Previe
Maccabi arrived at Sammy Ofer for the WINNER League MD28 match away to Maccabi on the back of two victories in succession. Ronny Deila’s side that beat Haifa 3-2 in the State Cup Semi Final 10 days ago and followed with a 1-0 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby will aim to extend that run. With his side currently third in the table with 52 points, eight adrift of second place Beitar Jerusalem and 10 behind leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva that face each other later today, Deila will try lead Maccabi to victory and cut that gap. In the absence of suspended duo, Dor Peretz and Osher Davida who are both serving a one-match touchline ban for yellow and red cards respectively, as well as Ali Camara (injury) – Deila was forced to make changes. Ofek Melika kept his place in goal with Heitor dos Santos and Raz Shlomo lining up as the two central defenders in front of the 21-year-old keeper. In Peretz’s absence, Roy Revivo was handed the captain’s armband in what was the 22-year-old full-back’s 123rd appearance in Yellow and Blue. Tyrese Asante who just like Revivo was making his 42nd appearance for Maccabi this season, completed the back-four on the right. In midfield, Issouf Sissokho slotted into the anchorman role just behind Itamar Noy and Ido Shahar who will aim to go level with Peretz in the goalscoring charts. Shahar’s tally this season currently stands on 14 in all competitions, but the 24-year-old diminutive midfielder will need to score 2 goals if he wishes to go level with Peretz in the number of goals scored in the league. On teh wings, Deila named Helio Varela and Emir Sahiti whose roles will be supplying the ammunition for Saied Abu Farchi. The 19-year-old striker who returned from suspension, will lead the attack and try add to his tally of 10 goals this season.
On the bench, Deila, named Kervin Andrade amongst the substitutes, as the 21-year-old Venezuelan midfielder was back in the squad for the first time since February. Alongside Andrade, Deila named goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Sagiv Jehezkel, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Itay Ben Hemo and Lotem Asres.
First half
Several empty seats were visible at the Sammy Ofer Stadium for what is normally billed as the Clasico of Israeli football. While the hosts’ disappointing season had its affect on the number of home fans, Maccabi’s traveling fans arrived in numbers as 2500 members of the Yellow and Blue army filled the South West corner of the stadium. A pyrotechnics display from both ends of the stadium followed the kickoff, but while the flares were burning in the stands Maccabi dominated the early stages. An exchanges of passes in the box involving Emir Sahiti and Saied Abu freed Ido Shahar whose close range effort deflected out for a corner. At the opposite end Haifa’s young defender Elad Amir headed a corner onto the roof of Ofek Melika’s goal. In the 15th minute the deadlock was broken by a lethal Maccabi counter attack as Sahiti sent Helio Varela charging down the left. The Cape Verde winger’s bursting pace took him past Jelle Bataille as he charged into the box and blasted a low accurate shot that found the bottom far corner. Ten minutes later Haifa thought they were back on level terms after Melika saved Silva Kangani’s initial effort and as Maccabi’s defense struggled to clear the danger Ethan Azoulay drilled in the rebound. But Haifa’s celebrations were shortlived as VAR intervened before referee Aviad Shiloah ruled the goal out for offside.
Maccabi continued to look dangerous going forward as a minute after the half hour mark Sahiti squared to Shahar who had another sight of goal but his effort was easily collected by Georgiy Yermakov. Two minutes later Roy Revivo was booked a fact which would sideline him from Tuesday’s match against Hapoel Be’ersheva at Bloomfield. Barak Bachar was forced to make his first change as Ali Mohamed limped off and was replaced by Navot Ratner in the 35th minute. Seconds later Maccabi doubed their lead as Asante slipped the ball to Abu Farchi who turned in the box before blasting a thunderbolt that rocketed into the roof of the net giving Yermakov no chance.
Second Half
Abu Farchi’s goal celebration led to a scuffle on the pitch as both teams continued the exchanges in the tunnel. When both teams emerged for the second half, Shiloah booked Abu Farchi before the restart. Haifa came close to cut the deficit right after the restart as Raz Shlomo conceded possession to Stewart before Dolev Haziza received the ball and fired a shot which Melika collected. In the 53 minute Stewart came even closer as Kangany found him with a square ball before the Jamaican striker hooked his shot over the crossbar. In the 57th minute while Haifa were attempting to take a corner, Itamar Noy went down in the box after being struck by Stewart. VAR called Shiloah to the screen and the Jamaican striker was shown the red card leaving Haifa with 10 men for the rest of the match.
Sahiti was booked on 62 for a foul on Bataille as tempers continued to flare. A counter attack on 66 almost resulted with another Abu Farchi goal after Varela sent him forward but the striker’s powerful drive missed the target. Deila reacted with a triple substitution in the 69th minute as Heitor dos Santos, Issouf Sissokho and Abu Farchi all bowed out and were replaced by Sagiv Jehezkel, Ben Lederman and Elad Madmon. Seconds after being introduced as a substitute at Haifa, former Maccabi striker Djordje Jovanovic received a long ball out of defense before squaring to fellow substitute Guy Melamed who slid in and flicked the ball past Melika to cut the deficit. Deila reacted with a change of his own as he introduced Lotem Asres for his senior debut as the 19-year-old came on for the closing stages.
In the 82nd minute Asres found Sahiti in acres of space before the Kosovar winger had his shot blocked by the stretched arm of Shon Goldberg. Shiloah didnt hesitate and awarded Maccabi a penalty. Shahar stepped up and as opposed to the Semi Final against Haifa at Teddy, successfully drilled the spot kick past Yermakov to restore Maccabi’s two-goal lead. Noam Ben Harush replaced Sahiti on 86 as Deila made his fifth and final substitution. Inside injury time Maccabi came close to score a fourth as Varela charged fkr a counter attack but was stopped by Yermakov before the final whistle ended the contest.
