Hapoel Tel Aviv cruised past Hapoel Petach Tikva 3-0 as Emmanuel Boateng and Chico scored in the first half while Karim Kimvuidi was sent off leaving the visitors with ten men as an own goal in the 55th minute by Or Israelov put the finishing touches on the win for the hosts.

Reds Head Coach Elyaniv Barda spoke about the win, “We did things very well in the first half and, thankfully, managed to settle the game early on. We went through four very turbulent and difficult days and I’m happy to see the team’s collective strength come through today. Ultimately, it was a game that was largely decided by the red card.”

Petach Tikva Head Coach Omer Peretz reflected on the loss, “The start was very lethargic, very poor and Hapoel punished us quickly. After that, the two substitutions brought the game to life, and the red card killed it for us. It wasn’t a good game, but despite all the pain, I think this game can lift us up. We got out of here by the skin of our teeth and I think the players who came on showed that they can be relied upon. We didn’t want to take this blow going into the international break, but on the other hand, we’ll come back stronger.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv came out as a team in a mission and quickly got to work on with Emmanuel Boateng heading in a pinpoint perfect cross from Marcus Coco cross for a 1-0 lead while Chico nodded home a Yannick Leleindel corner to double the advantage by the 17th minute. Karim Kimvuidi was sent off with a second yellow card as the clash hit the 42nd minute but the resulting free kick by Omri Altman just went wide left of the goal as the reds took a 2-0 lead into the break.

The hosts looked to increase their lead and did just that when Roie Alkukin’s cross went off of Or Israelov and into the back of Omer Katz’s goal for a 3-0 lead in the 55th minute. After wholesale substitutions, Barda’s charges kept pushing for more but one chance after the next came up short as Hapoel took the victory.