Preview
Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium after a three-week absence for the MD29 WINNER League match against Maccabi Netanya. Following the 3-1 victory Hapoel Be’ersheva at Turner, Zarko Lazetic’s side climbed to the top of the standings with 63 points. Lazetic will try guide his charges to a fifth league victory in succession which would increase the lead at the top to five at least until Monday when Be’ersheva face 3rd place Maccabi Haifa.
Lazetic made a single change from the side that won at Turner as Eran Zahavi replaced Dor Turgeman upfront.
Simon Sluga kept his place in goal for the 12th time with Raz Shlomo and Nemanja Stojic lining-up as the two central defenders in front of the Croatian custodian. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s back-four. Issouf Sissokho remained in the anchorman role with Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz completing Maccabi’s midfield trio. Osher Davida who set up two goals at Turner and Weslley Patati who scored two and set up another supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation. Zahavi was making his 10th league start, seeking to add to his 4 league goals and 7 in all competitions this season.
On the bench Lazetic named alongside goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Stav Lemkin, Idan Nachmias, Dor Turgeman, Joris van Overeem, Elad Madmon, Ofir Davidzada, Hisham Layous and Ido Shahar.
First Half
Prior to kickoff, two ceremonies were held, the first in memory of Itzik Elgarat (69) a Maccabi fan who was held hostage in Gaza for 510 and was murdered by Hamas. The second ceremony was in memory of former Maccabi and Netanya midfielder, Moshe Gariani, who scored 18 goals in 119 appearances during the 80’s. Maccabi began the match with one mission – scoring an early goal to get the crowd going. Seven minutes from the start the deadlock was broken as Weslley Patati carved Netanya’s defense open with a perfect through ball to Dor Peretz. The midfielder sent a shot come cross in the direction of the far post where Osher Davida tapped the ball home from point blank range.
Seven minutes later Maccabi doubled the lead with a spectacular goal scored by number seven Eran Zahavi. The goal which will compete as one of the goals of the season will also compete as one of the best goals Zahavi scored during his illustrious career. Gabi Kanichowsky brought down on the edge of then area a Tyrese Asante long ball. Kanichowsky then flicked the ball to Peretz who continued with a lopping ball towards Zahavi. The veteran Maccabi striker launched himself in the air and with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick volleyed the ball under the crossbar for his 200th goal in Yellow and Blue. In the 22nd minute Netanya cut the deficit as Itay Ben Shabat rose above Maccabi’s defense to head a cross which beat Simon Sluga as it went in off the crossbar to set the score on 2-1.
Three minutes after the half hour mark, Maccabi restored their two-goal lead. Davida whipped in a pinpoint cross from the left and Zahavi flicked the ball with his head past Omer Nir’on and into the bottom far corner for his second and Maccabi’s third. A Patati cross on 39 was blocked by Netanya’s defense and fell to Revivo whose attempt of a half volley sailed over the crossbar. A minute later referee Yigal Frid awarded Netanya a penalty after Nemanja Stojic was judged to have tripped Daniel Dapaa in the box. But VAR intervened called Frid to the screen before the initial decision was overturned and the penalty cancelled. On the brink of halftime, Sluga was forced to full stretch as he threw himself across goal to claw out a powerful dipping shot by Heriberto Tavares.
Second Half
Lazetic made one change after the internal as Idan Nachmias replaced Tyrese Asante at the restart. A Maccabi counterattack in the 51st minute began with Patati who squared to Kanichowsky before teeing up Zahavi. The 37-year-old lined up his shot from the edge of the area but Nir’on dived to his right and collected with ease. In the 64th minute Lazetic made a double substitution as Joris van Overeem and Dor Turgeman came on for Sissokho and Zahavi.
Four minutes after his introduction Turgeman received a long ball from Stojic and with one touch killed it dead to break into the area before he was brought down by Nikita Stoyanov. Frid pointed at the spot before the 21-year-old striker stepped up and blasted the penalty home to score Maccabi’s fourth his 17th goal of the season. Lazetic made another double change as Kanichowsky and Davida bowed out to a standing ovation with the duo replaced by Ido Shahar and Elad Madmon. Shahar almost scored three minutes after he came on as the diminutive midfielder reacted first to a loose ball but his close range toe poke could only find the side netting. In the 90th minute Patati had the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman raised his flag for offside denying the Brazilian a fifth.
