Netanya's clinical edge leaves Beitar reeling
Maccabi Netanya beat Beitar Jerusalem 4-1 in the second round of the Ligat ha-Al on Friday evening. The visitors took the lead just before half-time through D. Worko and never looked back, with Matheus Davo netting three goals to end a barren spell. Beitar pulled one back late on through M. Levi, but the damage was done.
D. Worko opened the scoring at 47 minutes, and by then Beitar were already chasing the game after a poor start. Matheus Davo doubled the advantage at 52, then added a second at 66 to turn it on. He completed his hat-trick at 71 minutes — a moment that effectively ended the contest, even though Beitar dragged themselves back into it briefly. M. Levi scored for the hosts at 76, but the visitors had the game won inside twenty minutes of the second half.
Beitar dominated possession at 73 per cent and completed 618 passes, but their shots accuracy was just 23 per cent. They created only two big chances while Netanya registered five. The visitors had an expected goals figure of 3.3 against Beitar's 0.63, and the result reflected that gap. Many shots with one goal means chances went begging — Beitar had eight shots off target and only three on.
Beitar sit twelfth after one defeat with zero points. Netanya move to second on four points after a win and a draw from two matches. The visitors have shown they can take games away from stronger opposition, and this result suggests they're not on the brink of a move — they're building something.
Matheus Davo was substituted at 83 minutes after his heroics, and M. Levi came off at 84 following Beitar's consolation. The yellow cards came thick and fast — five in total — with D. Worko collecting one late on for the visitors. Netanya's defensive work rate was evident in their 20 successful tackles against Beitar's eight.