With Maccabi's home play-off tie against Beitar Jerusalem just around the corner, it's time to look back at some of the most spectacular encounters between the two clubs in recent years. Part one of a series
Season 2012/13, Bloomfield Stadium, gameweek 26: Maccabi Tel Aviv- Beitar Jerusalem 5-0.
A little more than a week earlier, Maccabi were knocked out of the prestigious State Cup competition by Beitar in the last 16 stage, losing 0-2 at home. Now in the last gameweek before the start of the play-offs, emotions were running high ahead of this second encounter in just over ten days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GLNikvFFJo
But straight from off, then head Maccabi head coach Oscar Garcia's eleven left in no doubt whatsoever that this encounter was going to be a different story altogether. With less than ten minutes on the matchclock, then recent arrival Eran Zahavi had the home crowd on their feet with his first league goal in Maccabi kit. In the second half Maccabi were in complete control and just ten minutes in the league's leading goalscorer, striker Eliran Atar, found a second recent arrival, Rade Prica, in the area and the Swedish striker scored Maccabi's second. Two minutes later Atar himself provided the home side's third, latching on to his own deflected effort and ramming it, along with himself, into the Beitar goal. The final moments of the match belonged to two other Maccabi stars, midfielder Mahran Radi and now Swiss side Grasshopper striker Moanes Dabbur, with the former assisting the latter for two quick goals that brought Maccabi's total on the night to five to earn the match a place in Maccabi's pantheon of great victories.
Maccabi would go on to win their first league championship after a frustrating decade of failing to hoist the Israeli Premier League trophy.
