Haifa crushes Netanya as Chery departs, Maccabi TLV draws with Hapoel Petach Tikva, Beer Sheva wins

Jan 21, 2024 | Football

Maccabi Haifa crushed Maccabi Netanya 4-0 as Dean David’s brace set the tone for the victory in what was captain Tjaron Chery’s last game for the club this season as he will return home to Holland for personal family reasons. David found the opening goal after he put in his own rebound off a header in the 38th minute while Anan Khalaili doubled the advantage 3 minutes later to head into the break with a 2-0 lead. David scored in the 64th minute to give Messay Dego’s team a 3-0 advantage as Frantzdy Pierrot added the final marker in injury time to polish off the game.

Tjaron Chery spoke about his time with Maccabi Haifa, “I’m very emotional as everyone has shown me so much love. I want to thank all of the fans and management for what they did for me and how they are allowing me to go home without an issue. Everyone knows how close we are to another championship and they still let me go. I am grateful and I will miss everyone over the next few months.”

“I had never played for a club for more than 2 years and this is my 5th seasons here. That really says it all. As for the biggest moment, it has to be the goal against Paris St. Germain, but even this game was special. I think 80% of the stadium were wearing my jersey and I love all of the fans and vice versa. I haven’t played well lately and everyone knows what I can do. On Wednesday we need to win the Toto Cup title and I’ll be back in 4-5 months better than ever and I am certain that Maccabi Haifa will win the league championship. They can do that without me but I will be back to lift the title.”

“I only wish I can stop Chery’s flight to Holland,” Dego said following the game. “These are tough moments despite the win. There will still be one more game that we can enjoy Chery playing in. There will come the day when I will tell everyone what type of person Chery is and what he did for me the first moment that I arrived at the club. His level of training, the respect as to how he asks everyone to be quiet when I speak in order to listen and the time that we spent talking about family; we have a very special relationship. I told him he has 4-5 months now to enjoy his family and then he has to return!”

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petach Tikva drew 0-0 as each side took a point for their efforts.

“We have to be better and understand where we need to improve,” Yellow-and-blue coach Robbie Keane began. “We tried to score and we had plenty of chances, we need to be better. If you look at how we controlled the ball and the chances we created we played well but this was just one of those days that the ball wouldn’t go in to the goal and that happens sometimes.”

“This was a draw that was like a win for us,” Petach Tilkva coat Ofer Tesselpepe said. “We are missing plenty of quality players but we have a group of young guys who are really responsible and gave it their all. I am happy for there and for the fans that supported us.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva slipped by Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 thanks to Amir Ganah’s 74th minute goal to keep up their positive play of late and collect another 3-points and the win.

“I’m happy about taking the 3-points and the momentum that has kept us going,” Beer Sheve coach Elyaniv Barda said. “I believe that this has a direct impact on our play. I think we weren’t at our best in this game, we didn’t create chances and we weren’t sharp enough. Our decision making wasn’t good enough and we had lost types types of games this season so I’m happy this one went to us.”

“Yet another game that we didn’t deserve to lose in any way shape or form,” Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie said. “Our game plan worked and I don’t remember Hapoel Beer Sheva getting so few chances. We created plenty of opportunities but we couldn’t score. This is yet another chapter in our difficult season.”

Maccabi Bnei Reineh and Hapoel Haifa played to a goalless draw as the sides split the points for their efforts.

“We tried to decide the game in the first half,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer said. “We had a bunch of chances but a 0-0 game plays right into the hands of a team like Hapoel Haifa. I knew they would have a bit of an advantage due to our exhaustion but I am really upset that we couldn’t find a way to score in the first half which was perhaps one of our best this season.”

“At the end of the day the exhaustion of the players decided this game,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy said. “We played against a very tough team on the road and we knew that we would have a tough time playing them. We didn’t begin the game well and we improved in the second half and created some chances but not enough to score.”

Hapoel Hadera and Ashdod drew 1-1 as the two teams each took a point for their efforts. Ravid Abergil gave the port city side a quick 1-0 lead in the 11th minute but Ruslan Barsky found the equalizer for Hadera twenty minutes later as the teams split the points.

“I only met up with the team for the first time for this game,” Hadera’s new head coach Haim Silvas said. “We didn’t start off the game well and it took about a quarter hour for us to get going. The goal we scored gave us some life as we got back into the groove and in the second half we started to open up a bit.”

“We began the game really well,” Ashdod bench boss Eli Levy said. “We had enough chances to decide the game. But we are in a marathon with this schedule and have to already look towards the next game. I’m happy that we haven’t lost in the last two games and I hope that this will continue.”

Maccabi Petach Tikva and Bnei Sakhnin drew 1-1 to split the points. After a goalless first half, Ariel Lugassy scored to give Petach Tikva a lead in the 60th minute but Basil Khuri drew Sakhnin even a quarter hour later as each team took a point.

“Sports sometimes doesn’t go the way you want it to,” Sakhnin coach Slobodan Drapic said. “We have to deal with injuries and platers who have been suspended. It’s too bad we lost 2 points here but the league is long and we need guys to come back ready to go.”

“We have been saying that the team is above all,” Petach Tikva coach Ron Kozuk said. “The guys fought hard for they draw all the way to the final minute and I am happy about that. They were a bit under pressure but we knew what to do in order to push the team forward.”

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