Denny Gropper marked his Maccabi league debut and second appearance since joining the club in the summer with a solid performance in the 4-0 victory over Hapoel Petah Tikva.

Gropper came close to score on his debut but was denied by Petah Tikva’s keeper in the first, paid tribute to the newly promoted side when he said minutes after the match ended: “First of all, credit to Hapoel Petah Tikva, I think they play good football. But you can see that we came prepared and knew what we had to do, and in the end that is reflected in the result.”

Despite Maccabi’s 100% record and the fact his side scored four goals in each of the opening three league matches, Gropper didn’t let himself get carried away as he insisted: “We don’t pay attention to what’s being said outside. We know what we want from ourselves, we’re working hard for it, and for now you can see it.”

The former Ludogorets full-back who returned to Israel after playing several years in Bulgaria, reflected: “Yes, I came back to Israel, to Maccabi. I came back to the biggest club. I see it everywhere we go, in the training complex, in the stadiums, with our fans. It’s great fun to be here, a lot of excitement. I’m happy to make my league debut.”
“I had other options, also in Europe. There wasn’t anything I could say was better than

Maccabi Tel Aviv. I was happy to come here. Maccabi showed me they wanted me. They spoke to me a lot, I think I made the right decision and I’m happy to be here.”

On the tough competition for places in the squad, Gropper said: “I know that at Maccabi there is competition for every spot in the squad, certainly in the starting lineup. I’m here to work hard for the club and to do what’s needed. I got feedback from the coach and the club about the effort I’m putting in, even though I played less at the beginning. I’m here to work.”

Preview

Maccabi arrived at the Petah Tikva stadium ahead of the rescheduled MD1 fixture against newly promoted side Hapoel Petah Tikva which was postponed due to the involvement in Europe.

Zarko Lazetic’s side that scored four goals in each of their opening two league matches against Maccabi Netanya (4-0) and Ironi Tiberias (4-1) will aim to try and maintain their 100% record. Lazetic who is aware of the demanding fixture schedule in the league and in Europe, made five changes from the side that won at Nof HaGalil three days earlier. Roi Mishpati kept his place in goal with Heitor stepping in to partner Ali Camara as the two central defenders in front of the keeper. Denny Gropper made his first Maccabi league start since joining the club in the summer as he was named at left-back with Tyrese Asante completing the back four on the right. Issouf Sissokho returned to the heart of midfield after shaking off an injury as the Mali midfielder partnered Kristijan Belic in Maccabi’s engine room. Dor Peretz, led the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the 30-year-old will try continue his good form that saw him score 5 goals in all competitions so far. Sagiv Jehezkel who also scored one of the goals against Tiberias and added an assist, kept his place on the wing while Osher Davida returned to the starting line up on the opposite flank. Elad Madmon led the line as the 21-year-old who is one appearance short of his 50th Maccabi appearance will be seeking to increase his overall tally of 6 goals in all competitions since joining the club last season.

On the bench alongside goalkeeper Ofek Melika, Lazetic named: Roy Revivo, Kervin Andrade, Raz Shlomo, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy, Ido Shahar and Ion Nicolaescu.

First Half

Around 6000 Maccabi fans made the short trip to Petah Tikva and gave the team the feeling as if this is a home fixture. Four minutes from the start Petah Tikva’s Idan Cohen was booked by referee Aviad Shiloah for tugging Sagiv Jehezkel’s shirt and preventing a counterattack. Four minutes later Dor Peretz forced a save from Petah Tikva’s keeper Omer Katz before Maccabi’s captain blasted the rebound high and wide.

At the opposite end Roi Mishpati was tested for the first time in the 15th minute as Noam Gissin picked the ball on the left before cutting inside and releasing a low drive which was equaled by the keeper. The deadlock was finally broken in the 19th minute as Peretz’s pressure on Petah Tikva’s defense saw the Maccabi captain gain possession and slip it to Osher Davida. The winger on his 100th appearance for Maccabi cut inside and blast a left foot drive that found the bottom far corner.

