Hosts Maccabi Tel Aviv consolidated their position at the top of the standings in the international under-19 tournament on Friday with two more impressive wins over Hapoel Beersheba and Grasshoppers of Zurich.
Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar” 2, Hapoel Beersheba 1:
Eliezer Ben Aharon’s charges opened their account on day 2 of the tournament and they took the lead in the 10th minute through Ronen Hanchis who intercepted a Beersheba pass and set himself up to send the opposing goalkeeper the wrong way and put the ball into the far corner of the Beersheba net.
Maccabi doubled the score at the start of the second half following a corner as Guy Mizrahi picked up a cross and put Tal Torgeman in position to fire the ball home for a two-goal lead.
Daniel Ivgi scored the consolation goal for Beersheba in the 56th minute.
Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar” 4, Grasshoppers Zurich 1:
In their second fixture of the day, Maccabi scored an even more decisive win despite going behind early to the Swiss side, who scored in the fifth minute through Robin Kalem. Maccabi soon came back through goals by Parfait Guiagon in the 11th minute and Rave Asayag in the 28th. Guiagon and Shai Balahssen scored in the second period.
In other results on Friday it was Beitar Jerusalem 1, Grasshoppers 1; Crystal Palace 2, Excelsior Rotterdam 0; Beitar Jerusalem 3, Excelsior Rotterdam 3; Crystal Palace 1, Hapoel Beersheba 1.
These are the fixtures on the final day’s play on Saturday: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Crystal Palace, Grasshoppers Zurich v. Excelsior Rotterdam, Hapoel Beersheba v. Beitar Jerusalem, Excelsior Rotterdam v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Grasshoppers Zurich v. Hapoel Beersheba, Crystal Palace v. Beitar Jerusalem.
The closing ceremony will take place at 15:00
