Category: News

Maccabi beat Ashdod 4-1

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Preview

Three days after the 4-1 victory over NK Celje 4-1 in the first leg of the Conference League Playoffs, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Bloomfield stadium for the 2023/24 ONE ZERO League opening match of the season.

Maccabi’s Head Coach, Robbie Keane, who guided the side to the Toto Cup Final with a 5-1 victory away to Sakhnin last week, will aim to begin the league campaign on a high not.

Keane, made two changes from the side that beat Celje as Roi Mishpati made his debut appearance in Maccabi’s goal replacing Daniel Peretz who completed his transfer to Bayern Munich. Derrick Luckassen was named as the defensive partner of Enric Saborit with Yvann Macon and Roy Revivo at right-back and left-back respectively. Joris vn Overeem kept his place as the anchorman as did Dor Peretz and Dan Biton who completed the midfield trio. Yonatan Cohen and Milson were named by Keane as the two wing-men with Eran Zahavi leading the line. The veteran striker wearing the captain’s armband was aiming to open his league account having started the season with 8 goals in 7 competitive matches in all competitions.

Daniel Tenenbaum, who rejoined the club last week, was named by Keane on the substitutes bench as were Idan Nachmias, Dan Glazer, Dor Turgeman, Gabi Kanichowsky, Ofir Davidzada, Eylon Almog, Ido Shahar and Nir Bitton.

First Half

Maccabi began the match on the front foot with Milson causing Ashdod’s defense all sorts of trouble down the left wing. Three minutes from the start the Angolan winger was brought down inside the area, but had his claims for a penalty waived by referee Gal Leibovitz. Maccabi kept on placing Ashdod under the cosh as Milson’s speed and trickery took him past Tom Ben Zaken only for the visitors’ defenders clear his cut backs. Yvann Macon and Yonatan Cohen combined well down the right as Maccabi kept attacking through the channels.

In the 23rd minute Joris van Overeem was penalised for fouling an Ashdod opponent before Ya’acov Brihon sent the free kick wide of Roi Mishpati’s post. Ben Zaken avoided a clear booking for stopping a Milson counter attack on 25 while a minute later Dor Peretz had a header blocked for a corner.

Brihon tested Mishpati with a curling right foot shot which was pushed put for a corner by Maccabi’s debutant keeper. Eran Zahavi got his first chance to score on 37 after Cohen slid the ball to him on the edge of the area. But the veteran striker had his left foot effort blocked by Timothy Awany as Ashdod kept hanging on with Ariel Harush required to make a save.

Ashdod looked dangerous on the counter as the visitors came close to break the deadlock on the stroke of halftime as Brihon carried the ball out of defense before Shavit Mazal turned and rattled the crossbar with a powerful left foot drive.

Second Half

The second half began just like the first did with Milson constantly questioning Ashdod’s defenders as he kept on breaking into the area yet struggle to find a teammate with his crosses. In the 52nd minute however the Angolan sent a pinpoint chip into the area for Zahavi who rose high before heading the ball which Harush couldn’t keep out. Zahavi celebrated his first league goal of the season and ninth in eight competitive matches. In the 59th minute Zahavi turned provider as he dinked the ball over Ashdod’s defense into the path of Roy Revivo who slotted home his senior debut goal to double the score.

Zahavi was instrumental for Maccabi’s third in the 70th minutes as he released Dor Peretz with a clever flick. Peretz charged into the area and sent a square ball across the face of goal which was flicked by Awany into his own net to make it 3-0. Keane made a double substitution a minute later as Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Turgeman replaced Biton and Cohen while two minutes later Peretz bowed out to a standing ovation as Ido Shahar came on for the closing stages.

Revivo and Van Overeem received their standing ovation from the 22,108 fans as the Keane made his final two changes introducing Ofir Davidzada and Dan Glazer on 78.

Milson scored his debut goal in the 84th minute as he exchanged passes with Shahar to break through before sliding the ball past Harush to make it 4-0. Two minutes later Montari Kamaheni who was booked earlier, was sent off for a second bookable offence after a tackle from behind on Milson to leave the visitors with 10 men.

Keane: “We would like to start off well”

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Maccabi will kickoff the 2023/24 ONE ZERO league season with a match against Ashdod SC at Bloomfield tonight (Sunday, 20:15). At the end of the Conference League Playoff match against NK Celje, Robbie Keane and Yonatan Cohen spoke about the forthcoming match against Ashdod.

