Maccabi Tel Aviv made a statement win on Sunday evening, beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 4-1 in the third round of the Ligat Ha'Al. The visitors took control from the first minute, when Hélio Varela found the net, and never looked back. By then the match had shifted into something else entirely.
It was not a fair contest from the off. Maccabi created six big chances to Hapoel's one, and their expected goals figure of 4.41 told the real story. Three of those chances were converted, with Ester Sokler scoring twice, once from the spot. Hapoel pulled one back through Amir Chaim·Ganah after Peretz's dismissal, but the game was already slipping away.
The red card to Eilel Peretz in the 44th minute changed everything, though Hapoel had already been on the back foot. They played with ten men for half the match and could not recover. Maccabi saw the game out with clinical efficiency, Dor Peretz adding a fourth goal in the 79th minute.
Statistics do not lie, even if they sometimes feel cold. Maccabi registered 14 shots on target against Hapoel's two, and completed 461 passes to 386. Their possession was steady at 57 per cent, but it was the quality of their chances that separated the sides. Things came to a head when Hapoel's goalkeeper was called into action nine times.
For Hapoel, the result leaves them sixth with four points from two games. Maccabi sit top with six points after two wins, and this match ended whatever momentum their opponents had built. The table goes out of the window in these games, but the gap is real.
