Some 20,000 spectators came to watch the encounter between Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Netanya. The greens' coach, made one change in the lineup from earlier this week. The young midfielder, Ismail Rian, won a place in the lineup in place of Ophir Kriaf who was injured. 

Roni Levi, made one change in the opening lineup. Photo: Reuven Cohen.

The first half opened with green dominance in the midfield, while Maccabi Netanya's players mainly engaged in defense maneuvers to prevent Roni Levy's players from reaching dangerous opportunities. The away team tried to counterattack while relying on the speed of Barry Hamza, yet they were thwarted by the green defense. 20 minutes into the game, Haifa had its first real opportunity when Nikola Drin?i? passed the ball to the left wing, to Taleb Tawatha, and the left defender sent the ball into the box where Glynor Plet tried to head it, but his header was somewhat slow, finding Barak Levy instead. 28 minutes into the game, Barry Hamza took the ball and ran across half the green pitch. Netanya's midfielder reached about 20 meters from the goal line and unleashed a powerful shot to the center of the goal line, which instead found Vladimir Stojkovi? ready. Four minutes later, Ludvic Oberniac tried from the other side, also from a distance of about 20 meters from the goal line, the Polish midfielder unleashed a powerful and low ball next to the goal post, which forced Barak Levi to dive to take the ball. 38 minutes from the start of the game, Maccabi Haifa had to make a substitution after the Spanish defender, Marc Valiente, was injured and was replaced by the young defender, Ayad Habashi. 

Mark Valiente was replaced towards the end of the first half due to injury. Photo: Reuven Cohen.

The second half opened in a similar manner, with the greens dictating the pace of the game, yet the diamond city team defended well and prevented Haifa's offense from reaching dangerous situations. Coach Roni Levy noticed that and decided to make a substitution 60 minutes into the game, by bringing in the talented striker, Shachar Hirsh. 5 minutes later, the team from the Carmel set out on a fast counter-attack, with Orel Dgani sending a long pass to Eliran Atar. The striker advanced toward the goal area and passed a cross ball that found Glynor Plet, who advanced toward the goal line and his shot just missed the goal.  81 minutes into the match, Shahar Hirsh received the ball and green striker moved closer to the box then shot the ball to the corner but Barak Levi responded well and deflected the ball away. One minute later Roni Levy made the third and last substitute by bringing in the captain Yossi Benayoun, in place of Rian Ismail. Four minutes later, the green captain, Yossi Benayoun, scored and delighted the green spectators! Taleb Tawatha passed a cross ball to the box, which found Benayoun, who with the touch of a wizard kicked the ball into the net resulting in 0:1 for the greens. This score remained until the end of the game, and Haifa celebrated two successive victories. 

Yossi Benayoun, just after the scoring. Photo: Reuven Cohen.