Hapoel Jerusalem crushed Hapoel Petach Tikva 5-1 as five different goal scorers handed the Reds the win and the three points. After opening up the game with a goalless half hour, Matan Hozez found the back of the hosts net from 25 meters out while Don Cedric put home a gorgeous ball by Ofek Nadir just ahead of the break to grab a 2-0 advantage.

Ofek Osher cut the Jerusalem lead to 2-1 just a minute into the second half but before Petach Tikva could finish celebrating Idan Dahan helped the visitors regain the two goal lead and made it 3-1. Awake Ashta added another strike in the 70th minute and Itay Zada scored as well 13 minutes later to wrap up the blowout victory.

“This is just an exhibition game and I am not going to look at the result,” Jerusalem coach Avi Arie said as he tried to downplay the big victory. “We are a good team but we are missing a player that will give us some depth. Whatever we did here won’t have any effect on our games in the league.”

“It’s never pleasant but we know exactly where we are,” Petach Tikva coach Ofer Tesselpepe explained. “We have a situation here that we need to know how to deal with. It won’t be easy but we will know how to handle it. There is no question that we have to take a good look at this game as the goals we gave up were very easy and these were not up to this level.”

Ashdod hosted Maccabi Petach Tikva to a 1-1 draw at the port city in Toto Cup play. Ilay Tamam gave Ashdod an early lead as he took advantage of a Gil Cohen through ball but a late penalty by Mohamed Hindy gave the visitors a split of the points.

“I’m coming out out of this game very optimistic,” Petach Tikva coach Benny Lam said. “Unlike the Derby we played a few days ago, we were able to hold onto the ball in the first half and we were able to create a number of good chances. In the second half some of our younger players really impressed. The Toto Cup is a real help to get ready for the season and our goal is to use these games to our advantage to come into the campaign as prepared as possible.”

“I feel that we missed an opportunity,” Ashdod coach Eli Levy said after his debut on the sidelines. “I believe that we played better than a draw but I am proud of the guys and they put in a great effort. I wanted to see a team that plays tactically and they did a good job of that.”