Over in Toto Cup play, Maccabi Netanya blanked Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 on a trio of second half goals that Maxim Plakuschenko assisted on to send the Reds back down to earth after a pair of wins to open up the preseason competition. After a scoreless first half, Plakuschenko sent marvelous ball to Luccas Paraizo who stabbed it by Hapoel keeper Asaf Tzur for a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute. Rotem Keller curled home an 84th minute marker to doubled the advantage off another Plakuschenko ball while the midfield maestro then set Oz Bilu free with a tremendous through ball to polish off the match in fine fashion.

“I think the players raised the bar in the second half,” Netanya bench boss Yossi Abuksis said. “I told them at halftime that it couldn’t be that we were losing so many balls and were disorganized. We were lucky that the score was 0-0. I’m happy that we were able to really come through and play well in the second half.”

Dusan Matovic, Hapoel Tel Aviv’s assistant coach shared his thoughts as well, “We didn’t come into this game aggressive enough and we lost almost every battle, we can’t play like that. There are a few things we need to improve, but it’s good to get a slap in the face sometimes. We lost a lot of balls in the second half, there wasn’t much pressure from Netanya, we just didn’t find solutions and didn’t make the right decisions.”

The man of the match Maxim Plakushchenko also commented on the win, “There is a good group here at the club and coach gives me the reins to do what is needed. I really appreciate that. Everyone gives everything, I hope we can continue like this and win some games. This is not the first time a coach has given me the chance to run the attack but this is the first time in Netanya. I am a coach’s player and I give it all for them on the field of play. There is no better feeling when the coach gives you confidence.”

Hapoel defender Shahar Piven spoke about the game from his point of view, “In the first half we were in the game, we were tactically playing well and everything worked. What was wrong with us was the battles we had and our aggressiveness, that is where Netanya beat us. This is the beginning of the road for us and a game like this is always good for it to happen at this stage of the season. We are far from what we expect of ourselves and from here we will just improve.”

Hapoel Petach Tikva overwhelmed Ashdod 3-0 as Chipyoka Songa’s brace helped Omer Peretz’s team take the win at the port city. Songa scored a pair of quick first half goals both off of Jocelin Tabi balls while Noam Cohen sealed the deal in second half injury time to hand Petach Tikva the dominant win.

“We did not play well,” Ashdod Head Coach Haim Silvas began. “I always am looking to improve, but games like this are a shock to the system and makes us realize that we are still far away. We have a long way to go to be ready for every game. It’s disappointing and I’s not fun to see the team like this. I hope we do what needs to be done and that we will not look like this again.”
“In terms of our ability on the pitch this is a direct continuation of our last games in the Toto Cup,” Petach Tikva Head Coach Omer Peretz said. “It’s just that in this game we were able to finish our chances. There are a lot of good things, but just as I wasn’t excited after the losses, I won’t go out of my way here either after a win. But I will say that we now see a team on the pitch and that’s good.”