Preview

Maccabi arrived at Teddy stadium for the MD30 WINNER League match against leaders Beitar Jerusalem on top form. Ronny Deila’s side that beat Maccabi Haifa in the Semi Final of the State Cup at Teddy on April 15th have since gone on a run of three victories in the league against Hapoel Tel Aviv (1-0), Maccabi Haifa (3-1) and Hapoel Be’ersheva (1-0) that saw them narrow the gap from top spot to six points. Beitar, the only side Maccabi failed to beat this season are in excellent form themselves. Since the 1-2 defeat to Be’ersheva on MD22 on February 9th, Beitar are unbeaten in the last 7 league matches, winning five and drawing only against Maccabi (0-0) and Be’ersheva (2-2).

Maccabi’s dramatic 1-0 victory over Be’ersheva at Bloomfield, helped Beitar capture top spot, but cost Deila two suspensions as Ali Camara and Sagiv Jehezkel will be suspended from the match at Teddy. On the hand, the Norwegian coach welcomes Roy Revivo and Tyrese Asante who were both suspended on Tuesday and return to face Beitar. While Asante and Revivo were named by Deila at right-back and left back respectively, Heitor dis Santos and Raz Shlomo lined-up as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Ofek Melika. Deila kept the same midfield trio that looked impressive against Be’ersheva as Issouf Sissokho in the anchorman role sat behind the two leading goal-scorers Ido Shahar (15) and Dor Peretz (16). On the wings Deila stuck with Emir Sahiti and Helio Varela while Saied Abu Farchi led the attack aiming to add to his 7 league goals and 11 in all competitions.

On the bench, Deila, welcomed back from injury, Kristijan Belic, whose last appearance for Maccabi was during the 0-0 against Beitar at Teddy on February 16th. The Serbian midfielder will wait for his chance on the bench together with Kervin Andrade, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy, Itai Ben Hamo, Osher Davida and goalkeeper Roi Mishpati.

Those who will not be available to help Maccabi’s cause on the night are the fans as Maccabi will begin a punishment of a two-match ban for traveling fans which will also include the Tel Aviv derby.

First Half

Backed by a packed Teddy Stadium full of Beitar fans, the hosts had the advantage in the stadium but on the pitch matters were different. Ronny Deila’s side took the initiative early on and in their first chance had the ball in the back of the net. Helio Varela slipped the ball into the path of Roy Revivo who made the overlap run before squaring to Ido Shahar who swept it home. Teddy was silenced as Maccabi celebrated the early goal but the referee assistant raised his flag for offside. VAR intervened and spotted that there was no offside as Shahar’s goal stood and Maccabi were in front. Two minutes later at the opposite end Yarden Shuah played Omer Atzili in but Ofek Melika charged off his goal and blocked with his feet to deny Beitar what would have been an early equalizer.

In the 17th minute Shuah cut to the middle and teed up Boris Enow for a powerful drive which was deflected out for a corner that Maccabi’s defense managed to clear. A minute later the defense struggled to clear the danger as the ball fell to Shuah who kept his composure and slotted the ball home to level the score and set Teddy alight. In the 25th minute Yarin Levy and Atzili exchanged passes down the left as Shuah was released down the right. The Beitar skipper clipped the ball for Samuel Kalu who was brought down in the box by Heitor dos Santos before Yigal Frid awarded a penalty. Atzili stepped up to take the penalty but Melika who made a crucial penalty save in the Cup against Hapoel Tel Aviv managed to hook the ball off his line with his foot. Beitar completed their comeback right on the hour mark, as Shuah floated a cross to the far post where Brayan Carabali rose high to nod the ball home. Beitar’s blitz continued in the 33rd minute as Heitor lost possession deep inside Maccabi’s half allowing Kalu to charge through the middle and fire a low shot into Melika’s bottom corner to make it 3-1.

,As the fourth raised his sign for 3 minutes of added time Beitar struggled to clear a corner as Shahr floated a ball towards Dor Peretz whose effort was blocked for another corner. Shahar crossed the corner to the back post where Peretz headed across towards Tyrese Asante who headed home to cut the deficit.

Second Half

Deila made one change after the break as Noam Ben Harush replaced Heitor at the restart with Ansante moving across the back alongside Raz Shlomo at the heart of defense. In the 52nd minute Beitar restored their two goal lead as Ziv Ben Shimol received the ball from Kalu and sent it to Shuah. The Beitar captain let the ball run to Atzili who drilled a low drive that beat Melika. Within a minute Atzili came close to score another as he stripped Shlomo of the ball and burst forward but Melika charged off his line to block and catch it at the second attempt. Shuah bowed out on 57 and was replaced by Jasond Gonzales as Barak Itzhaki replaced his captain and introduced his Colombian striker.

