Preview:

Maccabi arrived at the Lublin arena in Poland for the Conference League MD4 match against Zorya Luhansk of the Ukraine. Maccabi hasn’t played competitive football since the 2-0 defeat to Gent on October 5th due to the ongoing war in Israel, with the home match against the Ukrainians postponed from October 26rh to November 25th.

Having beaten Icelandic outfit Breidablik on MD1 and before a ball is kicked against Zorya, Robbie Keane’s side were ranked 3rd in the table, a point behind their Ukrainian opponents.

Keane made several changes to his starting line-up handing a debut Maccabi appearance to Panamanian goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera. Enric Saborit partnered Derrick Luckassen as the two central defenders in front of Mosquera, with Avishai Cohen and Roy Revivo completing the back-four on the right and left, respectively. Joris van Overeem and Dor Peretz were named by Keane in the midfield engine room alongside Gabi Kanichowsky. Dan Biton and Felicio Milson supplied the width to Maccabi’s side in support of Eran Zahavi who led the line and the team out wearing the captain’s armband.

On the bench, Keane, named goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum and Idan Nachmias, Dor Turgeman, Yonatan Cohen, Sheran Yeini, Eyal Golasa, Ofir Davidzada, Ido Shahar, Nir Bitton, Kiko Bondouso, Osher Davida and Yvann Macon.

First Half

The match began with a minute of silence in memory of the fatalities in Israel on and since the October 7^th terrorist attack. After Eran Zahavi took the kickoff the players stood still for 7 seconds to commemorate the day the war in Israel began. It took Maccabi six minutes to create the first chance as Dan Biton tried curling a left foot shot which struck a defender and deflected out for a corner. The resulting corner led to Maccabi’s opener which was scored by the unlikeliest of sources and in a spectacular fashion. A well drilled corner saw Gabi Kanichowsky pick Luckassen at the far post with a pinpoint cross only for his header to be blocked. The Dutch central defender pounced on the rebound and sent a back-heal flick that went off the keeper to open the scoring with his debut Maccabi goal.

The hosts began taking charge of the game and in the 22nd minute Maccabi’s defense struggled to clear the danger as the ball fell to Denys Nahnoinyi. The Ukrainian midfielder blasted a shot from the edge of the area which was equaled by Orlando Mosquera.

Three minutes later however Maccabi doubled their lead as Dor Peretz ghosted into the area and was on the end of an Eran Zahavi dipping cross to head in the second and make it 2-0. Peretz could have scored another goal shortly after as he headed Avishai Cohen’s pinpoint cross towards goal, but Mykyta Turbaievskyi pulled a spectacular save to claw the ball from under the crossbar. Mosquera was called into action once again as the Panamanian keeper turned Petar Micin’s powerful drive over the crossbar on the half hour mark.

Mosquera was the busiest amongst the two keepers as Zorya tried breaching Maccabi’s goal on several occasions but the Panamanian custodian frustrated the Ukrainians with a string of saves. In the 42nd minute Maccabi increased their lead to 3-0 as Felicio Milson sent a cross from the right, before Peretz nodded home for his second on the night.

Second Half

While Robbie Keane made no changes for the second half, his counterpart replaced former Maccabi forward Eduardo Gurrero with Ihor Horbach at the restart. The second half began where the first one left off as Zahavi came close but saw his right foot shot curl wide of the post. Luckassen was booked for a foul near the halfway line on 55 and within a minute Zorya had the ball in the back of Maccabi’s net. The intervention of VAR spotted an offside as Micin’s goal was chalked off and Maccabi’s three goal lead was restored.

Keane made his first change in the 65th minute as Nir Bitton came on for Dan Biton with Enric Saborit switching to left back while Roy Revivo pushed into the midfield. Zorya almost scored instantly but Vikentii Voloshyn’s shot that beat Mosquera struck the base of the post before Maccabi’s keeper collected the rebound.

Joris van Overeem who worked tirelessly in midfield was taken off in the 70^th minute together with Revivo as Keane introduced Eyal Golasa and Dor Turgeman.

Golasa almost made an immediate impact three minutes after his introduction as he released Zahavi to face the keeper, but the veteran marksman saw his effort blocked by Turbaievskyi. Zorya cut the deficit from a counter-attack on 73 as Horbach was released before slotting his shot past Mosquera to make it 3-1. Maccabi’s keeper pulled another stunning save to push a shot which was heading for the top corner on 76.

Ido Shahar and Osher Davida were introduced for Milson and Zahavi in the 89th minute shortly before the fourth official signaled five minutes of added time.

