Preview:
Maccabi arrived at Bulgaria’s Vasil Levski National stadium in Sofia for the return leg of the Europa League third qualifying round against local side CSKA Sofia. With a 3-0 deficit from last week’s first leg in Batumi, Maccabi know that only a victory by a three goal margin or more would keep their chances of advancing to the Play-Off alive. Kenny Milled made several changes to his side from the team that lost in Batumi as Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo returned to the starting line-up on the right and left of defense. Ali Camara and Raz Shlomo kept their place as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Ofek Melika. Issouf Sissokho started in the anchorman role with Ido Shahar and Dor Peretz joining the Mali midfielder in Maccabi’s engine room. Helio Varela and Osher Davida supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation while Ester Sokler who made his debut appearance last week as a second half substitute, made his first start upfront.
On the bench alongside goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Miller named Kervin Andrade, Dan Glazer, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harosh, Ori Azo, Noam Schwartz, Shahar Rosen, Itamar Noy, Saied Abu Farchi, Itai Ben Hamo and Ilay Ben Simon.
First half:
A backdrop of over 20,000 Bulgarian fans draped in red and a few dozen Maccabi fans in Yellow, Kenny Miller’s side were facing a tough task. Six minutes from the start Maccabi couldn’t have wished for a better outcome as Helio Varela’s pressure on CSKA’s defense saw the Cape Verde winger brought down in the box. German referee Daniel Schlager awarded a penalty which silenced the home fans. But VAR intervened, called Schlager to the screen before the initial decision was cancelled lifting the home crowd. A minute after play was resumed, CSKA almost took the lead as Leandro Godoy who scored in last week’s first leg, shrugged off a challenge by Raz Shlomo and with only Ofek Melika to beat, struck his shot against the post. In the 12th minute however Maccabi took the lead as Osher Davida curled a left foot cross into the path of Dor Peretz who slid in and flicked the ball beyond the reach of CSKA’s keeper Fador Lapoukhov. With the aggregate score at 3-1 Maccabi played with confidence and came close to double their lead on 21. Davida switched sides to Roy Revivo and raced into the penalty area to meet the left-back’s pinpoint cross with a header which bounced in front of the keeper and over the crossbar.
Issouf Sissokho who dominated the midfield since the start of the match went down on the edge of the Maccabi box in the 25th minute after a rough tackle by Bruno Jordao who was consequently booked by Schlager. Revivo broke into the CSKA penalty box and went down in what seemed like a penalty, but his claims for a spot kick didn’t impress Shlager, who booked Peretz for dissent five minute later. Three minutes after the half hour mark, as Maccabi continued to press forward, a Tyrese Asante cross fell to Varela who cut inside before firing a shot which bounced off the base of the post.
In the 43rd minute Shlomo charged forward through the middle before teeing up Ido Shahar who pulled the trigger but saw his shot deflected for a corner. Maccabi continued their dominance and placed CSKA’s defense under the cosh with Varela tormenting the hosts’ down the left. Inside injury time Revivo was fouled on the edge of the box and Schlager awarded a free kick. Maccabi’s well drilled set piece came inches away from doubling the lead and cutting the aggregate deficit to 3-2, but Asante fired a powerful low drive which left Lapoukhov rooted to the ground but rolled agonizingly wide.
Second half:
While Miller didn’t make any change after the interval, his Bulgarian counterpart Hristo Yanev introduced James Eto’o for Jordao at the restart. CSKA reached their best chance in the 50th minute as Ioannis Pittas had his initial shot from inside the box blocked by Ali Camara before his second shot was caught by Melika.
Camara needed treatment and limped off on 54 before the Guinea central defender was replaced by Noam Ben Harosh. As a result of the change Ben Harosh was assigned to the right-back role while Asante pushed into the middle to partner Shlomo at the heart of defense. While Maccabi were regrouping, CSKA almost scored as Melika charged off his goalline to block Godoy who was sent into the area before the striker tapped the ball across the face of the empty goal.
A minute after the hour mark Maccabi were rewarded for their efforts and managed to double their lead and cut the aggregate deficit to a single goal. Davida once again was the provider as he curled a left foot cross into the danger zone as Ester Sokler guided his header into the top corner to score his debut Maccabi goal. Revivo came close to score the third on 65 as he headed a Shahar corner wide from close range. But at the opposite end a minute later Maccabi’s comeback suffered a major blow as the Yellow defense struggled to clear the ball which fell to Stefanos Sensi who blasted his shot in to set the stadium alight. Maccabi’s never say die attitude on the night saw Miller’s charges regain the two goal lead almost instantly as a Varela cross from the left was fumbled by Lapoukhov into his own net to make it 3-1 in the 69th minute.
Miller made his first changes in the 79th minute as he introduced both Elad Madmon and Saied Abu Farchi for Davida and Sokler. Within a minute of his introduction Madmon wasn’t ready for the frantic pace of the match as he conceded possession just inside Maccabi’s half forcing Sissokho to commit a foul which earned the Mali midfielder a booking as two minutes later Madmon was booked himself for a challenge Mohamed Brahimi. Miller made another change in the 84th minute as Shahar came off with Kervin Andrade given a chance to try and make a change in the closing stages of the match.
