Pre Game
After several postponements due to the security situation, Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at Sammy Ofer for the Semi Final of the State Cup that was relocated to Haifa.
With Louis Hernandez, Enric Saborit, Andre Geraldes, Aleksandar Pesic, Nick Blackman and Uros Nikolic all allowed to travel to their countries until the current climate calms down, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen had a depleted squad at his disposal.
A long injury list that already included Matan Hozez, Eyal Golasa, Avi Rikan and Maor Kandil was increased even further with the addition of Tal Ben Chaim who sustained a leg injury in training during the week. With van Leeuwen’s squad almost stripped to it’s bare bones, several youth players who bolstered the squad during training in Netanya, were named on the substitutes bench is surely the biggest game in their short careers.
In the absence of Hernandez, Saborit and Geraldes, Maccabi’s keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, making his 52nd start of the season, had a different defensive line in-front of him for the vital match. Eytan Tibi and Matan Baltaxa were named as the two central defenders with Ofir Davidzada and Shahar Piven completing the back-four on the left and right respectively.
Sheran Yeini, wearing the captain’s armband returned to the midfield alongside Dan Glazer as the two anchormen with Dor Peretz enjoying a bit more freedom to push forward.
Upfront, Itay Shechter who made a late substitute appearance during the 2-2 draw at Bloomfield led the attack right in front of Yonatan Cohen and Eduardo Guerrero.
Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, midfielder Eden Karzev, and the two forwards Dan Biton and Eylon Almog were the only regular first-team players on the substitutes bench with Dor Turgeman, Itai Ben Hemo, Roi Revivo, Niv Berkovitz and Or Roizman making the numbers and waiting for a chance to make an impact.
First Half
Maccabi opened the match on the front foot and threatened to draw first blood as early as the third minute when a Sheran Yeini cross reached Eduardo Guerrero whose half volley from the far post was collected by Josh Cohen.
Tjaronn Chery was given the time and space in the 10th minute to blast a left foot shot from the edge of the area that flashed wide of Daniel Tenenbaum’s post.
Haifa’s Ofri Arad became the first player to go into Liran Liani’s book after being penalized for a foul on Shechter that stopped a Maccabi counter attack on 21. In the 29th minute Haifa’s defense struggled to deal with an Ofir Davidzada cross as the ball fell to Yeini whose shot narrowly missed the target.
Maccabi continued dominating as two minutes later, a Guerrero pinpoint cross found Yonatan Cohen at the far post, but the forward somehow managed to direct his close range header to the wrong side of the post.
On 41 Shechter created himself some space down the middle before his shot was deflected over the crossbar. The resulting corner was curled in by Eduardo Guerrero, flicked by Matan Baltaxa but narrowly missed Yeini’s diving attempt at the far post.
With no goals scored in the first 45 minutes, Liani’s halftime whistle sent both teams into the dressing room to regroup and return refreshed for the second half.
Second Half
Four minutes after the restart, Yonatan Cohen’s telling cross from the left flank failed to find a Maccabi player as the ball sailed across the face of goal. Two minutes later however, Shahar Piven found Yeini with a pass that carved Haifa’s penalty area open. The skipper sent a first time cross that was deflected in by Shechter to break the deadlock.
A minute after the hour mark Shechter doubled the score as the veteran forward latched onto an Eytan Tibi header following a Yonatan Cohen cross before finding the back of the net once again to make it 2-0.
Van Leeuwen made his first substitution in the 64th minute as Dan Biton replaced the tired Cohen. In his first touch, Biton almost set up a goal as his free kick found Yeini at the far post only to see the captain head high and wide.
Shechter bowed out to a standing ovation as he was replaced by Eylon Almog on 73. Seconds later Dolev Haziza teed-up Mohamad Abu Fani whose shot cleared Tenebaum’s crossbar. With Haifa desperately trying to go level, Biton released Guerrero through with a delicate chip in the 75th minute before the Panamanian had his shot blocked by Cohen. Guerrero who worked tirelessly throughout the match was replaced by Eden Karzev for the final three minutes.
Biton forced a finger-tip save from Cohen on 89 as his left foot shot was pushed out for a corner by the American born keeper. Moments later, Biton already celebrated a goal as he skipped past Cohen to roll the ball home only to see his goal ruled out for offside.
Inside injury time Tenenbaum pulled a reflex save to deny Rami Gershon’s header as Maccabi’s custodian was adamant to keep a clean sheet. The final whistle saw Maccabi’s players celebrate with a small number of fans who were allowed in by the Israel Football Association in support of the rockets fired from the Gazza strip towards the South of Israel.
Maccabi now face bitter city rivals Hapoel in the final that is set to be played on June 2nd at Sammy Ofer, unless the IFA relocates it to Bloomfield stadium.
