Maccabi's U19s put on a stellar performance to stay four points clear at the top of the table
After successfully jumping their first State Cup hurdle last Saturday, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s returned to league duty on Saturday with an impressive 6-0 win over Hapoel Ramat Gan. The venue was changed from the water-logged pitch at Kiryat Shalom training ground to drier pastures in Tel Aviv's "Tikva" neighbourhood, but the move had no effect on the home side, who registered their largest home win of the season so far and stayed four points clear atop the U19 "Toto" League.
It took Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" only two minutes for a declaration of intent as Congolese striker Mavis Tchibota struck the woodwork. Thereafter Maccabi continued to dominate and on the half hour mark the desired result was achieved as the league's leading scorer, striker Yonatan Cohen, latched onto a goalkeeper's deflection and scored Maccabi's first goal of the match. Moments before the break, Cohen turned provider for midfielder Matan Hozez, who scored the home side's second.
Hozez, with two braces to his credit already this season, added his second from the penalty spot eight minutes after the restart to widen Maccabi's margin to 3-0 and open the floodgates for a "Shachar" goalfest in the second half. On 65 minutes it was 4-0, with midfielder Eliel Peretz crossing for striker Raz Itzhak to smash home. Six minutes later captain Dan Glazer headed in his first goal of the season to make it 5-0. At that point the heavens opened up but no rainstorm could prevent Matan Hozez from completing his and head coach Ziv Arie's Under-19 squad's first hat-trick of the season with a header on 77 minutes that sealed "Shachar"'s convincing 6-0 victory.
Next week, Maccabi's Under-19s will will complete the first round of their league matches playing away to Beitar Tubruk.
Line-up: Haviv Ohayon, Guy Aviv, Shachar Fiban, Sheked Azulai, Saar Kalderon, Dan Glazer, Eliel Peretz, Sohil Armeli, Matan Hozez, Mavis Tchibota, Yonatan Cohen
