Maccabi's U19s went four points clear at the summit after putting four past Hapoel Petach Tikva
A week after returning to the top spot in the national U19 Premier League table, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" widened their margin ahead of Maccabi Haifa to four points with a 1-4 win at bottom-of-table Hapoel Petach Tikva. "Shachar" took hold of the match early on and left in no doubt who the ultimate winner would be. Matan Hozez, Yonatan Cohen and Sohil Armeli all scored before the break and Cohen scored a second after the restart. It took Maccabi just twelve minutes to create the game's first chance, with midfielder Gabriel Kanikovski shooting over the net. On twenty-one minutes "Shachar" were already on the scoreboard when a player from the home side handled the ball in the area, allowing midfielder Matan Hozez to score from the penalty spot, a ninth goal that places him second on the list of "Shachar" goalscorers. Ahead of him, and everyone else in the league, stands striker Yonatan Cohen, who just six minutes later scored his twelfth of the season after receiving excellent service from fellow striker Mavis Tchibota. And if that were not enough, just three minutes after that Cohen turned provider with a corner kick that found the leg of midfielder Sohil Armeli, who turned the ball in to give Maccabi a 0-3 lead before the half hour mark, a lead that took them through the rest of the half.
Hapoel Petach Tikva, who have registered just two wins since the start of the season, opened the scoring after the restart when their Nigerien forward Hamido Hamudo scored on the hour mark to make it 1-3. Nine minutes later though "Shachar" had already restored their three-goal cushion after being awarded a penalty. Striker Raz Itzhak's spot kick was saved but Yonatan Cohen pounced on the deflection to score his second goal of the match. Later the home side were reduced to ten men and defender almost converted the resultant free kick but his effort flew over the net. Raz Itzhak got a second bite at the apple when he rounded the keeper late on but the final touch eluded him once again and the final score stood at 1-4.
The victory sent Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" four points clear at the top of the national U19 Premier League table after second-placed Maccabi Haifa lost their match against Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Next Saturday will see the Under-19s start their season run in the prestigious State Cup competition when they welcome Hapoel Jerusalem to Kiryat Shalom training ground.
Line-up: Eliad Graf, Shachar Fiban, Sheked Azulay, Dan Glazer, Saar Kalderon, Gabriel Kanikovski, Eliel Peretz, Sohil Armeli, Matan Hozez, Yonatan Cohen, Mavis Tchibota
