The Maccabi Tel Aviv three-day international under-19 tournament began at Kiryat Shalom on Thursday and the hosts lead the six-team standings after a 4-0 win over Beitar Jerusalem. In other matches, Grasshoppers of Zurich beat Crystal Palace and Excelsior Rotterdam overcame Hapoel Beersheba.

These are the standings at the end of the first day.

Maccabi Tel Aviv 4, Beitar Jerusalem 0: Beitar were penalised with a red card in the first half and allowed Eliezer Ben Aharon’s charges to take complete control of the match. Omri Ram and Parfait Guiagon scored for Maccabi in the first half and Rave Asayag and Itay Ben Hemo, who struck a screamer from 30 metres, added the other two in the second.

Hapoel Beersheba 1, Excelsior Rotterdam 3: The Israelis took the lead from a goal by Netanel Askayas early on but the Dutch boys were unmoved and overhauled the deficit with goals by Niek den Heeten, Dave van Delft and Brent Vugts.

Grasshoppers Zurich 3, Crystal Palace 0: The Swiss dominated for most of the game and registered a convincing win over their English opponents. The goals came from Filipe De Carvalho Ferreira with a penalty and Willy Vogt with two.

Tomorrow’s Schedule:

Day 1 Photos: