The greens came to the game after a disappointing loss in the previous round against Beitar Jerusalem. The break allowed the team from the Carmel to prepare well for the intriguing encounter with Hapoel Tel Aviv. Coach Roni Levy, tried several players among the 11 opening players, with Yossi Benayoun, Itai Schechter and Ismail Riaan in the starting lineup. Eventually the green coach chose the young midfielder Ismail Rian to take the midfield position. In addition, the team's left defender, Taleb Tawatha, returned to the team's lineup after recovering from his injury. Two more players that rejoined the lineup were the two suspended players, midfielder Ophir Kriaf and defender Mark Valiente, who returned to the team's lineup.  Some 2,000 supporters arrived at Netanya stadium to help the boys in green gain the precious three points.

In the first half, the greens opened strongly and already after two minutes Taleb Tawatha passed a good ball that found Ludvic Oberniac clear. The Polish midfielder stopped the ball on his chest and struck it towards Hapoel Tel Aviv goalkeeper, Zlil Hatuka, who was ready and was able to fend off this opportunity to the corner line. Two minutes later, the green midfielder, Ophir Kriaf made a tackle, which ended with his knee injured, and after four minutes, in which he tried to return to the game, the professional team had to make a substitution and bring in Itai Schechter in his place. The following minutes the pace of the game slowed somewhat and the game was played mostly in midfield. 25 minutes into the game Ismail Rian received the ball some thirty meters from the goal line. The talented midfielder advanced a few paces and shot a strong ball that passed very close to Hatuka's goal post. Three minutes later Maccabi Haifa lit up the scoreboard. Ludvic Oberniac sent a good free ball into the box, which found the green defender, Dekel Keinan, who headed the ball from a close range, leaving Hapoel Tel Aviv's goalkeeper with no chance. Towards the end of the first half the home team had a number of good scoring opportunities, yet over and over again, it was the green giant, Vladimir Stojkovi? who helped the greens keep a clean net. 

The second half opened wonderfully for the greens, 2 minutes into the second half and Orel Dgani was close to doubling the advantage when he struck strongly from a good scoring position and only a good save by Hatuka prevented the green defender from scoring. Two minutes later Ronny Levy's players scored the second goal, with Dgani involved again after the defender sent a good ball from the right that found the Dutch striker free, and with a single touch found the net and celebrated his second goal. 56 minutes into the match Maccabi Haifa scored its third goal, and it was none other than Dekel Keinan, who from a short distance kept his cool and defeated the home team's goalkeeper, completing a personal duo. As the game progressed the pace slowed down, the green defense played well and kept the home team from reaching further opportunities. 74 minutes into the game, Ronny Levy made another substitution and brought in the green captain Yossi Benayoun. 81 minutes into the match, Haifa made its third and final substitution by bringing in the young striker, Shachar Hirsh in place of Glynor Plet, who completed his part of the game with one goal and one assist. The score remained the same until the end of the game, with Maccabi Haifa recording an important away win.

The green players celebrating after scoring a goal. Photo: The official website (Joe Hirsch).