Keane, who needs to divert the attention of his players from Europe to the domestic competition, said: “We will make the transition in the same way that we have. We played a Toto Cup match (Bnei Sakhnin), and we also played that team (Ashdod) earlier this season for a friendly. It was a first game and of course there were loads of changes to the squads, so it wasn’t a true reflection on them or us. You always want to start the first match of the season well. It feels like I have been here for a long time and the start of the season is only happening now. Even though we played a lot of games, we have a lot of games behind us in terms of fitness and a lot of sharpness. I am looking forward for the league to start.”

Yonatan Cohen, who started the season well scoring 4 goals in the opening 7 matches in all competitions, added: “I think most of our players are in good form, good playing form, even the players who didn’t play too much so far as they are working hard in training. I believe everyone arrives focused for this game. Let us take the positive things from the match against Celje, we will fix our mistakes and come to storm the league as we really want this title. It is a long marathon, we will start, game by game, look Ashdod right in the eye and never disrespect them for one second.”

Let the league begin!

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Watch the clip: The captain is losing it

This is what Glazer is going through

Yoav Ziv is already waiting with the electronic board

U19: kickoff season with 3-1 win over Ramat Hasharon

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In his first official match in charge of Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shachar’, Michael Zandberg recorded a 3-1 victory away to Hapoel Ramat Hasharon on the opening day of the U19’s league season.Maccabi’s youngsters dominated the early stages of the game with Itay Malma heading a Yeuda Balay free kick over the crossbar in the 6th minute with Ori Azu firing a free kick wide of the post on 13.Maccabi continued to look dangerous as Balay himself couldn’t find the target in the 18th minute after heading an Amir Kredi cross from the left wide as well.  Ten minutes later however, the hosts took the lead in their first chance of the game as Iyamba Ebup was sent into the Maccabi area and buried his shot past goalkeeper Barak Eltagar. Four minutes after the half hour mark Azu came close as he charged into the Ramat Hasharon area past a defender but sent his shot to the side netting.Maccabi were back on level terms in the 44th minute as Balay’s free kick eluded Ramat Hasharon’s defenders and keeper Tom Carmeli to make it 1-1.Boosted by the late equalizer and inside injury time,  Maccabi took the lead as Agam Hanoon headed home Kredi’s pinpoint cross to give Maccabi the lead before the halftime whistle.Maccabi reached plenty of chances after the break but Balay, Azu and Sayid Abu Fari were all denied by Carmeli who kept his side in the game. In the 65th minute Carmeli pulled a stunning save to keep out Azu’s powerful drive while four minutes later he fed Balay whose shot crept wide of the post.Carmeli was at it again in the 84th minute to deny Hanoon, but could do nothing to prevent the Maccabi striker from completing his brace with a backheel flick to seal the score at 3-1 in the 90th minute.Maccabi are set to host Hapoel Hadera for MD2 on September 2nd.Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shachar’: Barak Eltagar, Dor Goldstein (Adir Kordova 77), Michael Merenstein, Itay Malma, Amit Kredi (Daniel Tishler 90), Lior Mashansky, Yeuda Balay, Ido Oli, Sayid Abu Farhi (Yoav Flaishman 85), Ori Azu (Mohamad Taha 77), Aham Hanoon.

A numbers game: Maccabi’s league record

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In 71 seasons of top-flight football (The only club in Israel with such a record), Macabi played 2,210 league matches winning 1,114 losing 506 while 590 matches were drawn. Maccabi’s total goal tally is 3667 – 2086.

Maccabi won 24 league championships, 19 of which after the State of Israel proclaimed its’ Independence in 1948. The club holds almost all the records possible amongst others are:

The highest victory in the league’s history: a 13-0 win over Maccabi Rishon Lezion on January 7th 1950.

Maccabi led the table more than any other club, at the end of 518 league rounds.

Maccabi’s longest run of victories in succession (20 matches) was achieved between July 1949 and October 1951.

The largest number of goals scored in one season (100) was scored by Maccabi during the 1949/50 campaign in 23 rounds only – an average of 4.3 per game.

Eran Zahavi holds the record for the number of goals scored by one player in one season – 35 during the 2015/16 campaign.

Maccabi supplied the league’s top goal scorer 15 times – more than any other club.

