Preview

Three days after the 4-2 defeat away to Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD31 WINNER League home match against Hapoel Petah Tikva. After 48 turbulent hours that saw Ronny Deila depart and Kenny Miller take charge as interim coach, Maccabi will aim to bounce back and return to winning ways. The defeat to Beitar, Maccabi’s sixth of the season kept the team third in the table with 58 points, eight adrift of second place Hapoel Be’ersheva and nine behind leaders Beitar.

Miller, welcomed back from suspension Ali Camara and Osher Davida but will be forced to be without Issouf Sissokho who was sent off at Teddy and will also miss Saturday’s Tel Aviv derby. Camara returned to the starting line up at the heart of defense as the Guinean central defender replaced Heitor dos Santos to partner Raz Shlomo. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s defensive line in front of goalkeeper Ofek Melika. Itamar Noy stepped into the anchorman role replacing the suspended Sissokho and behind Maccabi’s two leading scorers Ido Shahar and Dor Peretz. Helio Varela and Emir Sahiti were named by Miller as the two wingers with Saied Abu Farchi leading the line.

On the bench alongside goalkeeper Roi Mishapti and dos Santos, Miller named Kervin Andrade, Sagiv Jehezkel, Kristijan Belic, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman and Osher Davida.

First Half

Maccabi couldn’t have wished for a better start as they took the lead after 70 seconds and in the first time they entered Petah Tikva’s box. Saied Abu Farchi released Emir Sahiti down the right before the Kosovar winger sent a delicate chip which was nodded home by Dor Peretz. Petah Tikva’s keeper Omer Katz didn’t get a chance but was forced to pick the ball out of the net with his first touch. Peretz on the other hand celebrated his 14th league goal and 17 in all competitions this season.

Peretz was inches away from scoring a second within a couple of minutes while Abu Farchi also didn’t connect onto a ball which would have left him in a great position to score. On the stroke of halftime Sahiti latched on a Yonatan Cohen sloppy back pass before being fouled on the edge of the area by Itay Rotman. Yoav Mizrahi awarded Maccabi a free kick before a well drilled set piece resulted with Maccabi’s second. Ido Shahar jumped over the ball and Revivo rolled it into the path of Tyrese Asante whose low drive was spilled by Katz to double Maccabi’s lead. Asante, who scored at this exact minute against Beitar celebrated a second goal in three days and fourth in all competitions while Revivo added another assist to reach a remarkable 10 in the league alone.

Second Half

No changes were made by either side after the interval as the second half resumed with Maccabi continuing to dominate. Time after time Sahiti, Varela and Revivo kept feeding Abu Farchi and Peretz with balls but none resulting with a clear chance. Abu Farchi carved Petah Tikva’s defense with a through ball to Peretz but the visitors’ managed to clear the danger. Shortly after, the 19-year-old striker sent a square ball that rolled across the face of goal but none of his teammates was able to connect. Right on the hour mark Peretz had a sight on goal as the captain pulled the trigger, but Katz managed to equal his effort and punch the ball away. Miller made a double substitution a minute later as he introduced Sagiv Jehezkel and Elad Madmon for Raz Shlomo and Abu Farchi.

Jehezkel stepped into the right back role with Asante moving across the defense to center-back. Madmon who replaced Abu Farchi almost made an immediate impact as Peretz played him in, but with only Katz to beat, the Maccabi forward saw his shot saved by Petah Tikva’s keeper. Maccabi had the ball in the back of the net on 66 after Peretz tapped in Revivo’s square ball from the goalmouth. But the referee assistant raised his flag for offside and the goal was disallowed denying both Peretz and Revivo a goal and an assist. Miller made another double change in the 73rd minute as Sahiti and Varela both bowed out to a standing ovation and were replaced by Kervin Andrade and Osher Davida. Madmon came even closer on 75 as he reacted first to a ball deep inside Petah Tikva’s box, but his attempt of a volley crashed against the base of the post and rolled wide.

Davida should have scored in the 80th minute after intercepting a pass and charging forward through the middle. Katz managed to save the winger’s shot with his foot and as his defense failed to clear the danger Maccabi were awarded a corner. Shahar floated the resulting corner into the box where Revivo rose above the visitors’ defense to head in Maccabi’s third on the night. This was Shahar’s final contribution as he was replaced by Kristijan Belic in the 84^th minute. Two minutes later Madmon finally got his goal as Revivo picked the ball from Andrade broke into the box and added another assist for Madmon who swept his effort to seal the 4-0 victory. Maccabi’s 18^th victory of the season takes their tally to 61 points as attention now turns to Saturday’s Tel Aviv derby against arch city rivals Hapoel.

Maccabi has faced Hapoel Petah Tikva in 175 matches in all competitions. The overall record currently stands on 90 Maccabi victories 49 Petah Tikva victories and 36 draws with a goal tally of 300-192.   

Maccabi has faced Hapoel Petah Tikva in 134 league matches. The overall record currently stands on 64 Maccabi victories, 38 Petah Tikva victories and 32 draws with a total goal tally of 209-148.

Maccabi’s biggest league victory over Hapoel Petah Tikva (5-1) was recorded in the 2002/03 season. Avi Nimni (2), Eli Biton, Tal Banin, and Rodrigo Goldberg scored Maccabi’s goals.

The biggest victory in all competitions (7-1) was recorded in the 1952 State Cup semi-final. Shmuel Israeli (hat-trick), Shiye Glazer (2), and Yossef Merimovich (2) were all on target.

A total of 365 Maccabi players played for Maccabi against Hapoel Petah Tikva in league matches. Avi Nimni is Maccabi’s record appearances holder with 35 league matches.

