Maccabi downed Hapoel 4-1 to take the Tel Aviv Derby and paint the city yellow-and-blue as they stayed atop the table with a perfect 4-0 record. Dor Peretz headed home the opening marker, but Stav Turiel found the equalizer from 30 meters out. However, Osher Davida quickly put the yellow-and-blue back in front while Turiel was sent off with his second yellow card leaving the reds with ten men at the end of the first half. With Kenny Miller’s squad a man to the good, Maccabi created chance after chance until Hisham Layous and Elad Madmon finally scored late in the game to close out the victory.

Maccabi Kenny Miller spoke about the win, “I don’t mind conceding one goal a game when we score four. I’m really happy with how the team is performing and we are playing well. When your playing well it gives you high expectations and we are going in the right way, with good results and playing a good brand of football. When you play in the derby it’s nothing you can take for granted and we are content to send our fans home happy.”

Hapoel Head Coach Elyaniv Barda spoke about the derby defeat, “We were down 1-0 but we did what we needed to and we tied the game up. But the red card that Stav Turiel got really changed the entire complexion of the match. The first yellow card was really unnecessary and we will talk about that internally. Defensively we played well and we were in the game even with ten men all the way until the 88th minute when it was still 2-1. We had the belief that we could win.”

Osher Davida spoke about the victory, “The best feeling in the world is winning. We’re happy to have won four games in a row. We scored two goals at the end of the game which was part of our plan. We took the momentum and pushed forward. I didn’t think it would turn out like this, but I believed. There’s still one more game before the international break, and I hope amd believe we’ll win.”

As the opening whistle was blown both sets of fans set off flares and fireworks to get the Derby off and running but when the smoke finally cleared Maccabi were the ones who found the back of the goal first. Noam Ben Harush sent a smart pass to Ester Sokler in the box but his header was tipped by Reds keeper Assaf Tzur right to an oncoming Dor Peretz who dove headfirst and nodded the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute.

However, a quarter hour later, Hapoel started to put the pressure on and it paid off when Stav Turiel’s brilliant strike from the top of the box cleanly beat Ofek Melika to draw the reds even at 1-1. But it didn’t stay knotted up for long as Osher Davida pounded home the ball after Sokler accidentally assisted instead of taking a shot himself to give the yellow-and-blue a 2-1 lead in the 36th minute. During the ensuing celebration there was a gathering of the clan that saw both Davida and Turiel were issued yellow cards.

After another Maccabi goal was called off via the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) due to a foul by Sokler on Doron Leidner Turiel was handed a second yellow card due to a reckless foul on Helio Varela which reduced Hapoel to ten men for the balance of the match as the contest hit the break.

Maccabi came out of halftime in fifth gear as they looked to double their advantage but chances by Davida and Varela missed the mark while Ben Harush screamer cleared the bar. Hapoel tried to find the equalizer but Kraev’s chance went wide of the goal and then with an opportunity in the box he fanned on the ball.

Varela’s long attempt was saved by an alert Tzur which led to a triple substitution by Hapoel and a pair of substitutes from Maccabi as each side looked to freshen up their lineups with a quarter hour remaining in the matchup. Gaby Kanichowsky distributed the ball with ease but both Varela and Tyrese Asante missed the target but his ball to Hisham Layous was perfectly placed to give Maccabi a 3-1 lead while Elad Madmon also found the back of the goal to take the win.