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Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa is happy with last night's victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva, but he knows there's lots more work to be done: "We still have 24 points and a difficult match next week in Kiryat Shmona"

By breezing past second-placed rivals Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-0 yesterday, Maccabi Tel Aviv have increased their lead at the top of the Israeli Premier League to eight points with eight matches left to play in the season. At last night's post-match press conference, head coach Paulo Sousa was asked if congratulations were already due for winning the title: "No, you can congratulate us, especially the players, for performing well, controlling practically the whole game, getting the three points and, with all the respect we always have for our opponents, especially Beer Sheva, for performing in a way that kept them without goals, because the result could have been much higher and we deserved to have it higher. It's a big step (towards the championship), also because we are coming closer to the end of the season. The number of games to play is reduced but we still have 24 points and 24 points is a lot. Of course it is also the first time that the gap has become a little bigger and hopefully we can already be consistent straight away in the difficult match we have next week in Kiryat Shmona". When it was pointed out that Hapoel Beer Sheva , too, were facing tough opposition in next week's play-off matches , Sousa's reply indicated he  was not only impressed with the performance of his players but also with the club's fans, who to his mind also had their role to play: "It's difficult for all of us. When the play-offs were organised it was to give us much more competition. I think that the football, and all the people who are a part of that football, will gain from that, when you have many more games where the results beforehand are uncertain. Today for example, and this is a word I must deliver not only to our fans but also to the fans of Hapoel, because again they were all amazing, it gives to the ones who love football and have the passion like I have the capacity to wake up straight away tomorrow wanting to produce more for them because they are the soul of football. They bring emotions to the pitch, we like to see the stadiums full, they bring money and they bring all of us the possibility to enjoy a game like today".

Despite Maccabi's leading margin in the table, Sousa by no means expects Beer Sheva head coach Elisha Levy to give up the fight and stresses the importance of the process that is ongoing at Maccabi: "I'm sure he will not give up. Hopefully they will do it, it will make things easier for us. But we still have the other process, not only the league title which as Maccabi we assume from the beginning of the season. We want to be consistent year by year, where we can always look to be in the first places, always look to be competing consistently in Europe, not only for us but for Israeli football".

Sousa was also asked about Maccabi's game plan against Beer Sheva, among other things the inclusion of two wingers, Tal Ben Haim and Dor Micha, in his formation: "When we're talking about dynamics, it's changing the players. But sometimes the system could be more or less the same and it's the players that give the dynamics. For example today we were looking to have Micha play more inside than outside, which he is normally not used to, but it's something we worked on and saw the result. And these are things we'll continue to work on, with regard for our opponents, with regard for how my players are delivering during the week and then look to take the best decisions for the game to get the result. And today we were successful in everything we were doing".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl2DzeFbXaA&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg

Tal Ben Haim, with a solid overall performance and provider of the team's first goal, gave his analysis of the game: "I had a good match but what's important is that the victory was a team effort. It was a great win, a game we simply had to win against our principal rivals in the title race. It was a brilliant match that everyone enjoyed watching, we scored early on and that provided us with a boost for what followed. No match is easy, Beer Sheva have already demonstrated what they're capable of, their rate of picking up points is championship stuff no matter how you look at it, so of course it's not easy playing against them. It wasn't easy for me or for any of the lads but we had a job to do and we did it".

Ben Haim also had a word to say about Maccabi's lead in the table: "So far the margin we've opened up and what it all means, I could recite all the applicable clichés and I'd be lying. Of course we're all anxious for that moment when the title is really ours and today we took a big step in that direction. But next week we have a really tough match against Kiryat Shmona and we've already lost there this season. It certainly won't be easy and if we lose and Beer Sheva win we're back to square one so far this evening's game is concerned, so we'll be preparing ourselves very well for this match. My only interest in Hapoel Beer Sheva is that if we continue to get the results we're looking for and carry on the way we've been doing up till now, it shouldn't be a problem".

Striker Barak Badash, whose brace settled tonight's tie, described his feelings on this happy night at Bloomfield Stadium: "I'm really happy I managed to score tonight because in the Tel Aviv derby matches we played in the last two weeks I really wanted to score but it didn't happen. The playing staff have been quite patient with me and prepared me well for the match today and I'm happy that in the match of the season I scored twice, because that's what they brought me here to do. So far the match itself is concerned, you could see from the start that something was different tonight. I mean, we prepare for every match but sometimes it just doesn't work. Today we got out in front early on and that helped us a lot and obviously the second goal made everything that much easier. We'll still have to wait and see if I get to win another title but however you look at it we're on the right path and today we made a giant step on that road".