Eran Zahavi crossed the 200 mark as he scored a brace in the 4-1 victory over Maccabi Netanya on Saturday to lead Maccabi to their fifth league victory in succession. Maccabi’s 20th victory of the season took the point tally to 66 and the number of goals scored to 66 as well. The 37-year-old striker didn’t get carried away as he said at the end of the match: “We did our job and won a very important match tonight especially after beating Hapoel Be’ersheva last week. We kept the first place which is the most important thing and we are looking forward.”
Zahavi, who scored a few spectacular goals in his career, said of his overhead bicycle kick which doubled Maccabi’s lead on the night: “I haven’t scored for a while so it was a special goal but the most important thing is that we won tonight and played well as a team. There was an amazing atmosphere in the stadium and this was my 200th goal for Maccabi so it had to be something special”
Zahavi who made his 10th league start and 37th appearance in all competitions said of his season so far: “The situation was a little new to me and I am dealing with it ok overall. Obviously I would have been happy to play as much as possible but I must respect the coach’s decision and do the best I possibly can when I am on the pitch. This is what I tried to do today and throughout the season. Sometimes it works better and sometimes less, but my job is to be a professional all the way till the end.”
On the race for the title with Hapoel Be’ersheva that are now five points adrift but with a match in hand they will play away to Maccabi Haifa on Monday, Zahavi added: “From my experience we must look only at ourselves, try and win every match and not to look at our rivals. In the end we need to do our job and if we will stick to that in the end we will reach the trophy. We kept the first place for another week which is what we need to do going forward.”
In the 59th minute the fans held banners marking the 59 hostages still held in Gaza and in particular three Maccabi fans – Gali & Zivi Berman as well as Omri Miran. On the fans’ gesture, and Maccabi’ activities throughout this difficult period, the captain summed up: “I am so proud of our club and the way in which it conducts itself ever since October 7th last year. We don’t forget anyone, support the families, those who return from captivity and those who are still there. I am so proud but we must continue and can’t afford to forget anyone as we will continue to do it.”
