Israel round-up: Haifa hit Netanya for six

Maccabi Haifa put one hand on the Ligat ha-Al championship trophy today after convincingly beating Maccabi Netanya 6-2 to open a seven-point gap at the top of the table.

Katan hat-trick
Yaniv Katan scored a hat-trick in a memorable eight-goal thriller that seems to have secured a second championship in succession for Haifa.

Spectacular opener
Nenad Peralja broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion in the 28th minute with a stunning left-foot rocket that found the top left corner from 25 meters. Walid Badier doubled Haifa's lead with another long-range effort four minutes before half-time. The visitors made it 3-0 two minutes later when a slip by Netanya defender Moshe Glam allowed Katan, making a rare appearance in Haifa's starting lineup, to pick the ball race into the area to score.

Netanya penalty
Haifa seemed to have settled for the result and were punished 15 minutes after the restart when Guy Zarfati skipped past two defenders before being brought down by Raimondas Zutautas. Zarfati stepped up and successfully converted the spot-kick to narrow Haifa's lead to 3-1. But, any hopes of a Netanya comeback were crushed in the 70th minute as Katan tapped in Haifa's fourth goal.

Remarkable result
Katan completed his hat-trick as he slotted a rebound in for his side's fifth, before Zachi Iluz took advantage of a mistake in Haifa's defence to score another consolation goal for Netanya. Nir Sivilia completed the scoring in the final minute to secure a remarkable result.