Roi Mishpati, who had another solid performance in the 1–1 draw against Maccabi Haifa, conceded a dramatic late penalty that denied him from keeping a clean sheet. The controvercial late spot-kick that Djordje Jovanovic successfully converted, also denied Maccabi three valuable points. “Of course there is disappointment, and it is frustrating to concede a penalty in the 90th minute” Mishpati said after the match. “I think we could have finished it earlier with two or three good chances we had, but we were punished for that in the 90th minute.”
The 32-year-old Maccabi keeper reflected on Yigal Frid’s decision to award Haifa a penalty after Ali Camara was judged to have tripped Eitan Azoulay in the box: “I didn’t look at it. On the pitch, it looked like Ali got the ball. I’m not getting into what the referees decided or what they saw.”
“The expectations here are high. We want to win every game, and we do everything we can to win every game,” Mishpati added. “If you look at our recent matches, we have played good football. Sometimes you just miss that bit of luck, and I am sure it will come.”
After a first half in which Haifa were dominant and he was forced to pull a string of good saves to keep his goal locked, Maccabi emerged for the second period a much better side, as Mishpati admitted: “We didn’t play good football in the first half. In the second, we looked better, created chances, and showed our football. We could have scored a few goals from the opportunities we had. It could be fatigue, it could be the flights or Yom Kippur. We worked hard to earn the right to play in Europe. We have a big and deep squad, we’ll use the break to learn what we did well and what we need to improve.”
On his own recent good form, Mishpati added: “Since the start of the season, I’ve felt confident, that I’m doing the right things, what the club, the team, and the coach expect from me. I felt very good in the first half and in the second as well. I’m happy about the saves I made and that I kept us in the game. Still, I think we could’ve finished it off in the second half.”
Looking ahead to the next fixture, the Tel Aviv derby after the international break, Mishpati said: “A week of rest will help us recover, both those heading to their national teams and those staying here.”
On Maccabi’s style of play that sometimes gets the fans actions with the ball being played from the back between Mishpati and his defenders, the keeper added: “We do our job. Everywhere in the world now, teams focus on the build-up. We don’t just want to launch long balls forward for nothing. We want to build from the back properly, and I think we did that very well today.”
On the Maccabi fans who pushed the team on: “We felt the energy and confidence from the fans. Even during moments of pressure, we stayed composed thanks to them.”
Mishpati then reflected on the team’s hectic schedule, which included fasting, travel, and back-to-back matches: “If you told me we would take all three points today, I would fast another day,” he said with a smile. “But really, it wasn’t easy. We do everything to compete in Europe and in big league matches. For me, it is pure joy, it was a great experience.”
