Minutes after Maccabi completed a dramatic late comeback by cancelling Hapoel Hadera’s two goal lead on the way to a 3-2 victory, Osher Davida, who scored Maccabi’s first goal on the night faced the media. ”We have mixed feelings” the 24-year-old admitted, “On the one hand we conceded two goals we shouldn’t concede, on the other hand I am proud of all the players, coaching staff etc’ for the character we all showed. We spoke during the interval and said that if we will start moaning and let our heads drop it will not help. Everyone should remain positive, pick each other up do our job and win this match. This is exactly what happened. While I am unhappy with the goals we conceded, but to win a match like that, credit to everyone.”

On the fact Maccabi found themselves trailing by two goals against the bottom of the table side before the halfway mark, Davida said: “It was strange to trail Hadera by two goals, we had a few seconds of shock but after that we just lifted each other and were fine” Davida admitted. As Maccabi conceded goals for the 15^th league match in succession, Davida said: “We worked all week on trying to prevent conceding these goals, and it is annoying that it happens. Hopefully, we will work on those things better than what we did until now and hopefully put an end to all this because Maccabi Tel Aviv shouldn’t be conceding a goal in every game and not even a goal in every two matches. We did on the other hand score the most goals in the league which is a positive point I’s rather focus on. If we will manage to correct the number of goals we concede, we will have a happy ending.”

As Maccabi tried changing things around, Davida played in several positions throughout the match, as he tried explaining: “I had a few strange moments to play on the entire left flank in terms of defense. But throughout the second half we dominated the play, and I played mostly as a winger, so it was fine.” Ahead of the Playoff which will kick off after next week’s home match against Hapoel Haifa, Davida echoed what Zarko Lazetic said at the end of the game: “There are no easy matches in this league, but I understand what the coach said that in the top playoff it should be easier for us. We struggle against the small clubs because we struggle to find solutions against a tight and compact match while it is easier against sides that come to play like us as we showed in Europe.”

    

Turgeman whose penalty sealed the win, said at the end of the game: “I think we showed a lot of character today. Not every team can come from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2. I am delighted we managed to do it, showed plenty of character and scored three goals.”

On the fact Maccabi conceded in its last 15 league matches, Turgeman said: “We don’t turn up at matches, want to start by conceding goals and fighting a deficit. We come focused but concede from corners and counter attacks. We work on this a lot in training, try to implement it at the game but sometimes it doesn’t work. I am happy though that we managed to come back and win the match.”

On the atmosphere in the dressing room at halftime, Turgeman said: “We were calm after scoring a goal and cutting the deficit shortly before the break which was extremely important. We spoke about the fact that if we drop points today it will be very important for the title race. We made a massive comeback and try in our next matches avoid getting into a deficit early on.”

When asked whether such form would be enough for the rest of the season, Turgeman added: “I think this season we showed that we like to play against teams that compete against us. I am sure we will approach every match with a 100% aim to do our job.”

The 21-year-old striker who scored his 15th goal in all competitions this season, said: “Personaly I am feeling great. I am happy with the credit I am receiving and paid back with the goal I scored towards the end.”

On Maccabi’s title prospects, Turgeman summed up: “Obviously we can do it. Maccabi can win the title at any stage. We will keep on improving.”

Preview

Maccabi arrived at the Netanya stadium for the MD25 match away to bottom of the table Hapoel Hadera aiming to bounce back and return to winning ways. Maccabi’s Head Coach Zarko Lazetic made three changes from the side which suffered a 1-0 defeat to Maccabi Bnei Reineh at Bloomfield. Idan Nachmias was back from his one-match-touchline ban while Tyrese Asante and Issouf Sissokho were both sidelined after collecting five yellow cards.

Simon Sluga kept his place in goal with Nachmias on his 100^th Maccabi appearance partnered Nemanja Stojic as the two central defenders in front of the Croatian goalkeeper. Stav Lemkin on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s back-four. Joris van Overeem replaced Sissokho in the anchorman role just behind Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz. Osher Davida returned to the side at the expense of Henry Addo while Weslley Patati was named on the opposite flank. Dor Turgeman led the line aiming to add to his 10 league and 14 in all competitions.

On the bench Lazetic named goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Eran Zahavi, Raz Shlomo, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Henry Addo, Ofir Davidzada, Hisham Layous and Ido Shahar.

