Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped points for the first time this season as Kenny Miller’s side were frustrated by Bnei Sakhnin in a disappointing goalless draw at Bloomfield. A man-of-the-match performance by Sakhnin’s keeper Raul Bălbărău denied Maccabi’s players throughout the match and was beaten only once by a Raz Shlomo second half header which rattled the crossbar.
Shortly after the match, Shlomo faced the media and didn’t try hiding his frustration: “First of all, they didn’t create too much,” Shlomo said. “We knew how to suffocate the game, press immediately after losing possession and take control in their half. It’s the first time this season we’ve faced a team defending this deep, after playing more open games until now. We created our chances but didn’t score. It’s disappointing that things turned out this way, but we can also look at the positives, our first clean sheet of the season. We’ll learn from what happened, work on the things we didn’t do as well and move on to the next match.”
“I don’t think we did anything wrong; we did what we set out to do. There are games when the ball simply refuses to go in. We created good, clear-cut chances, got into the penalty area, hit the crossbar and made runs in behind. Perhaps we were also a little unlucky. When a team lines up with five players inside the penalty area, leaving no space in behind, it isn’t easy. Obviously, if we had scored an early goal, the game would have opened much more and everything would have looked completely different. I hope that in the coming games we’ll score an early goal to make things easier for us later.”
“We’re maintaining consistency; there’s no room to take our foot off the gas”
On the criticism directed at Maccabi’s defense that kept a clean sheet for the first time since the 5-0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol, Shlomo added: “When people talk about the defense after we concede goals, that’s legitimate, but from my perspective, defending is a collective team effort. We learned lessons from the previous matches and this time we kept a clean sheet. I hope we can continue doing that in the future.
Shlomo, who made his 106th appearance for Maccabi summed up: “A defender needs consistency above all else, especially at a club where the competition is so intense that you can’t take your foot off the gas for even a second. It’s up to you, if you perform well, you keep your place; if not, you can find yourself out of the team. At a club like Maccabi Tel Aviv, you have two or three quality players competing for every position, and whoever earns a place in the starting line-up has to fight to keep it.”
Finally, the defender was already looking ahead to the next challenge awaiting Maccabi at Teddy Stadium against Beitar Jerusalem: “We know that in recent years this has been one of the toughest matches we have in the league. We’ll analyze the opposition, prepare accordingly, and go there with the aim of winning away from home.”