Right on the half hour mark Elad Madmon carved Petah Tikva’s defense open to release Denny Gropper who timed his run to perfection. With only the keeper to beat, Gropper, could have celebrated his Maccabi debut start with a goal, but Katz charged off his line and managed to block with his feet.

Second half

It took Maccabi a few minutes to gain composure after the interval as Petah Tikva appeared for the second half determined to try level the score. A Davida dangerous cross was missed by Peretz and Jehezkel. Kristijan Belic and Issouf Sissokho dominated the center of the pitch not giving their Petah Tikva opposite numbers an inch. In the 56th minute Jehezkel fed Peretz with a clever pass before Maccabi’s captain drilled in a low drive that beat Katz at his near post to double the lead.

Maccabi came close to score the third on 73 as Jehezkel carried a counterattack with a numerical advantage going forward as he slipped the ball to Peretz who was blocked for a corner. A minute later Lazetic made his first changes, introducing both Roy Revivo for Gropper and Kervin Andrade for Madmon.

In the 81st Jehezkel and Belic came off to a standing ovation as they were replaced by Ido Shahar and Itamar Noy. Less than a minute later Maccabi increased their lead even further. Davida won the ball deep inside Petah Tikva’s half before dribbling into the box and cutting back for Peretz who blasted home the third. Peretz received his standing ovation as he was replaced by Ion Nicolaescu for the closing stage. In the 89th minute Shiloah awarded Maccabi a penalty for a stamp in the box on Revivo. Shahar stepped up and successfully blasted the spot kick past Katz to score Maccabi’s fourth goal on the night and seal convincing 4-0 victory. Maccabi will now have three more days to recover and prepare for Saturday’s next league match at home to Hapoel Jerusalem.

The 24-year-old winger scored his first league goal of the season to open the scoring against Hapoel Petah Tikva on the way to Maccabi’s third victory in succession. “I’m happy we started like this,” Davida said. “We have good competition this season, and we saw that over the past 24 hours.”

Davida, who joined Maccabi in the summer of 2023 and on his 100th appearance scored his 17th goal for the club in all competitions, added: “I’m happy to have reached this landmark on a good match which is nice.”

On his recent good form, Davida said: “I am grateful to the coaches. The people at the club believe in me, from owner, the management all the way to the kit men. We are a team, everyone helps each other, and I’m happy to help them.”

On Maccabi’s form that saw his side score four goals in their opening three league matches, Davida said: “At Maccabi there’s no peak — there’s always room to improve. I’m glad we started like this, and I hope we climb to first place. We have good competition this season, and we saw that yesterday”.

Elad Madmon enjoyed a good start to the 2025/26 campaign as the 21-year-old forward who joined Maccabi last season scored two goals in the Champions League qualifying campaign and is enjoying more playing time. “Things are starting to come together much more for us” Madmon said. “Most of the squad has changed, a lot of new players have arrived, they’re settling in.”

On tomorrow’s match against the newly promoted side that are currently fifth with four points from two matches Madmon said; “Petah Tikva are a very tough opponent, we will come as focused and as ready as possible to do the job.”On the start of his second season at Maccabi, Madmon said: “Personally, I started well. In training I try to prove myself as much as possible. In the end, it’s the coach’s decision who receives the chance to play. There are many talented players and the competition is very tough, especially in attack, and every time he lets me play I’ll give everything.”

With several players leaving and plenty of new faces coming in, Madmon said: “We are only at the beginning of the season, and the ‘veterans’ from last year are doing everything to make the new players feel at home, to come with confidence and courage to do the things they know how to do on the pitch. I’m sure we’ll be a much better team with time, and our role is to be the best team we can possibly be.”

Maccabi’s tight schedule both in the domestic league and the Europa League will see Madmon and his teammates play another six matches between now and the international break on October 6th, he added: “Of course there’s pressure, we experienced it last season too and we’re used to it. There are a lot of players in the squad and I think the minutes will be divided. We’ll come and do our best, game by game.”