In the 66th minute a Peretz through ball released Saied Abu Farchi whose effort was blocked by Luka Gadrani for a corner. Deila reacted with triple substitution two minutes later as Kristijan Belic, Kervin Andrade and Elad Madmon replaced Shahar, Emir Sahiti and Abu Farchi. Issouf Sissokho was booked in the 80th minute and Belic was also cautioned by Frid a minute later. Madmon drove a counter attack in the 88th as he teed up Peretz on the edge of the Beitar area but the captain’s powerful drive sailed over the crossbar. In the 90th minute Frid awarded Beitar a penalty as Belic made a last gasp tackle to clear for a corner. But VAR intervened once again, called Frid to the screen and the spot kick was cancelled. Inside injury time Sissokho was shown the red card for a foul on Timothy Muzie to complete Maccabi’s misery on the night.

The 19-year-old striker began by extending condolonces on behalf of the club to the Ben Hemo family following the death of Sergeant Liem Ben Hamo of the Golani brigade, who was killed in action in Lebanon and was a devoted Maccabi fan: “I want to begin by saying that we all share in the grief of Liem Ben Hamo’s family. We are deeply saddened.”

Looking ahead to the match against Beitar, Abu Farchi said: “It’s a team we haven’t beaten yet this season, and we want to do our best and come to win. We are in good momentum and want to keep it going, and I hope we will do that tomorrow as well.”

When asked about the Maccabi’s improvement in recent weeks, Abu Farchi added: “Nothing special has happened. There are good players here and we’re capable of beating any team. We simply come, play our football, play with courage when needed, and I’m happy it’s working for us.”

On working under Ronny Deila, Abu Farchi said: “There’s a lot of energy, new blood in the team, a more attacking style. Like I said, it’s working for us and we hope to keep it going. The coach wants me to score goals and not just be a playmaker. From day one he told me: you’re a striker, you need to produce numbers. I’m happy that since he arrived I’ve been putting up good numbers, and I need to keep that going.”

“Of course I can give more,” he added. “I should have had five more goals, but this is my first year. I’m happiest in the world playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. At 19, that’s not something typical. I focus on the positives, and if I don’t keep this up, I’ll be back on the bench.”

Ahead of tomorrow Abu Farchi said: “Everyone knows Beitar are strong, very attacking. With all their strengths, they also have weaknesses, and we’ll need to exploit them in transition, stay focused, and take our chances. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hope it happens”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv recorded an important and emotional victory this evening (Tuesday) at Bloomfield Stadium as they beat leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva.

Dor Peretz enjoyed some memorable moments during his time at Maccabi Tel Aviv but the injury time winner he scored at Bloomfield against Hapoel Be’ersheva will go down as one he will never forget. The 30-year-old captain scored the only goal of the game that led Maccabi to victory over the Be’ersheva that kept his side’s championship dreams alive. After the final whistle, Peretz faced the TV cameras and said: “I had the privilege of celebrating an unforgettable moment today. I’ve had a few moments like this at Bloomfield, not many, and this is one I’ll never forget. These feelings and this moment are something very powerful.”

Peretz, who is the most experienced player in the side, and has won a fare share of trophies at Maccabi, is aware his side are back in the title race: “Two weeks ago I stood here and the gap in the table was 10 points. I was asked then whether Maccabi Tel Aviv were out of it and if the race was over.”

Despite the doubts surrounding the team, Peretz made it clear that belief inside the dressing room never wavered: “I believe everything is always open. In the end, our goal is to keep going, one game at a time. That’s our main objective right now.”

Both teams met each other 138 times of which Maccabi won 65, Be’ersheva won 33 while 40 matches ended in a draw with a total goal tally of 194-119.

Maccabi faced Be’ersheva 26 in 26 Playoff matches, all of which in the Top Playoff. Maccabi won 11 of these encounters, Be’ersheva won 6 while 9 matches ended in draws.

Maccabi hosted Be’ersheva in 9 playoff matches at Bloomfield Stadium and have an unbeaten record winning 5 and drawing 4.

Fifty-one players featured for both clubs as Sagiv Yehezkel previously played for Be’ersheva while Ofir Davidzada, Matan Baltaxa, Eliel Peretz, Guy Mizrahi and Dan Biton previously played for Maccabi.

Throughout history, a total of 334 Maccabi players played against Be’ersheva. Sheran Yeini holds the appearance record against Be’ersheva with 34 matches, while Dor Peretz is second with 29 appearances to his name.

Eighty-seven Maccabi players scored goals against Be’ersheva. Benny Tabak leads the goal scoring charts with 9 goals while Eli Driks and Eran Zahavi share the second place with 8 goals to their name.

Be’ersheva is the opponent that had the most opponents sent off against Maccabi with a total of 25 red cards. Maccabi Haifa is second with 22 players sent off against Maccabi and Hapoel Petah Tikva are third with 20.