Three days after being held to a 1-1 draw by Maccabi Petah Tikva and four days before hosting Maccabi Haifa for a crucial league match, Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at Bloomfield stadium in a bid to put all domestic issues aside in favor of the European mission.
Ahead of the first ever Conference League group stage match, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made three changes from Saturday’s line-up as Ofir Davidzada stepped-in for the injured Enric Saborit. The rest of Maccabi’s defense remained unchanged with Andre Geraldes, Idan Nachmias and Luis Hernandez assigned to supply the protection on Daniel Peretz in goal.
Sheran Yeini returned to the side to make his 70th appearance in Europe for Maccabi, only three behind record holder Eytan Tibi, as the veteran skipper joined Dan Glazer in the midfield engine room. Dan Biton, completed the midfield on a more attacking role with the task of feeding the front-line that welcomed Eduardo Guerrero back from international duty. Gabi Kanichowsky, who made his debut against Petah Tikva kept his place, as did Stipe Perica who led the attack in a bid to add a goal to his tally which was opened at the weekend.
First Half
It took Maccabi 13 minutes to launch the first serious threat on Alashkert’s goal but when they did so, a move involving four players resulted with the opening goal. Gabi Kanichowsky chipped the ball from the left to Eduardo Guerrero who knocked it down for Dan Biton whose short pass released Stipe Perica.
The tall Croatian striker still had his work cut out as he skipped past an Alashkert defender and fired his shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Ognjen Cancarevic for the first ever Conference League goal.
Two minutes later, Perica who scored his second goal in three days came close to bag his second of the afternoon but was denied by Cancarevic’s feet. Within two minutes Alashkert were back on level terms though as their Portuguese forward Jose Embalo silenced the stadium with a powerful low drive that beat Daniel Peretez to make it 1-1 on 17.
Two minutes after the half hour mark Maccabi were back in front as Biton released Kanichowsky into the area with a clever pass. The diminutive midfielder restored Maccabi’s lead with his debut goal that proved too powerful for Cancarevic.
On the stroke of halftime, an Ofir Davidzada cross reached Biton whose attempt of a shot was blocked and as the ball fell to Kanichowsky he fired a shot that was caught by the keeper. Inside injury time Eduardo Guerrero broke into the area and was brought down by an Alashkert defender which led to Norwegian referee Espen Andreas Eskas awarding a penalty. Biton stepped-up and took a weak shot that was easily caught by Cancarevic, but, luckily for Biton, Eskas spotted an infringement and ordered a re-take which Biton fired home to make it 3-1.
Second Half
Despite the two goal lead at the interval, Van Leeuwen made a double change as Avi Rikan and Matan Hozez replaced Guerrero and Biton for the restart.
Just before the hour mark, Hozez and Andre Geraldes exchanged passes before the winger was brought down winning a free kick. Hozez whipped in the free kick which was cleared by Alashkert’s defense that managed to handle every cross sent in their direction.
In the 67th minute Van Leeuwen made another double change as Sheran Yeini was replaced by Shahar Piven and Kanichowsky bowed out to a standing ovation allowing Brandley Kuwas a chance to make his Maccabi debut.
It didn’t take Kuwas too long to make an impression as four minutes after his introduction the Dutch born winger played a key role in Maccabi’s fourth goal. A clever pass from Kuwas carved Alashkert’s open canceling their offside trap to release Perica who found himself with only the keeper to beat but unselfishly squared the ball to Hozez who scored to make it 4-1 on 71.
Perica was given a standing ovation himself as he was replaced in the 80th minute allowing Osama Khalaila 10 minutes to make an impact.
A minute later, Hozez’ attempt of a cut-back was blocked and reached Piven whose shot cleared the crossbar.
The referee’s final whistle sent Maccabi’s players to celebrate the victory with the 6,934 fans who attended the match. All parties involved, will congregate at Bloomfield once again on Saturday for the league match against Maccabi Haifa which is set to be a completely different affair.
