Last night, Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Maccabi Netanya 0:3 at the Moshava Stadium, ending the Toto Cup group stage in first place in Group B. Even before the game started, the two teams knew that they had guaranteed their place in the next stage due to Bnei Yehuda's loss to HaPoel Tel Aviv. Sheran Yeini and Yagil Biton, who made his debut with the senior team, replaced Avi Strul and Carlos Garcia in the center of the team's defense. Throughout the full 90 minutes, Oscar Garcia's players demonstrated their superiority, which came through in two goals by Gal Alberman and another by Gonzalo Garcia. Next week, Maccabi Tel Aviv will open the season with a game against Maccabi Haifa.
Most of the first half was played on the guest's part of the field. The yellow team pressured Netanya's defense and after 5 minutes, Radi missed the goalpost from the box. At minute 11, the pressure showed results with Alberman completing an offensive with a sharp kick from 18 meters, into the corner. The yellow team continued to pressure the opponent after scoring the goal and after just one minute, Micha kicked a strong ball that flew by the posts. 15 minutes after the game started, Radi kicked a ball that hit the goalposts. One minute later, Atar was open in the field, but he kicked a ball that hit the goalkeeper and flew out to the corner. In the final 15 minutes of the half, Maccabi Tel Aviv eased up and allowed the game to gear down. At halftime, the yellow team had a minimal advantage, but a great mood.
The first minutes of the second half were a direct continuation of the previous one. The yellow team pressured Netanya's defensive line and, four minutes later, it found the net with an offensive beginning with Dabour and ending with a wide ball to Gonzalo, who kicked it in from close range. It was the second goal for the Forward from Uruguay in one week, after scoring the victory goal against Bnei Yehuda in overtime. Maccabi Netanya's coach, Tal Banin, made many switches in the early part of the half, but the trend continued. On his part, the coach for the yellow team introduced Roslan Bersky for his debut appearance and Ben Ben-Yair, to make up a trio of players – along with Yagil Biton – who won the championship with the junior team.
The final 15 minutes of the game belonged to the young generation. Ben Ben-Yair tried his luck in a joint offensive with Dor Micha, Lugassy and Bersky who took the ball to center field and Yagil Biton completed 90 successful minutes. The icing on the cake came one minute into overtime with an air goal by Gal Alberman after receiving a wide kick from Yoav Ziv. Maccabi Tel Aviv is unbeaten and in first place at the end of the Toto Cup group stage.
