Tonight Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Ironi Ramat Hasharon 0-3 at the local Yankele Grundman Stadium to re-open their three-point lead at the top of the Israeli Premier League table. The 3,400 Maccabi fans that attended the match managed to create a home game atmosphere at the small venue in Ramat Hasharon's Morasha neighbourhood and even dedicated a number of songs to two former Maccabi players, defenders Avi Strul and Kobi Musa, who were out on the pitch for the home side. Twenty-five minutes into the match the Maccabi faithful were rewarded with a powerful goal from inside the area by midfielder Maharan Radi, with fellow midfielder Dor Micha providing resourceful assistance. Just past the hour mark, defender Carlos Garcia scored his first goal for Maccabi Tel Aviv by turning in a clever cross from striker Rade Prica. And ten minutes from time, Dor Micha went from provider to scorer when he elegantly lifted a pass from midfielder Gal Alberman past two defenders over the head of the Ramat Hasharon keeper to round off the scoring.
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The match got off to a lively start and in the opening moments a Maccabi corner taken by midfielder Eran Zahavi took a deflection towards goal off an opposing defender, but Ramat Hasharon keeper Ittimar Nitzan was in place to stop it. On twenty minutes a corner at the other end taken by yet another ex-Maccabi player, midfielder Tom Mensharov, was headed over by Ramat Hasharon's gifted young striker Kenny Seif. It was five minutes later that Dor Micha passed a ball back from the right side of the area and laid it right at the feet of an onrushing Mahran Radi, who slammed it into the upper left corner of Ittimar Nitzan's net to give the visitors a 0-1 advantage. From that moment on Maccabi dominated proceedings, with the home side withdrawing from early initiatives to defend from within their own half. Three minutes from the half-time whistle Rade Prica missed a golden opportunity to double Maccabi's advantage when he shot wide from close range off yet another intelligent cross from Dor Micha.
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Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa's men returned from the break eager to put the match to bed and it took them just eight minutes to secure the second goal they so desired. After additional attempts by Mahran Radi and Rade Prica, it was the latter who mastered a free kick from Eran Zahavi to the right of the net and crossed towards the goalmouth where an onrushing Carlos Garcia, Maccabi's Spanish defender, turned the ball in past Hasharon keeper Ittimar Nitzan to celebrate his maiden goal for the club with the adoring Maccabi fans behind the goal. From that moment on Maccabi's dominance was complete and ten minutes from time midfielder Gal Alberman dispossessed a ball in midfield and sent it past two Ramat Hasharon defenders to Dor Micha, who from 60 feet on the left side of goal arched the ball brilliantly past his minders over the head of keeper Ittimar Nitzan into the Ramat Hasharon net.
For Maccabi, this 0-3 triumph was their second league victory within a week and their eleventh clean sheet of the 2013/14 Israeli Premier League season. On Tuesday Maccabi will head south for their round of 32 State Cup tie at the Yud Alef Stadium against Ashdod FC and next Sunday they'll play their third away tie in nine days when they are hosted at Netanya's new stadium by Bnei Sakhnin.
