Three second-half goals made it two in a row for Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"
After their 3-0 victory over Hapoel Kfar Saba in last week, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" travelled to the capital to face Beitar Jerusalem and came away with the same fine result. An uneventful first half left the two teams goalless but the second half proved to be a different story altogether. Maccabi were by far the sharper of the two sides after the restart and netted three goals courtesy of midfielders Sharon Ziso and substitute Guy Cohen, who scored a brace.
Despite watching the distance between themselves and league leaders Maccabi Haifa increase somewhat after their last away loss to Beitar Tubruk, head coach Amir Turgeman's lads this time around proved once again that they haven't lost their winning touch. It began with the victory last week at Hapoel Kfar Saba and continued today at Beitar Jerusalem's Bayit Vegan sports complex. But in contrast to last week, when "Shachar" scored at the beginning of the match, this week the going in the first half was much harder with both sides cancelling one another out and leaving the match goalless at halftime.
After the restart it was the side of head coach Amir Turgeman that opened briskly and dictated events on the pitch. With just four minutes gone, midfielder Sharon Ziso rose to meet a cross from defender Dean Akafi and headed it over the opposing goalkeeper into the net. After opening their 1-0 lead, Maccabi continued to dominate and create chances and it was second half substitute Guy Cohen who translated that effort into additional goals. With 15 minutes left on the clock he took advantage of a wayward pass by Beitar's goalkeeper and struck over his head into the net to double Maccabi's lead. Five minutes later Cohen again exploited a defensive error on the part of the hosts and scored his second goal of the match, his eighth of the season.
Next week Maccabi's under 19s will host Hapoel Beer Sheva in an attempt to extend their run of victories to three.
Line-up: Gal Tuvali, Oliver Spring, Daniel Shvarzboim, Osher Abu, Shaun Goldberg, Yarden Pinto, Dor Buzaglo, Sharon Ziso, Dean Akafi, Daniel Gretz, Dor Jan
