Maccabi Tel Aviv ended the entire regular season unbeaten on Saturday after registering a 1-0 win over Maccabi Netanya in their final TASE Premier League fixture before the playoff phase begins.

Maccabi were far from their best, particularly in the second half, when Netanya took control and had far more attempts to score, although they failed to find the target and on one occasion were denied by the woodwork. 

The opening few minutes belied what was to follow as Maccabi wasted little time in getting their show on the road and went ahead in the fourth minute when Eylon Almog latched on to a through ball slightly on the left from Yonatan Cohen. He raised his leg and guided the ball into the Netanya yet well out of reach of Danny Amos in goal.

Maccabi had another chance on 25 minutes when Omer Atzili crossed a free kick on from the right but Jair Amador was unable to head the ball past Amos. That was almost the last we saw of Maccabi’s attacking efforts throughout the match as their attacking might deserted them and the home team were allowed to take control of the midfield.

Netanya had a good chance in the 43rd minute, only for Gabi Kanikovsky to shoot high over Daniel Tenenbaum’s crossbar. 

The second half was a ragged and inaccurate kick-about but in the 55th minute, Jonas Malede almost pulled Netanya level with an excellent curling shot from the left that was beyond Tenenbaum’s reach, although Maccabi were saved by the right post.

While Netanya looked the more dangerous side in the second half and used their speed to attack, some competent defending by Maccabi’s players and a good save by Tenenbaum ensured yet another clean sheet.