Preview
Maccabi arrived at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki ahead of the EUROPA League phase MD1 against PAOK. Following an extremely tough draw, Zarko Lazetic’s side will host Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb at the TSC Arena next week and will also see Midtjylland, Olympique Lyonnais and Bologona travel to Backa Topola. The match against PAOK will be the first of four tough away fixtures that also include SC Freiburg, VFB Stuttgart and Aston Villa.
Lazetic made several changes to his side as Ali Camara and Raz Shlomo lined-up as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Roi Mishpati. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s defensive line that is hoping to keep PAOK at bay. Issouf Sissokho and Kristijan Belic were named in Maccabi’s engine room with Kervin Andrade at the top of the midfield trio. Osher Davida on one wing and Sagiv Jehezkel on the opposite flank supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation. Dor Peretz on his 80th European appearance led the team out with the captain’s armband as the 30 year old was also assigned to spearhead the attack.
On the bench alongside goalkeepers Yoav Gerafi and Ofek Melika, Lazetic named Heitor, Denny Gropper, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Helio Varela, Itamar Noy, Saied Abu Farchi, Ido Shahar, Itay Ben Hemo.
First Half
The Toumba Stadium is famous for its atmosphere as Maccabi’s 200 traveling fans in the south corner were swallowed by the wall of sound created by the PAOK fans. Three minutes after the start a long ball challenged Maccabi’s defense as Roi Mishpati charged out of his box and collided with Ali Camara. Raz Shlomo’s perfectly timed last gasp tackle managed to clear the danger before PAOK could capitalise. Two minutes later however Kervin Andrade was pulled down as Maccabi were awarded a free kick deep inside PAOK’s half. Osher Davida whipped in a cross which reached Dor Peretz but the Maccabi captain who timed his run well, side footed the ball wide of the post.
Maccabi’s pressure on the PAOK defense saw Davida win possession and slip the ball to Peretz who found himself in a good position to score. Peretz drilled a shot which PAOK’s keeper Jiri Pavlenka saved with his feet. Davida fired a shot high and wide and Roy Revivo had an effort blocked by a PAOK defender as Maccabi enjoyed a good spell. In the 35th minute Maccabi had the ball in the back of the net as Revivo received the ball behind PAOK’s defense and squared it to Peretz who swept it home. But Maccabi’s celebrations were shortlived as VAR intervened and cancelled the Peretz goal after spotting an offside infringement.
Second Half
The second half began with PAOK’s fans pushing their players while Maccabi defended bravely as Ali Camara and Raz Shlomo managed to limit PAOK’s chances to a minimum.
Four minutes after the hour mark Maccabi reached a great chance as PAOK’s defense failed to clear a ball which reached Andrade whose half volley was saved by Pavlenka.
In the 70th minute PAOK came close to take the lead as as a mix up in Maccabi’s defense saw Camara’s attempt of a clearance go the wrong way but strike the crossbar. At the opposite end a minute later Davida flashed a shot which beat the keeper but head to the wrong side of the post. This was Davida’s final contribution on the nigt as Zarko Lazetic made a double substitution introducing Helio Varela while Itamar Noy came on for Issouf Sissokho.
In the 88th minute Lazetic made another change as Elad Madmon replaced Sagiv Jehezkel for the closing stages.
Mishpati pulled the save of the game as he stretched himself across goal to catch a Fedor Chalov close range effort which seemed destined to go in. Ido Shahar replaced Andrade in the 90th minute as the fourth official added 4 minutes to the game.
Mishpati came to the rescue once again this time to block a Mady Camara shot as seconds later the final whistle was heard
