Preview
A week before facing Hapoel Be’ersheva for the State Cup Final in Jerusalem, Maccabi arrived at Turner stadium for the MD35 penultimate WINNER league match of the 2025/26 campaign. Three days after suffering a dramatic 1-2 defeat to second place Beitar Jerusalem at Bloomfield, Maccabi that has 65 points and will finish the season in third place, face the leaders at their home ground. Kenny Miller’s side that beat Be’ersheva 1-0 at the start of the Playoff thanks to an injury time Dor Peretz goal, will try and get a result which would influence the title race. But they will have to do so without support from the stands as Maccabi’s serves a one-match ban on travelling fans following the incidents in the Tel Aviv derby earlier in the Playoffs.
Miller made a couple of changes from the side that lost to Beitar yet kept his defense unchanged. Ali Camara and Tyrese Asante lined-up in front of goalkeeper Ofek Melika while Sagiv Jehezkel and Roy Revivo completed the back four at right and left-back respectively. Kristijan Belic made his first start since the Europa League match against Dinamo Zagreb on October 2nd last year, as the 25-year-old Serbian midfielder was named alongside Issouf Sissokho in Maccabi’s engine room. Dor Peretz, who scored his 20th goal in all competitions and is competing for the Top Goalscorer award in the league with 17, started at the top of the midfield trio. Helio Varela who was named by the Cape Verde national team in the squad for this summer’s World Cup, was replaced on the wing by Kervin Andrade with Emir Sahiti on the opposite flank. Saied Abu Farchi continued to lead the attack seeking to add to his 11 goals in all competitions this season.
On the bench Miller named Roi Mishpati, Raz Shlomo, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Helio Varela, Itamar Noy, Ido Shahar and Itai Ben Hamo.
First half
A vocal Turner Stadium welcomed the two sides onto the pitch as the hot-tempered encounter between the clubs that became bitter rivals in the past decade was evident. The tense atmosphere was on the pitch as well as Igor Zlatanovic’s rough tackle on Issouf Sissokho saw the Be’ersheva striker booked by referee Yigal Frid when he should have been shown the red card. Maccabi came close to draw first blood three minutes later as Saied Abu Farchi carried a counterattack through the middle before slipping the ball to Kervin Andrade whose right foot shot narrowly missed the target.
In the 17th minute Be’ersheva were awarded a penalty after a shot was deflected out by Tyrese Asante. Kings Kangwa floated in the corner which was handled by Ali Camara before Frid awarded a penalty. Zlatanovoc stepped up and fired his penalty past Ofek Melika to put the hosts in front. Maccabi responded almost instantly as Sagiv Jehezkel found Kervin Andrade in the box, but goalkeeper Ofir Marciano pulled a fingertip save to turn the ball for a corner. The resulting corner also led to a penalty in almost identical fashion as Djibril Diop handled the ball preventing Asante from heading it. Frid didn’t award a spot kick initially, but VAR intervened and gave Maccabi a chance to go level. Dor Peretz stepped up, kept his calm, and drilled in the penalty to score his 18th league goal and silence Turner. In the 27th minute however the hosts were back in front as Kings Kang exchanged passes with Amir Ganah and from the edge of the area managed to find the bottom corner of Melika to set the score at 2-1.
Five minutes after the half hour mark Maccabi were back on level terms as Sissokho managed to intercept a pass before carving B’ersheva’s defense to release Andrade who swept in the second equalizer of the match.
Second half
Kenny Miller didn’t make any changes after the break but his Be’ersheva counterpart, Ran Kuzukh, introduced at the restart former Maccabi defender Ofir Davidzada for another former Maccabi defender Matan Baltaxa. Be’ersheva were awarded a free kick after Kristijan Belic fouled Kangwa near the box on 47. Kangwa tried curling the free kick, but Melika was ready and collected with ease. A minute later Abu Farchi drove a counterattack before cutting the ball back for Andrade whose effort was deflected wide of the post. At the opposite end Mohamad Abu Rumi was given the time and space to have a clear sight on goal but his shot also went wide. Miller reacted with a double substitution as Belic and Andrade bowed out and were replaced by Ido Shahar and Helio Varela on 53.
Emir Sahiti was booked for a foul on Lukas Ventura six minutes after the hour mark as this was the Kosovar’s final contribution on the night. Three minutes later Sahiti came off as part of a double change which Miller made and saw him and Jehezkel replaced by Elad Madmon and Noam Ben Harosh. In the 75th minute Melika pulled a stunning reflex save which could easily compete as the save of the season. The 21-year-old managed to get a hand and tip Javon East’s close-range powerful volley onto the post and out for a corner. Two minutes later Melika could do nothing to deny Be’ersheva from taking the lead as East managed to find fellow substitute Zahi Ahmad unmarked at the far post as he tapped the ball home from point blank range. Miller sent in Raz Shlomo for Abu farchi as his fifth and final change. But the hosted were boosted by their lead and scored another three minutes later. Miguel Vitor was at the end of a Kangwa free kick as the veteran defender headed the ball past Melika to seal the victory.
