Dor Peretz scored twice in the space of 15 minutes to help Maccabi pull a three goal comeback and win the Toto Cup beating Maccabi Haifa 3-1 in the final. Peretz, who took his tally to nine goals in all competitions this season helped Maccabi win the Toto Cup for the ninth time in the club’s history. Peretz, who captained Maccabi on the night and lifted the trophy together with Eran Zahavi said at the end of the match: “In matches like that against Maccabi Haifa, the team that is more aggressive, more dominant and plays with more intensity is the one that looks better on the pitch. Maccabi Haifa did that in the first half but things turned round in the second half. They dropped back a little bit while we began playing with more intensity, aggression, were the ones who win tackles and I think that this is what gave us the goals and the victory in the end.”
Peretz, who also scored a brace at the weekend as Maccabi pulled a similar comeback against Maccabi Petah Tikva on Saturday, spoke of the mental strength him and his teammates share: “In every moment of the game, I believe. I believe in myself, believe in my teammates that we can do it regardless of the score. Tonight we proved it as a team. This change wasn’t done by a single player. In the second half we showed up as a team in all our glory, with the ball and without the ball displaying intensity and aggressiveness. This is what we want to be recognized for and what we’d like to be identified by. On a personal note I’m super happy with our performance and with this victory. We should take the positive things from here and move on to our next task.”
Peretz, who waited for MD14 to score his debut league goals but his since scored five in the space of nine days and in his last three outings, added: “In my role today I should supply goals and assists as I am also judged on that. If I need to look back at the match in the previous round, there were plenty of matches I played but didn’t score the goals. I was satisfied with my performances but didn’t have the goals to show for it. This is what gave me the drive to continue pushing forward and reach those chances which would ultimately go in.”
On the fact Maccabi has been conceding too many goals, Peretz summed up: “We can’t afford to concede that many soft goals which means we didn’t make the lives of our opponents difficult enough. This is something which forces us to chase matches and make them more difficult especially against opponents like Maccabi Haifa. We must be tough in defense and do everything to prevent us from conceding because upfront we have plenty of amazing tools that can score goals.”
On the effect of such an emphatic victory over another title contender, Peretz concluded :”A match against Maccabi Haifa is a match which gives you plenty of energy for the future – whether you or lose. It can have a massive effect on the team. It was extremely important for us to win this match, even if this was the Toto Cup but in order to continue building our momentum. This victory gives us the privilege to carry this momentum to Saturday’s State Cup match against Hapoel Jerusalem on Saturday as we need to continue our good run of form”.
