Ali Camara’s 95th minute winner earned Maccabi Tel Aviv a dramatic 2-1 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem at Bloomfield. The 28-year-old Guinian defender who opened his Maccabi account in the most dramatic fashion said at the end of the game: “I think I wasn’t the only happy person in the stadium, the fans and the players too, we are all happy today with the last-minute win.”
Camara’s winning goal secured a fourth victory this season that kept Maccabi’s 100% record in tact: “Those three points were very important for us. We want to keep winning every match, even though it’s not easy. Today it came at the very last moment, but we are happy to take the points at home.”
Camara, whose side were reduced to 10 men following the second half dismissal or Roy Revivo tried explaining what has been going on behind the scenes:
“We spoke in the dressing room about winning every match, and today was the fourth match of the season. We wanted to keep up the performance and keep improving,” Camara said. “Today our character was very important, especially with one player less, and we are happy about that.”
The central defender who joined Maccabi in the summer from Swiss club Young Boys and became one of the leaders of the team, spoke of his settling in: “I feel very good. The players, the fans, the club, everyone welcomed me very well. Today I’m very happy and I enjoyed myself on the pitch.”
Ahead to the Europa League phase which kicks off on Wednesday with a tough match away to PAOK Thessaloniki, Camara added:
“We will continue with the process we started a month ago. We are trying to do many positive things. It’s great for us to begin the Europa League, and we will keep working and improving.”
