Hapoel Tel Aviv 3, Beitar Jerusalem 0
Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Beitar Jerusalem 3–0 in the opening round of the Ligat ha-Al on Wednesday evening. The hosts took all three points from the regular season opener, while the visitors began their campaign with another defeat.
Roee alkokin opened the scoring at 17 minutes, and the visitors' problems multiplied when Luka Gadrani was sent off at 48. Douglas owusu added a second at 73, and Daniel Dappa completed the scoring at 82.
Beitar had already been making substitutions before the dismissal, with Dagats Worko and Yarden Shua coming on together at 52. Ziv Ben Shimol replaced someone at 59, and stav torial and Doron Leidner were paired off at 65. Lucas de Oliveira Teodoro Falcão was withdrawn at 83, while Boris Enow Takang and Eugene Ansah came on for the visitors at 86.
Hapoel pressed more effectively, registering 185 attacks against 145. They created four big chances and shot seven times on target, while Beitar managed zero shots on target despite having 51 per cent of possession. The visitors' goalkeeper made four saves, all from set pieces and long range.
And here's the thing about the red card — it came with half an hour left and changed everything. Beitar had been competing until that moment, but going down to ten men meant they could only defend. Hapoel found a way through when it mattered.
Hapoel sit fourth with four points from two games, a win and a draw. Beitar remain at the bottom after two losses and zero points, with their last three results all finishing without victory.
