Eran Zahavi had a captain’s display as the 37-year-old striker scored a hattrick to lead Maccabi to an important 6-1 victory over Maccabi Netanya. The hattrick which took his personal tally this season to 10 league goals and 13 in all competitions.
Zahavi, summed up the team effort and the victory which kept the title race alive as Maccabi have 74 points and equaled the goal difference to the one of Hapoel Be’ersheva said: “It was an excellent night for our team and I am delighted to have scored a hattrick which helped the team win which was the most important thing.”
With two matches left until the end of the season, a trip to Sammy Ofer for a match against Maccabi Haifa on MD35 followed by a home match against Beitar Jerusalem at Bloomfield, Zahavi added: “We have two very tough matches left to play and we will need to win them both. But we will start with the next match against Haifa and do everything we can to win.”
On dealing with such pressure at the business end of the season Zahavi said: “I was in this scenario in the past and learned that we shouldn’t look at things this way. First we must focus on the next game and not look at the goal difference. We need to win the matches and in the end the small details will decide. I don’t know of the championship will be decided on goal difference but every detail is crucial, every centimeter matters.”
Zahavi, who let Dor Turgeman take the penalty Maccabi were awarded early in the first half explained his decision: “Dor is experiencing an amazing season in terms of penalties while I missed recently and missed again earlier this season. I don’t have an ego, these things do not concern me and I will do what is best for the team. I don’t fight these things and if there are others who can score and help us win and take points this is more important.”
On the season he experienced which saw him start many matches on the substitutes bench, Zahavi said: “It hasn’t been an easy season but I think the Playoff kind of makes up for all that. I would like to end the season with the Championship plate which is the most important thing for me. The Playoff is a very important part of the season we experienced.” Zahavi paid tribute to the 7000 travelling Maccabi fans who supported the team for the entire 90 minutes: “The fans deserve a good word as they came here in numbers and saw some good football. I am looking forward to their support at Sammy Ofer next week as well.”
