Preview
Three days after the 3-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the final home match of the 2025/26 season against second place Beitar Jerusalem. Maccabi’s interim Head Coach Kenny Miller whose side are 3rd in the table with 65 points, will try and guide Maccabi to a first victory against Beitar this season which would also cut the gap between the two sides to 3 points. Miller made a single change from the side that beat Haifa in midweek as Helio Varela replaced Kervin Andrade on the wing.
Ofek Melika made his 25th league appearance and 30th in all competitions this season as the 21-year-old keeper started in goal. Ali Camara and Tyrese Asante lined up as the two central defenders in front of Melika. Sagiv Jehezkel who scored a goal and added an assist against Haifa in midweek, kept his place on the right, while Roy Revivo who took his tally to 13 league assists in the league started on the left. Miller made no changes to his midfield trio as Issouf Sissokho in the anchorman role sat behind Ido Shahar and Dor Peretz who scored 13 and 16 league goals respectively. Varela replaced Andrade on the left while Emir Sahiti kept his place on the right with Saied Abu Farchi leading the attack aiming to add to his 11 goals in all competitions.
On the bench alongside Andrade, Miller goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Raz Shlomo,
Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy and Itai Ben Hamo.
Prior to kick off, Ben Mansford who was the Club’s CEO for two spells and held the the role of Director of Football, was given a chance to bid farewell from the fans as he will leave at the end of the season.
First half
A packed Bloomfield stadium welcomed both sets of players onto the pitch but after Gal Leibovic got the contest underway Maccabi were the dominant side. Helio Varela down the left, Emir Sahiti on the right and Saied Abu Farchi in the middle put Beitar’s defense under pressure with Dor Peretz and Ido Shahar supporting from the midfield.
Maccabi reached several good chances in the first 15 minutes as Varela flashed a shot across the face of goal which Miguel Silva turned for a corner. Sagiv Jehezkel released a counter attack which led to another chance that was waisted before Ofek Melika pulled a stunning save at the opposite end to deny Yarden Shuah. Maccabi continued to press as Shahar was through on goal but was let down by his touch allowing Silva to charge off his line and collect. In the middle of a Maccabi counterattack in the 26th minute in Ali Camara was booked for a foul on Omer Atzili. A minute after the half hour mark Sahiti fired a low drive from the edge of the area which rolled wide of the post. In the 38th minute Maccabi had the ball in the back of the net after Abu Farchi flicked with his head to Sahiti who raced clear through on goal. The Kosovar winger dinked the ball over Silva and was then booked for his goal crlebration but VAR intervened and spotted an offside before the goal was cancelled.
Maccabi continued to press forward in an attempt to score before the interval. Inside injury time Beitar’s defense struggled to clear a Shahar corner which Camara sent back into the danger zone. Peretz’s attempt of a header fell to Abu Farchi at the far post but Silva managed to save and Yarin Levy’s clearance reached Sahiti whose effort cleared the crossbar.
Second half
Kenny Miller and his Beitar counterpart Barak Itzhaki made no changes after the break but less than a minute after the restart the visitors almost took the lead. Shuah was given the time and space to turn on the edge of Maccabi’s box before Melika was at full stretch to deny Beitar’s captain. Maccabi came close as a counter attack left Shahar unmarked but he side footed his shot over the crossbar. In the 51st minute the deadlock was finally broken as nothing could Maccabi from taking the lead. Sahiti received the ball down the right flank and floated a cross to the far post where Perertz’s glancing header took his tally to 17 league goals and 20 in all competitions. Maccabi came close to double the score on 56 as Varela drove a counterattack for almost half the length of the pitch to release Sahiti who was tripped by Yarden Cohen. Jehezkel latched on the loose ball and charged forward but had his shot saved by Silva. While Maccabi kept trying to double their lead, a lethal counterattack at the opposite end on the hour mark resulted with Shuah releasing Atzili whose effort was almost saved by Melika.
A last gasp Roy Revivo tackle in the 65th minute denied Samuel Kalu who raced through on goal. Miller reacted with a triple substitution as Noam Ben Harush replaced Jehezkel, Kervin Andrade came on for Sahiti and Elad Madmon replaced Abu Farchi. In the 80th minute Beitar completed their comeback as Maccabi’s defense were caught flat before the ball reached Timothy Muzie who swept his shot past Melika to put the visitors in front. Miller responded with a double change on 84 as Itamar Noy and Itai Ben Hamo replaced Camara and Shahar for the closing stages.
