Beitar Jerusalem defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-2 as four different goal scorers helped the yellow-and-black to the victory at Teddy Stadium in the capital city and remain in first place with only six matchdays left in the Championship Playoffs. Ido Shachar opened the scoring with an early goal but Yarden Shua found the equalizer soon thereafter while goals by Johnbosco Kalu and Brayan Carabali bumped the Beitar lead up to 3-1, however, just ahead of the break Tyrese Asante cut the advantage to 3-2.

In the second half, Omer Atzily added another marker as Barak Itzhaki’s team took the 4-2 with a date at Hapoel Tel Aviv slated for Wednesday at Bloomfield Stadium.

Beitar Head Coach Barak Itzhaki reflected on the win, “We have a lot of character but it’s also not great to concede early goals. But we were able to come back and score a number of goals of our own. We also gave up a goal right at the break which isn’t great to do, but at the half I told the guys that we have to keep the foot on the gas and keep pushing. When we are at home or when we are on the road we feel the fans and here at Teddy they are so critical for our success.”

Maccabi Head Coach Ronny Deila talked about the loss, “A lot of things weren’t good enough, lack of intensity and pressure, we were too late on defense and we had too many touches on offense. After a good start we should have used the momentum to be braver and not cowardly. This was under our standards and it was and it was a disappointing night. We need to be stronger and while I believe that we are still in the race we are disappointed as it’s nine points off the top of the table and a lot of things have to go our way.”

Yarden Shua spoke about the victory, “We are happy, the guys are all together as one. We showed character and we didn’t fall apart and we stayed together after the early goal. Playing at home is a big thing and the fans really help us a lot. There is a lot of pressure and some great games coming up and while Maccabi may be 9-points behind us, I can’t eulogise them. In concerned about Beitar Jerusalem.”

Maccabi stunned the hosts early on as a quick passing play involving Roy Revivo and Ido Shachar as the latter put the ball behind Miguel Silva for a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute. Yarden Shua and Omer Atzily began to work their magic with each having a chance to draw even which is exactly what the former did about ten minutes later as the captain was left all alone and beat keeper Ofek Melika to draw even at 1-1.

Beitar continued to press and were rewarded as Heitor pulled an active Johnbosco Kalu in the box for a penalty but Atzily’s spot kick was brilliantly saved by Melika with his foot to keep the score as is in the 25th minute. But Barak Itzhaki’s squad kept pushing and the pressure paid off when Brayan Carabali headed home a Shua cross to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Heitor continued to be at the center of attention as Kalu stripped him of the ball and went in all alone as he slotted the ball past Melika for a 3-1 advantage but Tyrese Asante pulled back goal from in close in first half stoppage time as the match went into the break with Beitar holding a 3-2 lead.

Ronny Delia’s team began to control the pace of play as the second half began, but from out of nowhere, Beitar broke down the pitch as Ziv Ben Shimol fed Atzily who was coming off the right flank into the box and put the ball past Melika for a 4-2 lead in the 53rd minute. Maccabi continued to push to cut the lead but a pair of corners didn’t find their intended addresses in the box and then made a triple substitution to freshen up the yellow-and-blue attack in the 68th minute.

As time ticked down Beitar also made a trio of substitutions as Yarden Cohen’s late attempt was saved while at the other end Sissoko was issued a straight red card for elbowing Timoti Muzie just before the match came to an end.