Eran Zahavi scored his 7th league goal of the season but that wasn’t to help Maccabi beat Maccabi Haifa as the match at Bloomfield stadium ended in a 1-1 draw. 28,429 Maccabi fans packed Bloomfield as Zahavi paid tribute after the match: “I must compliment the fans who filled the stadium and created and amazing atmosphere” Zahavi said. “Teams will drop points in the Playoff as all the matches are really tough. We deserved to win yet we didn’t do it” before explaining: “We deserved it for the way in which we played and for the fans so at least we could be optimistic with our form.” The draw saw Maccabi concede top spot to Hapoel Be’ersheva on goal difference still left the veteran skipper adamant: With six matches still left to play, Zahavi insisted: “The journey is still long as we have 6 matches to play and every one of them is a cup final. I believe that in the end we will do what we need to do.”
On the goal he scored, his 202nd in Maccabi’s colors, Zahavi said: “Every goal I score excites me so after a complex spell I had I am just delighted to score – the only shame is that it didn’t give us 3 points like last week. I believe in the team and believe in us. I take the positive things from tonight and the less positive ones I put aside.”
Zahavi who made his 38th appearance this season in all competitions, added: “I am delighted to be on the pitch for as long as I can. We played against a tough opponent who gave us a fight as matches like this are never easy and are very tough. We will try and do our jobs and sum things up at the end of the season.”
On his collaboration with Dor Turgeman upfront, Zahavi added: “We did that on several occasions and we have a good partnership together which we also showed last season. The coach will decide when that will happen. It could have been more successful if we would have scored today but we didn’t and we will move forward”
