Neta Lavi's new club is off to about as good a start as any team could ask for. FC Machida Zelvia thumped JEF United Chiba 4-0 away at Fukuda Denshi Arena on Saturday, and with it climbed to the top of Japan's J1 League after just two rounds of the newly reformatted 2026-27 season.
The Israeli international started in central midfield for Machida and was withdrawn in the 81st minute, having anchored the visitors through a one-sided afternoon in Chiba. It was a low-key personal display, but a hugely significant collective one for the club he joined a year ago.
Yuta Nakayama opened the scoring in the 18th minute, and Teté Iéngi doubled the lead midway through the first half. Takuma Nishimura and Hoki Nakamura added further goals in the second period, either side of the hour mark, to complete a comfortable 4-0 win in front of 16,884 spectators.
It followed an even more emphatic result on the opening weekend, when Machida beat FC Tokyo 5-1 away at Ajinomoto Stadium on 8 August. Between the two matches, Machida have now scored nine goals and conceded just one, a goal difference that, combined with a maximum six points, puts them clear at the summit ahead of Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
This is the first season the J.League has run its top flight on a European-style autumn-to-spring calendar rather than the traditional March-to-December schedule, so the early standings carry more weight than they normally would at this point in August. Chiba, by contrast, have lost both their opening fixtures and sit in the relegation places alongside Nagoya Grampus and Urawa Reds.
Lavi, a 29-year-old defensive midfielder capped by the Israel national team, arrived at Machida in August 2025 on a permanent transfer from Gamba Osaka, where he had spent two seasons after leaving Maccabi Haifa. He came through the Maccabi Haifa academy and made 197 league appearances for the club across eight seasons, scoring seven goals, before his move to Japan in 2023.
He wears the number 31 shirt for Machida and has established himself as a regular fixture in the club's midfield since his move from Osaka, a run that continued with Saturday's 81-minute shift in Chiba.
With the J1 season still in its infancy, Machida's perfect start and Lavi's growing role in the side will be watched closely back home as one of the more eye-catching Israeli stories developing in Japanese football this year.