Out of 85 different Maccabi players who scored against Petah Tikva in the league, Nimni is also Maccabis top scorer with 26 league goals. The all-time Maccabi top scorer bagged the most goals against Petah Tikva.

Nimni also holds a streak of 7 consecutive matches against Petah Tikva between 1998/99-2001/02 in which he scored at least once per game. During that run Nimni managed to score a total of 10 goals. This is the longest scoring streak by a Maccabi player against a single opponent, tied with Shiye Glazer against Maccabi Haifa (8 goals in 7 consecutive matches between 1954/55-1957/58) and Eran Zahavi against Kiryat Shmona (8 goals in 7 consecutive matches between 2012/13-2014/15).

Throughout history, exactly 50 players featured for both clubs in the top division, including Yonatan Cohen and Nadav Niddam, who currently play for Hapoel Petah Tikva this season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will host Hapoel Petah Tikva tomorrow (Tuesday) for the WINNER League MD31 at Bloomfield Stadium . Midfielder Itamar Noy shared his thoughts ahead of the match and the players’ desire to prove the team’s true ability at this decisive stage of the season.

On the back of Saturday’s 2-4 defeat away to Beitar Jerusalem, Noy made it clear the team understands the need to respond: “The experience at Teddy stadium wasn’t pleasant at all. We didn’t show the level we expect from ourselves.” Despite the set-back that left Maccabi 11 points adrift of top spot, Noy insisted: “We now have six matches to fix that impression, get back to our way, and perform the way we truly can.”

Despite the disappointment, Noy sees an advantage in the tight schedule, which allows the team to respond quickly on the pitch: “There’s nothing like having another game very soon after a loss. During this run of matches, one day you feel up and the next day down. For us right now, it’s great to have a game every few days. We’re fully focused on tomorrow’s match and will try to get the best possible result.”

Ahead of the return home, Noy emphasized the importance of the yellow crowd at Bloomfield, which the team missed in the last away match: “I think you could see at Teddy how much we missed the fans. Bloomfield is a completely different story. A full Bloomfield with our supporters is an incredible experience, and we’re really looking forward to it tomorrow.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and Head Coach Ronny Deila have mutually agreed that he will take a leave of absence with immediate effect for personal reasons. Kenny Miller will take charge as Interim Head Coach.

Updated fixtures:

MD31:

5.5 Mac. Tel Aviv v Hap. Petah Tikva

6.5 Hap. Tel Aviv v Beitar Jerusalem

6.5 Mac. Haifa v Hap. Be’ersheva

MD32:

9.5 Hap. Petah Tikva v Hap. Be’ersheva

9.5 Mac. Haifa v Beitar Jerusalem

9.5 Hap. Tel Aviv v Mac. Tel Aviv

MD33:

12.5 Hap. Tel Aviv v Hap. Petah Tikva (20:00)

12.5 Beitar Jerusalem v Hap. Be’ersheva

13.5 Mac. Tel Aviv v Mac. Haifa (20:30)

MD34:

15.5 Hap. Tel Aviv v Hap. Be’ersheva (16:00)

16/5 Mac. Haifa v Hap. Petah Tikva

(18:00)

16.5 Mac. Tel Aviv v Beitar Jerusalem (20:30)

MD35:

19.5 Hap. Petah Tikva v Beitar Jerusalem (20:30)

19.5 Hap. Be’ersheva v Mac. Tel Aviv (20:30)

19.5 Mac. Haifa v Hap. Tel Aviv (20:30)

MD36:

23.5 Hap. Petah Tikva v Mac. Tel Aviv

23.5 Beitar Jerusalem v Hap. Tel Aviv

23.5 Hap.Be’ersheva v Mac. Haifa

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 other 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 dos 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 on February 16^th during the 0-0 against Beitar at Teddy. 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 begins a punishment of a two-match ban for traveling fans.

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. Deila’s side took the initiative early on and in their first chance had the ball in the back of the net six minutes from the start. Helio Varela slipped the ball into the path of Roy Revivo who made the overlap run before squaring for Ido Shahar. The midfielder side footed the ball towards goal and was assisted by a Luka Gadrani deflection that beat Miguel Silva at the near post. Teddy was silenced as Maccabi celebrated the early goal, but the referee assistant raised his flag for offside. VAR intervened and spotted no offside allowing Shahar’s goal to stand as 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.

In the 17th minute Shuah cut to the middle and teed up Salomon Kalu for a powerful drive which was deflected out for a corner. Maccabi’s defense struggled to clear the resulting corner before Yarden Cohen’s attempt of a volley fell to Shuah who kept his composure and side footed his shot past Mishpati 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. Levy 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 spot kick but Melika who made a crucial penalty save against Hapoel in the Cup, managed to hook the ball off his line with his foot. Beitar completed their comeback right on the half hour mark, as Shuah floated a cross to the far post where Brayan Carabali rose high to nod the ball home. The blitz of the hosts 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 official raised his sign for 3 minutes of added time Beitar struggled to clear a corner as Shahar floated a ball towards Dor Peretz whose effort was blocked for another corner. Shahar crossed the resulting corner to the back post where Peretz headed across towards Tyrese Asante who headed home to cut the deficit and send both teams into the dressing rooms with the score at 3-2.

Second Half

Deila made one change after the break as Noam Ben Harush replaced Heitor at the restart with Asante moving across the back to join 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 fired 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.

Six minutes after the hour mark Peretz sent a through ball to release 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 counterattack on 88 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 elbowing Timothy Muzie to earn himself an additional two match suspension and complete Maccabi’s misery on the night.