Kenny Miller kept his 100% league record in tact as Maccabi’s Head Coach guided the team to an emphatic 3-1 victory over Maccabi Haifa at Bloomfield. Miller whose side were eliminated from the Conference League by Swiss side Lugano last week, said after playig for the first time this season at Bloomfield. “We wanted to see a response after the disappointing result on Thursday,” he said after the game. “We wanted to continue building on the domestic form we’ve shown so far. We won the Suer Cp, reached the Toto Cup Final, and we had a great opening last week against Hapoel Jerusalem. We wanted to continue that momentum.
“It’s so good to be back home, to play in front of our fans and have their support behind us. We wanted to feed off that energy. This was the performance we wanted, especially in the first half.
“We’re a good team, and when they put us under a bit of pressure in the second half, the boys dealt with it really well. And what a wonderful goal that was.”
On Maccabi’s second half, performance Miller added: “I always tell you, there are two teams in every football match. No team is simply going to allow you to do whatever you want for 90 minutes.
“We had to defend, we had to block shots and deal with crosses, and we did that successfully. As I said, we scored a really good goal, and if we had been a little more organised and accurate in some of our transition moments, we could have created more opportunities in the second half.
“At the end of the day, when you win 3-1 and start the season with six points, we take the victory, move on and look ahead to next week.”
On Dor Peretz’s form, which has continued from last season and included another two goals, Miller said: “We’re very fortunate to have Dor. He’s started this season exactly the way he finished last season, and the number of goals he’s scoring is just incredible.
“It’s really testament to the hard work he puts in every single day. He works hard on his finishing and always does the extra work after training to get himself into the positions we’re trying to get him into during games. His second goal was a very difficult and technically demanding finish.”
Looking ahead to Monday’s match away to Hapoel Be’ersheva, Miller concluded: “We want to win as many games as possible and our focus is already on the next one. We have a full week to prepare and be ready for next Monday’s game at Turner.
“It’s a team we’ve faced a lot over the last three or four months. We’ll be ready and we’ll prepare exactly as we did tonight, with the aim of getting another win.”
Dor Peretz continued his goalscoring form as the 31-year-old captain scored a brace against Maccabi Haifa to take his tally this season to five league goals and nine in all competitions: “Thursday was very painful. I’m happy we knew how to pick ourselves up”
Peretz who also added an assist as he set up Osher Davida’s second half wonder goal, added: “I think the whole team excelled on the pitch today.
“There’s no doubt I was part of that, and I helped make the team better.”
Peretz, who now has a remarkable five goals in two league matches, was asked about the turbulent summer he experienced and the fact that he was close to signing for another club: “I understand that these questions aren’t going to leave us from last season. Yes, there’s no doubt it was an interesting summer, but I’m here and I’m very happy to be here.
“I’m very happy with this start, both on a team level and personally, and I’m very grateful for it.”
On the differences between Maccabi’s performances in Europe and in domestic competition, the captain shared his thoughts: “I think we have lessons to learn from and things to take from it. What happened in Europe happened, and there’s nothing we can do about it, we have to learn and move forward.
“That’s how you develop, precisely through these painful experiences. Thursday was very painful, but thankfully we knew how to pick ourselves up very well today, put in a great performance in front of our fans and deliver an impressive display at home. That’s the most satisfying thing.”
On the return of Gabi Kanichowsky which was announced shortly before kickoff, Peretz added: “Wow, I missed him a lot. I’ve spoken to him a little recently. The rest of the time I didn’t want to bother him because he had his own decisions and considerations to make. But from my perspective, I’m the happiest person in the world that he’s coming back to us.”
