Beitar Jerusalem crushed Maccabi Netanya 8-2 as Yarden Shua scored a first half brace and added an assist on Adi Yona’s goal to cruise to the victory and 3-points to pull to within four points to table leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva.

After a bit of extracurricular activity from the Beitar fans with flares that left a trail of smoke, Bassam Zarora put Netanya onto the scoresheet as he pounded home a rebound to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. However, Jerusalem came right back down the pitch and found the equalizer when a total team effort saw Yarin Levy send Yarden Cohen the ball to the left of the box as he crossed it right back across the goal line to an oncoming Yarden Shua who put it into the net. Nana Antwi then flew down the right flank and sent the ball to Gonzalez who was in the middle of the box and sent a cheeky backheel behind Niv Antman for a 2-1 lead in the 19th minute.

As the match headed into first half injury time Yarin Levy sent the ball to Shua went past the Netanya defenders and cut to the middle of the box and he put the ball into the goal for a 3-1 lead. But Oz Bilu redirected a Muhamed Aziz attempt past Silva to cut the lead down to just a goal, 3-2. However, Gonzalez flicked the ball to an oncoming Boris Enow who went into the box and quickly slotted it by a diving Antman to regain the 2-goal lead while Adi Yona took a Shua pass and scored from 30 meters out to give Beitar Jerusalem a 5-2 lead at halftime.

Roni Levy made four substitutions to start the second half to calm the game down for Netanya as they pushed for a goal but Zarora’s attempt was pawed to safety by a leaping Silva, while Dor Micha’s shot was saved by Antman to keep the score as is. But it wouldn’t remain like that for long as Cohen scored off a Johnbosco Kalu pass in the box, Ziv Ben Shimol sent a scorcher past Antman and Kalu found the box of the goal as well to polish off the 8-2 win.

Jerusalem Head Coach Barak Itzhaki spoke about the win, “There were some great goals in this game other terrific plays as well as we were able to create so many chances as well. After the last two games I was very optimistic that we would be fine because we had some many opportunities and we were there. I wasn’t worried, the goals were going to come and that what happened here.”

Netanya Head Coach Roni Levy commented on the loss, “This was an shame and an embarrassment. This was a really tough game and not pleasant and I’m responsible as the coach. Every parameter we weren’t there and didn’t compete. It was a disgrace and there is plenty that will need to be corrected.”

The Man of the Match Yarden Shua looked back on the victory, “I think we really controlled the game and it was going to come at some point no here it was like we did in the 6-2 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, we all knew how important the win was going to be for us. You can see how much the new players gave us in this game as well. It was great to have Omer Atzily back on the pitch as well.”