Maccabi Tel Aviv notched another convincing win in the TASE Premier League on Saturday and put three goals without reply past Hapoel Haifa.
Goals by Yonatan Cohen in the first half and by Dor Micha and Itai Shechter in the second half secured the points for the hosts, although there was never any doubt throughout who were the better of the two teams.
Maccabi started the first half strongly and looked as if they were ready to take the game to their opponents from the opening whistle but Haifa were not cowered and mounted a few attacks of their own. 
Probably more than in any other league fixture so far this season, Maccabi were also on the back foot early as Haifa stormed forward but poor finishing ensured that Daniel Tenenbaum, who has now kept ten consecutive clean sheets since the start of the season, was never under threat.
Cohen broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when after a string of passes on the right of the area, Eyal Golasa found him in space and the in-form forward’s curling right-foot shot evaded Haifa goalkeeper Yasmin Boric’s fingertips and ended up on the far side of the net.
Early pressure in the second half, with Maccabi’s players controlling all the play, culminated in the second goal in the 54th minute after Micha latched onto another good Golasa pass from the left and he made no mistake and struck the ball firmly into the roof of the net from 10 metres out. 
Maccabi should have added a third in the 64th minute when referee Eli Hachmon awarded a penalty after a VAR check following a foul on Chico Ofoedu, but Cohen’s spot kick was well saved by Boric as he dived to his right to parry the ball.
Itai Schechter, who came on as substitute late in the game after Ofoedu went off injured, secured the result in injury time when he slotted the ball home after Maccabi’s forward line broke free of the Haifa defence and Atzili passed an easy ball to Shechter who was unmarked and had no pressure in slotting the ball into the net.