Daniel Tenenbaum holds the record for the longest spell without conceding a goal as the Brazilian born custodian kept a clean sheet for 1,272 minutes during the 2019/20 season.

During that season (2019/20) Maccabi also set another record – the largest number of matches with a clean sheet (29) of the 36 league round played.

The youngest, the eldest

Alexander Ubarov is the only player to have featured for Maccabi after the age of 40 as the former Soviet Union Russian born keeper made his final appearance for Maccabi at the age of 40 years and 4 months.

On the other hand, Bonnie Ginzburg holds the record as the youngest player to feature for Maccabi in the league making his debut six days before his 16th birthday in the 1980/81 season.

Maccabi’s leading goal-scorer after the State of Israel proclaimed its’ independence is Avi Nimni with 174 goals to his name.

Maccabi on the opening day of the season

Since Israel proclaimed its’ independence, Maccabi’s record on the league’s curtain raiser currently stands on 38 victories, 18 defeats and 15 draws.

Maccabi’s record appearance holder, Miko Belo, also holds the record for the most successive matches started on the opening day of the season. Belo was named in the starting line on the opening day of the season 17 times between 1965-1981.

Barak Itzhaki scored Maccabi’s fastest goal on the opening day of the season after 48 seconds only against Hapoel Acco in the 2013/14 campaign.

Throughout history, Maccabi scored only twice inside injury time of the season’s opener with Sheran Yeini bagging both goals in the 2008/9 and 2009/10 campaigns. 

Tenenbaum signed one-year-deal

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Daniel Tenenbaum is set to play his eighth season in Yellow and Blue after signing a new one-year-deal at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

After signing his contract, Tenenbaum told the club’s official website: “Returning to Maccabi, a place that has been a home to me, arriving at Kiryat Shalom every day and to Bloomfield every week – feels to me as the most natural thing in the world and excites me every time. Let’s get to work #AlwaysMaccabi”

Watch: Maccabi beat Celje 4-1

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Preview

Four days after securing a place in the Toto Cup Final with a 5-1 victory away to Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the first leg of the Conference League Playoff match against NK Celje.

Knowing that a good result will prove important ahead of the return leg in Slovenia that will decide the tie, Maccabi’s coach Robbie Keane, started with some of the players he rested earlier in the week.

Daniel Peretz, kept his place in goal as the 23-year-old keeper made his 106th appearance for the club on the eve of his departure to Bayern Munich. Enric Saborit and Nir Bitton were named as the two central defenders in front of Peretz, with Yvann Macon at right-back and Roy Revivo at left-back completing the back four. Joris van Overeem returned to the heart of midfield occupying the anchorman role. Dor Peretz, who scored the opener against Sakhnin and Dan Biton who scored the fifth, completed Maccabi’s midfield trio. Yonatan Cohen, kept his place on the wing who scored a brace and Milson who looked sharp on the wing supplied the width with Eran Zahavi leading the line as well as the team out.

On the bench, Keane, named Roi Mishpati, Idan Nachmias, Dan Glazer, Dor Turgeman, Gabi Kanichowsky, Sheran Yeini, Eyal Golasa, Derrick Luckassen, Ofir Davidzada, Eylon Almog, Shahar Piven and Ido Shahar.

First Half

The support of around 22,030 Maccabi fans at Bloomfield including club owner, Mitch Goldhar, give the hosts the needed umph whilst placed the visitors under pressure right from the off. Maccabi came close to open the score as early as the opening minute with Dor Peretz picking Dan Biton who slid it to Yonatan Cohen. The forward who scored from a similar position at AEK Larnaca in the previous round released a low drive that was collected at ease by Celje’s keeper Matjaz Rozmam.

Maccabi continued to press as Rozman was called into action in the seventh minute as Celje’s keeper first saved Roy Revivo header from Biton’s corner. Eran Zahavi pounced on the rebound and tried firing the ball in but Rozman pulled a reflex save to deny the veteran marksman. Maccabi continued to dominate as Milson tormented Celje’s right-back with his speed and trickery that saw him charge down the left wing. In the 16th minute Peretz had the ball in the back of the net but the goal was disallowed after the referee spotted a handball offence. Two minutes later Cohen was clearly impeded in the box but Lithuanian referee Manfredas Lukjancukas waved for play to continue. VAR’s introduction at this stage of the competition came to the rescue as Maccabi were awarded a penalty. Zahavi stepped up, sent the keeper the wrong way and blasted his spot kick in to open the scoring and put Maccabi in front on 22.

