In-form Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Yonatan Cohen was in buoyant mood after Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Hapoel in the first Tel Aviv Derby of the season and said he was happy with the result despite the tough encounter.
“There are no easy Derby games, they are always more aggressive (than other league fixtures) and there are more fights over the ball but we won convincingly, we’ll take the three points and move on,” he said.
“It’s always difficult to predict what will happen in the Derby and it was an aggressive game but this was the right result.”
Maccabi were far from their at their best in the game and coach Vladimir Ivic said he wanted more, to which Cohen responded: “The coach is always right, he demands more of us and we will need to work hard and improve our play.”
But the Maccabi stalwart said that the win was the most important thing and he thanked the crowd, who were in the minority at Bloomfield, as they were the away fans.
“We won the Derby and that’s the most important thingת it was an away game but we felt as if we were the home team thanks to the fans’ great support. I have always dreamt of scoring in the derby and I’m pleased with the result.”