“Our team has really bonded, you could even say quickly. Everyone is friends with everyone, everyone likes everyone, and that’s the most important thing. We play together and we always lift each other up. Everyone trains as hard as they can to prove their place on the pitch. We have a good team, but we’re only at the start.”

Dor Peretz, completed a remarkable week as the Maccabi Tel Aviv captain successfully converted a 59t minute penalty on the way to a 4-1 victory over Ironi Tiberias. The 30-year-old who earlier in the week scored a brace for Israel in the dramatic 5-4 World Cup qualifying defeat to Italy, took his seasonal tally at Maccabi to 3 league goals and 5 in all competitions. After the game at Nof HaGalil, which kept Maccabi’s 100% record intact, Peretz who normally doesn’t take penalties but saw fellow teammates Sagiv Jehezkel and Ion Nicolaescu score, said: “I was happy to take the penalty; I was given the opportunity thanks to their generosity. It was a game we started well. We conceded a goal that didn’t really reflect the start of the match, but it was a naïve mistake we cannot afford to make. Thankfully, we kept the same spirit, turned the game around, and hopefully we will continue with this dominance we have shown for the second week in a row.”

Maccabi’s two new signings Kervin Andrade and Helio Varela both made their debut appearances for Maccabi, as the veteran captain said: “The new players who joined us recently are settling into the team, both socially and professionally. We saw that they understand what the coach demands from them and the principles of our game as socially it is also looking good. We are gradually bringing in very talented and hungry players who really embody Maccabi, and hopefully we continue like this.”

The match against Tiberias began a very busy fixture schedule which will see Maccabi play 7 matches in the space of 23 days in the domestic and Europa league: Hapoel Petah Tikva (16.9), Hapoel Jerusalem (20.9), PAOK (24.9), Bnei Sakhnin (28.9), Dinamo Zagreb (2.10), Maccabi Haifa (5.10).

On the busy schedule the team faces, Peretz added: “Every player has a big responsibility to recover properly and treat every match seriously as the most important match. It is the most cliché thing to say, but with three points and another three points, we will do our job. We need to take things seriously and rest between matches.”

On the transition between a high-profile match for the Israel national team to the compact ground at Nof HaGalil for an ordinary league match against Tiberias, Peretz said: “The league is our bread and butter. Honestly. You can experience very big peaks, and I assume we will have some in Europe, but the league is what gives us the privilege to reach those stages. It is a huge honor to represent the national team in these times, but this is what I work for every single day, and what matters most to me and to the team. This is our commitment”.

Preview

Maccabi arrived at the ‘Green’ stadium in Nof HaGalil for the MD3 league match against Ironi Tiberias aiming to maintain their 100% record this season against the only club they failed to beat last season. Having played only one match in the league so far, Zarko Lazetic’s side that will play their rescheduled MD1 fixture against Hapoel Petah Tikva on Tuesday, will aim to emulate the form that saw them beat Maccabi Netanya 4-0 before the international break.

Tiberias that suffered a 7-0 battering away to Hapoel Be’ersheva will try and bounce back by replicating the match against Maccabi in the 2024/25 campaign that saw them salvage a 2-2 draw at Green.

Maccabi’s two new signings Kervin Adrade and Helio Varela were named in the squad for the first time as the 20-year-old Venezuelan started on the wing while the Cape Verde 23-year-old was named amongst the substitutes.

Lazetic made three changes to his starting line up from the side that beat Netanya at Bloomfield as Ali Camara partnered Raz Shlomo as the two central defenders in-front of goalkeeper Roi Mishpati. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s defensive line. With Issouf Sissokho nursing an injury, Kristijan Belic was handed his debut league start while Ido Shahar partnered the Serbian in the midfield engine room. Dor Peretz led the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the skipper who scored a brace against Netanya and another brace for Israel against Italy – will try continuing his good form. Kervin Andrade was handed his first outing as the Venezuelan winger made his debut appearance for Maccabi on one wing with Sagiv Jehezkel on the opposite flank. Upfront, Ion Nicolaescu who opened his account against Netanya continued to spearhead Maccabi’s attack as the Moldovan striker will try to increase his goal tally.