Celje were back on level terms a minute before the half hour mark as Mario Kvesic had an initial effort saved by Daniel Peretz before Gregor Badge fired the rebound with Peretz only managing to parry the ball into his own net.

Celje’s tall players  kept on threatening from set pieces as a corner in the 40th minute caused Maccabi’s defense all sorts of problems before the ball was hooked off the line with Peretz already beaten.

On the stroke of halftime Dor Peretz was fouled on the edge of Celje’s area by Nino Kouter who was consequently booked. Zahavi tried curling the resulting free kick beyond the wall but couldn’t keep his shot down as the ball sailed high over the crossbar.

Second Half

With no changes at halftime to either side, both teams returned for the second half after the interval. A minutes after the restart, Biton created a chance on the edge of the box but sent his left foot shot high and wide. Milson repeated that within two minutes as he shook of two Celje defenders but saw his left foot curler narrowly miss the target.

In the 51st Maccabi were awarded for their efforts and restored the lead as Cohen sent Joris van Overeem into the Celje area before the Dutch-born midfielder cut the ball back for Zahavi. The 36-year-old stopped the ball with one touch and with only Rozman to beat fired in his second on the night to make it 2-1.

Klemen Nemanic and David Zec were both booked in the space of two minutes before Biton blasted the free kick straight at the Celje wall. A Dor Peretz counter attack a minute after the hour mark saw Zahavi test the keeper with a dipping right foot shot which forced Rozman to stretch himself and save.

In the 71st minute Zahavi completed his hattrick as he rose above Celje’s defenders to meet Biton’s corner and head it in off the underside of the crossbar for Maccabi’s third. Cohen could have made it four two minutes later but his left foot shot had more power than accuracy.

In the 79th minute Keane made a double substitution as Milson and Cohen came off and were replaced by Eyal Golasa and Dor Turgeman who was desperate to make an impact.

Within two minutes of his introduction, Turgeman came close as he dribbled past two defenders into the area before seeing his effort saved by Rozman’s feet. Gabi Kanichowsky came on Biton and Ofir Davidzada replaced Roy Revivo as Keane made two more changes in the 83rd minute.

Zahavi was given a standing ovation as he was replaced by Eylon Almog inside injury time. If that wasn’t enough to raise the roof, then Turgeman’s powerful half volley which found the bottom far corner and made it 4-1 certainly did. Seconds later Turgeman was fouled by Nemanic who was shown a second yellow card which will force him out of next week’s return leg in Slovenia.

 

Zahavi: “We are proud of Daniel, he is a special kid”

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Eran Zahavi scored a hattrick against Celje to give Maccabi a 4-1 advantage in the Conference League Playoff ahead of the return leg in Slovenia. After the game Maccabi fans bid farewell from goalkeeper Daniel Peretz who will head for Germany where he will undergo a medical at Bayern Munich. The veteran striker, who took the match ball home with him, joked after the game: “Forget the ball, I ran to Peretz and asked him for his shirt.” On a more serious note, Zahavi added: “We experienced a very emotional moment here tonight. We are very happy and proud of Daniel, wish him the all the success in the world, believe in him as he deserves everything this world has to offer.”

On Peretz’s move and how it will effect the team, Zahavi added: “Sadly the void Daniel leaves behind him will be difficult to fill as he is a very significant player. His attitude, approach, professionalism and the atmosphere he creates around him. He is a special kid. We will struggle but this is also something which would benefit Maccabi in the future. A club that sells players for such fees every year, maybe we can brand the club as one that creates players. Young players would like to come here as they understand that from here one can progress to the highest places in Europe.”

Zahavi, who scored his ninth goal so far this season, said about his recent good form: “Sometimes the balls go in easier and sometimes it is more difficult. I must have got you all used that every shot on the edge of the penalty box is easy but this is far from it. I am taking responsibility, this is my job and this is what I get paid for – to create chances, to score goals and to be as positive as I can. I am trying to do my best for as long as I am on the pitch.”

Zahavi also paid tribute to Dor Turgeman who scored Maccabi’s fourth goal with a spectacular strike: Turgeman deserves a good word as he brought in plenty of energy and scored an important goal that placed us in a very good position for the return leg.”