The full-time whistle confirmed Maccabi’s victory as both teams will meet later this month to play the rescheduled MD3 which will be played once again at a neutral venue.

A month after the war that has changed all our lives and a similar period without an official match, Maccabi return to action on Thursday (22:00) as they face Ukrainian outfit Zorya Luhansk in the Conference League. Maccabi’s players who spent most of their time since October 7^th consoling families who lost their loved ones, suffered injuries, were kidnapped into Gaza or re-rooted from their homes – will try and restore some national pride. Robbie Keane’s charges will try and bring some moments of joy at a difficult time but shortly before facing Zorya on MD4, we take time to get to know our forthcoming opponent.

Current form:

Representing the city of Luhansk in the Donbas region in the East of Ukraine, one of the main conflict points in the ongoing war with Russia forcing the club to relocate to the west of the country and play mostly in the capital of Kiev. Despite experiencing difficulties like the rest of the country, in professional footballing terms Zorya experienced a successful campaign which saw them end the 2022/23 Ukrainian league season in third place. As a result, Zorya began their European qualifying campaign in the Playoff phase of the Europa League before a defeat by Slavia Prague saw them earn a Conference League group stage berth.

Photo: FC Zorya Luhansk Facebook ()

Just like Maccabi, Zorya played two matches in the Group stage holding Gent to a 1-1 in Poland and recording a 1-0 victory over Icelandic outfit Breidablik.

While the Israeli league was forced to suspend its’ activity since October 7^th, the Ukrainian league on the other hand is well underway. Having played 11 matches, Zorya, are currently ranked 13^th with one victory from their last eight matches, on the back of a 2-2 draw at the weekend and with two matches in hand.

Due to the war in their home country, Zorya host their European matches at the 15,000 capacity Lublin Arena which was opened in 2014 in Lublin, Poland. Valeriy Kryventsov (50) was appointed for the role in September as the former Ukrainian player replacing Nenad Lalatovic of Serbia who began the current season. Kryventsov took charge of Zorya after two years as the head coach of Metalist Kharkiv and several years at the Youth Academy of Shakhtar Donetsk where he spent most of his playing career.

Photo: FC Zorya Luhansk Facebook ()

When Guerrero reunited with Eduardo Guerrero.

In terms of Zorya’s playing squad, a familiar face is their Panamanian forward and former Maccabi player Eduardo Guerrero. The 23-year-old Panamanian joined Maccabi’s Youth Academy at the age if 17 before advancing to the first team and scoring 10 goals in 53 appearances between 2020-2022. Guerrero, who also had loan spells at Hapoel and Beitar Jerusalem, joined Zorya following his coach at Maccabi Patrick van Leeuwen who guided the Ukrainian side to 3^rd place last season before taking charge of Shakhtar. Guerrero is Zorya’s leading scorer in the league with 4 goals to his name and 6 in all competitions.

Despite the ongoing war, Zorya has several other foreign players in their squad namely 24-year-old Brazilian central defender Jordan and 19-year-old fellow countryman Wendel. Serbian attacking midfielder, Petar Micin (25) and 19-year-old central midfielder Kodjo Aziangbe of Togo completes the list of foreigners to compliment the rest of the squad which is Ukrainian. Arseniy Batagov (21) is a highly regarded central defender for Zorya making 25 international appearances for the Ukraine U21 national side while another key player is Denys Antyukh (26) is a former Dynamo Kiev winger who scored 3 goals this season.

Photo: FC Zorya Luhansk Facebook ()

On the 30th day of the war in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv‘s players teamed-up on Sunday with the coaching staff led by Robbie Keane as well as the rest of the foreign players who have been training in Poland since last week. The entire team was reunited for the first time since the war began in Israel on October 7th and held an evening training session as part of the preparations for the MD4 Conference League match against Zorya in Lublin.

Watch the emotional get together at the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Official (@maccabitlvfc)

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s players left Israel this morning and while the war in Gaza continues headed out to Poland where they will prepare for Thursday’s Conference League match against Zorya Luhansk at Lublin.

The players arrived at Ben Gurion airport this morning (Sunday) before flying out to Poland where they will team-up with the coaching staff and foreign players who have been all training there over the past week. Later this week, the team will move to Lublin where they will face the Ukrainian side for the MD4 Conference League away match.

The reverse fixture which will see Maccabi host Zorya and was supposed to have been played on October 26th was postponed by UEFA last month and has been rescheduled for November 25th.