Maccabi Tel Aviv continued on the way with their second win in a row over Maccabi Petach Tikva in less than a week. Barak Itzhaki scored the 57th minute winner to give the Yellow & Blue the hard earned 3-points and draw Maccabi to within 5-points of table leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Sports Director Jordi Cruyffaddressed the media following the win:

“This was a game we wanted to win and it was one that we had to fight hard for the win, we had a bit of luck but we did what we needed to do. We used all of the tools we had at our disposal. On Saturday, we will play before Beer Sheva and I hope that we will put some pressure on them.”

The fans:
“I want to thank the fans for their amazing support. I felt it and so did the players, we appreciate the support. The character is there and I’m happy to hand over the team in what is a good situation. Of course, I’ll be there to help the new coach and I think that we will all benefit from this.”

On the decision to name a new coach:
“This was the decision we made and Maccabi needs a full time coach. I will help out as much as possible but I know that everyone’s very motivated as well as the fans. We have a lot to battle for this season and this is a good time to make this move.”

Mitch Goldhar coming to Israel:
“We had a delightful dinner together. My contract? I have a bit of a strange contract with no date really on it. I’ll continue on for as long as everyone is content. I didn’t think it would be for this long but I really enjoy being here and there are plenty of challenges that await. I have a very good relationship with the owner.”