Maccabi Tel Aviv moved into first place after defeating Hapoel Hadera 4:0 on Matchday 7 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika. A first half brace by Chico Ofoedu and a lone strike by Eyal Golasa gave the Yellow & Blue a 3:0 lead by half-time while Enric Saborit scored his first goal in the second half to wrap up a tidy 4:0 win. Next Sunday October 28th, Maccabi will head to Sammy Ofer Stadium to face Hapoel Haifa at 20:30.
Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajkovic, Eli Dasa, Jair Amador, Sheran Yeini (C), Enric Saborit, Dor Peretz, Eyal Golasa, Dor Micha, Omer Atzily, Chico Ofoedu and Itay Shechter.
Available on the bench were Haviv Ohayon, Dan Glazer, Eliran Atar, Matan Hozez, Avi Rikan, Aaron Schoenfeld, Shahar Piven.
First Half
With a full house of Yellow & Blue fans on hand, it didn’t take long for Maccabi to reward their loyalty as Ofoedu found the back of the goal in the 7’. Micha sent a tremendous through ball to Peretz who took the ball to the right of the goal and crossed it to the striker who tapped it home for a 1:0 lead. Maccabi continued to control the pace of play and had plenty of chances to add to the advantage as Atzily tried his luck but missed the target and Peretz’s 26’ opportunity was saved by Ejide to keep the score as is.
In the 33’ Ofoedu picked up his second goal of the contest as he stole the ball in the Hadera half of the pitch after a David Matteos miscue and made his way by keeper Ejide where he slotted it into the goal for a 2:0 lead. Three minutes later Maccabi added to their advantage as Micha sent the ball to Shechter who passed it to Golasa in the middle of the box and sent a shot that hit off a Hadera defender that made it’s way behind Ejide for a 3:0 advantage.
Just before the break, Ofoedu and Peretz almost added to the lead with quality long distance shots but Ejide made the save off the former while the latter missed the target as Maccabi took a 3:0 lead into half-time.
Second Half
Hadera looked to get back into the game and had a chance to pull back a goal in the 49’ but Tapoko’s header hit the bar and 4 minutes later at the other end of the pitch, Atzily and Shechter teamed up as they looked for the 4th goal, but Ejide made the stop.
However, in the 54’ Saborit added to the lead as the left back took care of an errant clearance and slammed home the ball from the top of the box for a 4:0 advantage. Matan Hozez came on for Atzily soon thereafter and Peretz had a chance in the 70’ off a free kick, but his attempt went by the post and out.
In the 72’ Ofoedu’s evening came to an end as the fan’s gave him a standing ovation and Avi Rikan was introduced in his stead while in the 81’ Dan Glazer was substituted on for Micha. Four minutes later Hozez was pulled down in the box by Ejide but Shechter’s penalty was saved by the keeper as Maccabi wrapped up a 4:0 victory to take over first place. Next week the Yellow & Blue will head to Sammy Ofer Stadium for a date with Hapoel Haifa on Sunday October 28th at 20:30.
