Maccabi Tel Aviv did not let the big occasion get to them on Wednesday and they took a major step towards retaining the league title following their 2-0 win over Maccabi Haifa, their nearest challengers, who are now 12 points behind with eight matches left.
With the dust settling a day after the match of the season at Bloomfield, we can scrutinise the numbers.
The 12-point lead over second place after 28 matches is the sixth highest lead any club has had at the top. The record is also Maccabi’s and it was set last season, when they had a whopping 27-point lead at this stage.
Tight defence
Vladimir Ivic’s men shut down their goal and set an all-time record of 23 clean sheets out of 28 matches, an astounding achievement. The previous best mark after 28 rounds of play, is shared by Maccabi in 1978-79 and Kiryat Shmona in 2011-12, when there were 18 clean sheets.
The dominance over Haifa
Maccabi already have a streak against Haifa of six home wins without conceding a goal and on three occasions has that record been bettered: Seven home wins against Hapoel Haifa, in 1958, Hapoel Tel Aviv in 1994 and Rishon Letzion in 1996.
This is the sixth season in which Maccabi have beaten Maccabi Haifa, and in four, out of those, all three first matches ended in wins. It also happened in 2013-14, 2014-15 and last season. In three of these seasons the first three matches were all won and the fourth was a draw, but there has never yet been a season in which Maccabi have won all four encounters against Haifa.
The 12 unbeaten games, including nine wins and three draws, is two short of the record streak of 14, achieved in 2015-16.
Individual marks
Matan Hozez is the third Maccabi player to have scored in both opening playoff phase matches since the format was set in 2012-13. He has emulated Aron Schoenfeld and Eran Zahavi, who achieved the feat in 2014-15.
Sheran Yeini, who played in a central defensive role yet again on Wednesday, has become the player with most appearances against Maccabi Haifa, with 34.
Glazer’s night
Much has already been said about the excellent performance of midfielder Dan Glazer and he was chosen by the fans as the Factory 54 Man of the Match. His performance is certainly backed up by the numbers. He won the ball in all 12 tussles with opponents on the playing surface and in the air, he won three of four clashes. He won all five tackles he committed himself to and he dispossessed opponents no fewer than seven times.
Glazer’s teammates also had a good night, as Enric Saborit dispossessed opponents 11 times while Yeini, Andre Geraldes had eight and Jair added six.