On the bench, alongside goalkeeper Ofek Melika, Lazetic named: Heitor, Denny Gropper, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Helio Varela, Itamar Noy and Osher Davida wall waiting for their chance to make an impact.

First Half

Maccabi enjoyed the support of around 4000 fans who filled three quarters of the ‘Green’ stadium. Seconds after the kickoff the match was stopped by referee Orel Grinfeeld as a barrage of yellow and blue confetti stripes were thrown by Maccabi fans onto the pitch covering Roi Mishpati’s goal. When play was resumed, it didn’t take the hosts long to silence the travelling fans as Tiberias broke the deadlock. Guy Hadida’s free kick caught Maccabi’s defense flat allowing Stanislav Bilenkyi to find a gap between Ali Camara and Raz Shlomo before his shot deflected off Roy Revivo to beat Mishpati.

Ion Nicolaescu headed a Tyrese Sante cross wide of the top corner before Ido Shahar was booked by Grinfeeld for a mistimed tackle on Muhammed Ussman. In the 22nd minute Kervin Andrade showed some of the skills he has in his toolbox as he blasted a free kick from 25 meters over the crossbar. Sagiv Jehezkel tried his luck with a left foot shot from the edge of the area on 25 which was easily collected by the Tiberias keeper. In the 29th minute Jehezkel turned provider as he curled a pinpoint cross into the box where Ido Shahar timed his run to flick the ball in with his head and restore parity.

Three minutes after the half hour mark Andrade picked the ball outside the middle of the area and burst in past four defenders. The diminutive Venezuelan winger sent a cross which struck the arm of a Tiberias defender with no response from Grinfeeld and his assistant. After Grinfeeld was called to the screen by the VAR he reversed the initial decision awarding Maccabi a spot kick. Jehezkel stepped up, kept his calm, sent Rogerio the wrong way to complete the comeback and give Maccabi a 2-1 lead on 36.

In the 40th minute Grinfeeld required the assistance of the VAR once again after Shlomo’s through ball carved Tiberias’ defense open to release Nicolaescu through. The Moldovan striker raced into the box and was brought down by Rogerio who charged off his line. The referee assistant raised his flag for offside, but Grinfeeld was called to the screen once again as the initial decision was overturned and Maccabi were awarded a penalty. This time it was Nicolaescu who stepped up, but Rogerio saved the initial spot kick before Nicolaescu slotted in the rebound to give Maccabi a 3-1 lead. For the delay caused by the fans and the time spent for the VAR reviews, saw an extra ordinary 12 minutes added by Grinfeeld to the first half.

Second Half

In what seemed like a carbon copy of the first half Maccabi were given a penalty following the intervention of VAR. Minutes after he was clearly charged down by an opponent without a response from the referee, Dor Peretz was brought down in the area by a defender. Grinfeeld waved play on and while the incident was reviewed, booked Peretz for dissent. Grinfeeld was then called to the screen for the third time and was forced to change his initial decision and award Maccabi a third penalty which Peretz drilled in for Maccabi’s fourth. Three minutes after the hour mark Lazetic made a double substitution as he introduced Osher Davida and Elad Madmon for Jehezkel and Nicolaescu.

Madmon had a shot blocked on 73 before his second effort crept wide of the post. Lazetic made three substitutions as Kristijan Belic, Shahar and Peretz bowed out to a standing ovation and were replaced on 74 by Itamar Noy, Ben Lederman and Helio Varela for his debut appearance. Shortly after, Rogerio, pulled a stunning save as he clawed off his goal line a close range Madmon header in the 79th minute before punching away a Varela drive two minutes later.

In the 88th minute Davida had a shot deflected for a corner from which Maccabi scored their fifth on the night. Andrade’s quick cross into the box was bundled in by Ali Camara but VAR intervened again, and the goal was scratched off for an alleged handball.

Maccabi will now have a couple of days to recover before facing Hapoel Petah Tikva on Tuesday.