Tal Ben Chaim opened the scoring for Maccabi Tel Aviv but came off injured soon thereafter as Idan Vered scored the equalizer for Beitar right before halftime as the sides split the points on Matchday 31 in Jerusalem.

Prematch
Head Coach Lito Vidigal’s Starting XI featured keeper Predrag Rajikovic along with a defensive quartet of Yuval Shpungin, Egor Filipenka, Tal Ben Haim and Captain Sheran Yeini. Eyal Golasa, Yossi Benayoun and Ruben Micael manned the midfield while Dor Micha, Tal Ben Chaim and Aaron Schoenfeld played up front.

Available on the bench for the Angolan boss were Daniel Lifshitz, Avi Rikan, Gal Alberman, Oscar Scarione, Ramon Roma, Vidar Kjartansson and Marcelo dos Santos.

First Half
The Israeli-American Schoenfeld had Maccabi’s first chance early on in the 3rd minute as his effort just grazed the left post after receiving a marvelous pass from Micael. In the 7th minute Beitar had their initial opportunity as Hen Ezra’s ball went flying over the goal as both sides looked to break the ice in unrelenting heat.

Of course that’s exactly what Schoenfeld and Ben Chaim teamed up to do in the 13th minute. Number 25 dropped the ball down for the winger in the box as Ben Chaim slammed it home for the 1:0 Yellow & Blue lead. Unfortunately for Ben Chaim his night would come to an early end in the 23rd minute as he had to be replaced by Scarione due to an injury.

As the two sides traded chances, Idan Vered scored as he turned in the Maccabi box and put the ball behind Rajikovic to draw even at 1:1 in the 45th minute right before the half.

Second Half
What a close chance to open the second half! Micha made a tremendous cross into the box to Schoenfeld but the Beitar keeper Boris Kleyman made a magnificent save to keep the score as is. Beitar came back down the pitch for a chance of their own as Hen Ezra got the ball to Vered who attempted to cross it to Shecter, but missed the intended target. Both teams came out of the break flying!

Beitar had a number of chances over the next few minutes and in the 61st minute Ezra skied it over Rajikovic’s goal. Five minutes later, Scarione’s corner found Schoenfeld’s head in the box but the striker’s effort went wide of the target. As the match hit the 74th minute, Vidigal made his second substitution as Vidar Kjartansson came on for Yossi Benayoun and just a minute later Scarione’s corner found Filipenka but his chance just missed the goal.

Schoenfeld had a tremendous one-on-one opportunity but just came up short in the 78th minute as Maccabi continued to press for a goal. Yeini had a long range effort two minutes later that just missed the goal while Ezra had a chance the other way for Beitar but his opportunity just went over the bar as the match ended in a 1:1 draw.