Hapoel Tel Aviv cruised past Beitar Jerusalem 3-0 as Roi Alkukin scored in the first half while Douglas Owusu and Daniel Dappa did the same in the second half after yellow-and-black defender Luka Gadrani was sent off to hand Eliyaniv Barda’s squad the 3-points and the win.

Beitar Jerusalem owner Barak Abramov spoke about the club’s situation, “I’m here after a game which I normally don’t do, but it’s important for me to be here during the tough times. We have a good squad and we are only in the second round of games so I’m not going to even look at the issues that we are having. We are looking for the right player and we won’t bring in a player that doesn’t upgrade the club. We want to bring in a #6, a midfielder and I’m sure we will find one as well. I’m not here to tell you any stories, we are just not playing well right now and that is something that a football club goes through. There won’t be any type of earthquake prior to the next game against Bnei Sakhnin.”

Hapoel Head Coach Elyaniv Barda talked about his side’s win, “I don’t think that we can use the word easy for this win, but the players were ready and we did things right in the first half. After Beitar had a player sent off it took us a bit of time to get into the swing of things but we did and finished off the game back at Bloomfield Stadium in front of our fans for the first time in quite a while. The players were very happy about the win but we now have to prepare for the game against Hapoel Ramat Gan. There are now much more expectations on our team and we gave an even higher standard that we have to meet.”

Almog Cohen looked back at the game, “As the criticism increases my desire to succeed also increases. I will accept criticism that is deserved and the last two games that was the case. We have disappointed the fans and there is a tremendous amount of disappointment. Sometimes in football things just don’t go the way you want them to. When we will win one or two games everyone will be back behind us. The players wanted to win and they put in a tremendous amount of effort but now the game against Sakhnin is without a question a must win for us.”

Shahar Piven discussed the victory, “After a number of years that some didn’t really count on Hapoel Tel Aviv to be able to compete this season we are finally in that position. We are trying to make that step up that we need to in order to meet the expectations that we have set for ourselves. We want to be there and compete for the title and we should be there because we have the best fans in the country.”

Omer Atzily shared his thoughts, “We have to really pick ourselves up and I’ve gone through many tough times but I always kept my head held up high. The game on Monday against Sakhnin is a must win for us. Right now we don’t feel great about the situation and the veterans have to put more on themselves in order to lead the team now when we need it the most. There are times that didn’t go that well and now is the time to change that.”

After a quarter hour, Hapoel Tel Aviv struck first as Stav Turiel sent a brilliant cross into the box that Roi Alkukin headed home as he beat Beitar defender Roie Elimelech to the ball as the reds took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute of play. Elyaniv Barda’s squad controlled the pace of play and had a magnificent chance to double the advantage but Emmanuel Boateng couldn’t convert in front of a wide open goal as the hosts went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Almog Cohen’s team as Luka Gadrani was sent off with a straight red card after knocking down Douglas Owusu as the last man towards the goal leaving Beitar with ten men in the 47th minute. Turiel had a pair of chances but came up short, Owusu hit the woodwork, while at the other end Eugene Ansah just missed his chance as the ball skipped by the right post.

After a poor corner by Beitar, Reds keeper Asaf Tzur sent a terrific ball to Boateng who in turn passed it on to Owusu as the Ghanaian winger went into the box and beat Silva to give Hapoel a 2-0 lead in the 75th minute. Daniel Dappa added the reds third marker as he slotted the ball home five minutes later as Hapoel kept pouring on the attack to wrap up the victory.