Chelsea News: Benayoun Hat-Trick Helps Israel To Victory
Follow us on Twitter
Israel 3 Malta 1
Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun hit a hat-trick for Israel as they defeated Malta, 3-1, in their opening qualifier for Euro 2012.
The midfielder hit goals in the seventh, 64th and 75th minutes as Israel easily defeated Group F’s lowest-ranked side.
The match had been switched to a Thursday kick-off as the Israeli FA did not want to play on the Jewish Sabbath. Euro 2012 qualifiers are being played on Fridays and Tuesdays instead of Saturdays and Wednesdays as previous qualifying games have been.
Benayoun had a goal disallowed for handball on just two minutes but slotted the ball past Andrew Hogg in the Malta goal five minutes later. Jamie Pace headed an equaliser for Malta from a free kick in the 38th minute against the run of play, but Israel took control in the second half with Benayoun scoring from the spot on 64 minutes after Almog Cohen had been brought down. He completed his hat-trick 11 minutes later with a header after Hogg saved from Vermouth.
West Ham’s Tal Ben Haim also played in the game. Israel’s next match is in Georgia next Tuesday while Malta host Latvia.
Comments are closed.