For a while during the early stages of yesterday's match between Hapoel Tel Aviv and host Hapoel Petah Tikva, it looked like the visitors were at a total loss.
All roads led to nowhere, and if they saw a crack between midfielders Fabian Stoller and Daniel Addo, they hit a concrete wall in the form of goalkeeper Austin Ejide.
However, Nitzan Shirazi's charges woke up from their stupor and pulled off a brilliant 3-2 victory to move past FC Ashdod into second place in the Premier League standings.
After eight minutes, Tel Aviv found itself down 1-0 when Guy Tzarfati lifted Petah Tikva to the lead with the help of striker Dominique Wassi.
Elroi Cohen got things going for Tel Aviv in the 14th minute to calm things down on the visitors' bench. From that point on, the 2010 champion team looked rejuvenated.
Still, the Petah Tikva crowd was raucous for the next 45 minutes of play as the fans hoped their last-place team, destined for relegation, could at least pull off an exciting upset.
But Tel Aviv's Avihai Yadin caused a resounding silence in the stadium on the hour with a missile fired from nearly 40 meters out after Ejide deflected a free kick.
Maharan Lala added to Petah Tikva's woes by scoring his first goal in nearly two years three minutes later.
Armon Ben-Naim cut Tel Aviv's lead in half in the 71st minute, but the spirited Reds prevented any further damage to claim their well-deserved three points.