First Half

Boosted by the vocal support of around 5000 travelling fans, Maccabi began the match on the front foot enjoying most of the possession. In the fifth minute however Hadera crossed the halfway line for the first time only for Simon Sluga to prevent the hosts from taking the lead. José Cortés spotted Sluga off his line as he attempted a shot from long range, but the Croatian custodian managed to track back before pulling a fingertip save to turn the ball over the crossbar. Four minutes later at the opposite end Gabi Kanichowsky sent a dangerous low shot from the edge of the area but Hadera’s keeper, Ohad Levita, stretched himself to save for a corner. Cortez had another close-range header in the 12^th minute cleared by Stav Lemkin from the goalmouth and over the bar following a Menashe Zalka free kick. But from the resulting corner Hadera took the lead as Lisav Eissat rose above Maccabi’s defense to head Zalka’s corner past Sluga. Maccabi kept dominating the possession as Weslley Patati slipped Roy Revivo into the box but the full-back’s attempt of a cross was blocked by Levita. Dor Peretz tried a half volley from outside the box but once again Levita was there to punch the ball away.

While Maccabi kept pushing forward in a bid to level the score, a lethal Hadera counterattack in the 26th minute saw the hosts double their lead. Cortés turned provider as he burst down the right and sent a square ball which was fired in by James Adeniyi to give Hadera a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later Hadera came close to increase their lead even further, but the post denied Godsway Donyoh saving Maccabi from conceding a third. Six minutes after the half hour mark, Maccabi managed to cut the deficit as an initial Osher Davida shot was blocked before his second attempt rolled beyond the reach of Levita to make it 2-1.

Second Half

Lazetic made a double substitution at halftime with Raz Shlomo and Elad Madmon replacing Stav Lemkin and Roy Revivo at the restart. As a result, Nachmias moved across the defense and pushed to right back while Madmon took up a role alongside Dor Turgeman upfront.

In the 56th minute a Weslley Patati cross into the area was headed by Peretz but easily collected by Levita who earlier intercepted a Davida square ball. Five minutes after the hour mark the Patati and Peretz combination led to Maccabi’s equalizer as the skipper headed in the Brazilian’s corner to go back on level terms. In the 75th minute Davida flicked the ball into the path of Dor Turgeman who lost his marker with a drop of the shoulder before snapping a shot which Levita clawed out from under the crossbar. Three minutes later Turgeman released Madmon into the box. The former Hadera 21-year-old forward who was clear on goal with only Levita to beat, was pushed in the back by Eissat before he could get a chance to shoot. Referee Ohad Asulin didn’t award a penalty but a couple of minutes later VAR called him to the screen. The initial decision was overturned, Maccabi were given a penalty with Eissat shown a red card. Turgeman stepped up, sent Levita the wrong way as he blasted the spot kick into the bottom corner to complete the comeback. Lazetic made another double change on 88 as Turgeman and Patati both bowed out and were replaced by Yonas Malede and Ofir Davidzada.

After the five minutes of added time were finished, the full time whistle confirmed Maccabi’s victory keeping the title race back in tact.

The State of Israel mourns the Bibas family, who were brutally murdered in Gaza and buried together.

Tens of thousands of Israelis lined the streets of Rishon Lezion on Wednesday to accompany murdered hostages Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas on their final journey. Maccabi players stopped their morning session at Kiryat Shalom training complex to release orange balloons which had become synonymous with advocacy on behalf of the Bibas infant hostages due to their orange hair.

Dor Peretz captained Maccabi on miserable night that saw his side suffer its’ third league of the season losing 1-0 to Maccabi Bnei Reineh at Bloomfield. Prior to kickoff, the club removed the shirt of Omer Shem Tov who returned from captivity after 505 days in Gaza as well as a minute of silence in memory of the four hostages (Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz). “This was the most important thing here today” Peretz said after the match. “We are playing football and try to win titles, fighting for them on the pitch while there are other people fighting for their lives and still battling. The most important thing is for them to return with god’s will as soon as possible.”

On the disappointing defeat to Bnei Reineh, Maccabi’s third of the season, Peretz said: “We didn’t expect to drop points here tonight. It is disappointing but we will have to raise our heads and move on.”

When asked about the team conceding goals early in the game, he replied: “It is true, we are all seeing the same Maccabi, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We tend to concede too many unnecessary goals which is everyone’s responsibility and not a specific player. Sometimes it works and we bounce back and sometimes it doesn’t which is the problem.”

On the refereeing display that saw Orel Grinfeeld allow a controversial goal and deny Maccabi several penalties, Peretz said: “In my opinion besides the penalty which was a 100%, the rest of the referee decisions were good and he had a good game. A penalty decision can change the course of a game. I don’t want for a team like us to deal with referees in every game. It is not relevant to us. I want the decisions taken to be correct and if not then for someone who needs to correct them to deal with it. I would like to win with our form.”

Peretz then summed up and said: “We will analyze today’s match and understand what we did wrong, Next week we have a similar match against a side that also sits back so we will need to learn from these matches. We will move on now as this is Maccabi Tel Aviv – no spare moment to stay behind.”