin edged Kiryat Shmona 1-0, with Sana Gomes scoring the decisive goal in the 40th minute to secure all three points.

Sakhnin coach satisfied with win

Sakhnin coach Yossi Abukasis was satisfied with the result, even if he felt his team could have won by a greater margin.

“We’ll remain humble. I don’t think this was a great football performance from us, but we created a lot of chances,” Abukasis said. “We had four or five clear-cut opportunities that should have resulted in goals. We could have put the game away much earlier, but we’re happy with the win. It’s very important.”

Kiryat Shmona coach Shai Barda was left frustrated by another disappointing result, with his team having collected just three points from its first eight games.

“We’ve only collected three points from 24, and that’s a fact. This is unequivocally not where we expected to be,” Barda said. “Right now, we’re struggling with a lack of confidence, and the losses are making it difficult to turn things around.”
Ironi Tiberias and Maccabi Netanya shared the points in a dramatic 1-1 draw, as Bar Cohen scored in the 92nd minute to rescue the hosts after Oz Bilu had put the visitors ahead in the first half.

Netanya coach Roni Levy was furious that his side had surrendered its advantage in stoppage time.

“It’s frustrating not to score, but we shouldn’t be conceding in stoppage time,” Levy said. “That’s irresponsible and says a lot about the state of our team. Our mentality probably isn’t good enough, because with the right mentality in a game like this, you win 4-0 comfortably. We didn’t do that and we paid the price.”

Tiberias coach Alon Ziv said his team had overcome a difficult start to earn a valuable point.

“We were about to make a switch in the middle of the match as we started off really poorly,” Ziv said. “We gave up a goal at the end of the half which could have really broken us, but we were able to come back and play well and take a point.”

Maccabi Petah Tikva also picked up a valuable victory, beating Hapoel Ramat Gan 2-1 thanks to a first-half brace from Jose Cortes.

Luan Campos pulled a goal back for the hosts after the break, but Ziv Arie’s side held on to claim all three points and end a five-game losing streak.

Petah Tikva coach Arie welcomed the result after a difficult run of form.

“We’ll take every win we can get. We started well and the first half was very good,” Arie said. “We wanted to win so badly that we weren’t calm enough on the ball. We didn’t play the way we wanted to in the second half, but after five losses, some of them bizarre, we’ll take the win and won’t complain about anything.”

Ramat Gan coach Masai Dego was disappointed with his team’s first-half performance, despite a stronger showing after the interval.

“Ultimately, we can’t perform the way we did in the first half,” Dego said. “We responded well after the break and we shouldn’t have fallen apart. We restored some of our pride and could even have equalized, but it’s a tough defeat.”