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Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s put on a stellar performance as they comprehensively beat league leaders Maccabi Haifa 4-0 to close the gap at the top of the national Under-19 Premier League table

In the second of their Under-19 Premier League round two fixtures, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" found themselves welcoming league leaders Maccabi Haifa for an intriguing fixture at the Kiryat Shalom training ground. This was to be the third encounter between the two sides this season, the first going Maccabi Tel Aviv's way 3-1 in the pre-season "Super Cup", the second a 3-2 home victory to Maccabi Haifa in matchweek 2 of the current season.  

A victory would put Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s within seven points of league leaders Maccabi Haifa and head coach Ziv Arie's side began with determination, creating the first real chance of the match within the first five minutes with a free kick by striker Yonatan Cohen that Maccabi Haifa keeper Tal Boomstein only saved at a stretch. "Shachar" maintained dominance though and striker Dor Jan was next to test Boomstein with a shot that sailed over the net. Halfway through the half "Shachar" midfielder Daniel Gretz strode into action with two strikes from distance that nearly found the Maccabi Haifa net. Just before the half hour mark, though, he tried his luck from closer range, passing a defender and striking the ball beyond Boomstein into the net at the far post to give his side a 1-0 advantage. That advantage was doubled five minutes before the interval when defender Guy Aviv crossed to Dor Jan in the area, who slotted home his tenth league goal of the season. But "Shachar" had not yet spoken the last word of the half, as three minutes later the margin was already a remarkable 3-0 courtesy of Yonatan Cohen's third goal in as many games.

Shortly after the restart, the impressive Maccabi Tel Aviv rout looked set to continue but a goal by midfielder Shaked Azulai was ruled out. Eleven minutes into the second half the visitors tried to pull one back courtesy of an effort by Maccabi Haifa's Dor Hugi but "Shachar", too, continued to probe for a fourth and twelve minutes later Dor Jan came close only to find Boomstein alert to the danger. It wasn't until injury time that "Shachar" finally finished the scoring with a penalty taken by striker Amit Farhi to polish off an impressive 4-0 victory by Maccabi Tel Aviv over the league's number one, Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s will play their next league match in a fortnight's time when they make the short trip to the neighbouring municipality for an encounter with Hapoel Ramat Gan.