Maccabi Tel Aviv pounded Kiryat Shemona 4-1 as the Ronny Deila era began on the right foot with a win while the yellow-and-blue featuring four different goal scorers. Dor Peretz headed home the opening marker in the 4th minute but Ariel Sheratzky drew the hosts even at 1-1 less than ten minutes later. However, that was as close as Shai Barda’s squad would get as Sayed Abu Farchi scored from the penalty spot and Osher Davida found the back of the goal just prior to the break for a 3-1 advantage at halftime. Kervin Andrade’s smart low liner from inside the box in the 64th minute made it 4-1 as Maccabi rolled to the 3-goal victory.

“The first half we were really active and I loved the energy and reactions of the team,” Maccabi Tel Aviv’s new head coach Ronny Delia began. “We created chances and it was a very good half. We dropped in the second half and I don’t know why, maybe concentration and playing many games but It was a good start and we can build on it. We were more direct and good on our pressing, those are things we want to see.”

“We didn’t come to play this game,” Kiryat Shemona Head Coach Shay Barda said. “When you play against Maccabi Tel Aviv with a new coach you have to be aggressive and we weren’t there. They had a penalty after we had gotten back into the game and that was it. This should not have happened and the players need to know how to deal with background noise. We just didn’t show up.”