Eran Zahavi’s 86th minute penalty at Bloomfield secured Maccabi’s 2-1 aggregate victory over AEK Larnaca and a place in the Conference League Playoff: “There are no easy matches at this level, they made it tough for us, we created many chances but the ball simply didn’t want to go in”. Zahavi said, “I am delighted we didn’t concede today which was very important because when we keep a clean sheet then the chances that do go in could give us a narrow 1-0 victory. This is our team effort and it is important that we will be very strong, keep creating chances and score as well. Let us just hope that it will come with a bit more ease.”

Ahead of the rest of the season, the 36-year-old striker added: “There is always room for improvement as sometimes things go easier and sometimes more difficult. I like the way we advanced the hard way as we suffered a bit but this way we get to appreciate it. There are situations you must suffer for each other in order to progress and raise your standards. Our ai now is to rest today, we have another match on Sunday (Toto Cup Semi Final against Bnei Sakhnin) and we will try and be as ready as we possibly can”.

Preview

A week after being held to a 1-1 draw in Cyprus, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the 3rd qualifying round return leg against AEK Larnaca. With a place in the Conference League Playoff at stake, a sell-out crowd braved the hot and humid weather conditions to come and cheer-on Robbie Kean’s side to victory.

Keane made no changes to his starting line-up as Daniel Peretz whose penalty save in Larnaca denied AEK a late comeback, started in goal. Enric Saborit and Nir Bitton were the two central defenders with Yvann Macon on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completing the back-four. Joris van Overeem was named at the heart of Maccabi’s midfield in the anchorman role with Dor Peretz and Dan Biton completing the midfield trio. Yonatan Cohen, the scorer of Maccabi’s goal last week, supplied the width on one wing while Parfait Guiagon who scored the opener in the previous round in Moldova on the opposite flank. Eran Zahavi, led the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the veteran forward led the attack to spearhead Keane’s formation.

Milson, who recovered from a groin injury, was named by Keane on the bench ready to make his official Maccabi debut. Roi Mishpati, Dan Glazer, Dor Turgeman, Gabi Kanichowsky, Idan Nachmias, Eyal Golasa, Derrick Luckassen, Ofir Davidzada, Eylon Almog, Shahar Piven and Ido Shahar were also named amongst the substitutes waiting to be called on and make an impact.

First Half

Maccabi began the match with pressure on AEK right from the off as Yonatan Cohen came close to score in the opening minute. But Cohen’s left foot curling shot deflected off Gustavo Ledes forcing goalkeeper Kenan Piric to claw the ball out with a reflex save. Enric Saborit who headed the resulting corner just over the framework, carved AEK’s defense with a cleaver through ball to Eran Zahavi in the 4^th minute, but the veteran striker had his shot saved by Piric. Maccabi kept on pushing forward with Parfait Guiagon who led a counter attack but the Ivorian’s pass which found Cohen didn’t result with a shot on target. The visitors looked dangerous going forward as an Adam Gyurcso shot come cross rolled across the face of Daniel Peretz’s goal in the 16th minute.

Maccabi’s best chance came in the 24^th minute with Dor Peretz and Guiagon exchanging passes deep inside their own territory. Peretz then exchanged passes with Zahavi and continued his run into the AEK area before releasing Zahavi with a clever back-heal flick only for Zahavi’s shot which seemed to have beat the keeper – ultimately blocked by a Larnaca defender for a corner.

Imad Faraj whose scored AEK’s equalizer in Larnaca was the first player to be booked by Croatian referee Fran Jovic in the 26^th minute while Roy Revivo was also shown yellow on 43 for a mistimed challenge on Facundo Sanchez.

With no goals scored, the halftime whistle sent both teams to catch their breaths and regroup in the dressing rooms before emerging for the fourth quarter of this close two-legged tie.

Second Half

Robbie Keane made no changes at the restart while his AEK counterpart Jose Luis Oltra introduced Rafael Lopes for Fran Sol. Three minutes after the restart, Zahavi stole the ball from a defender just inside AEK’s half. Zahavi then cut the ball back for Dan Biton whose left foot effort from the edge of the area sailed high over the crossbar.

In the 62nd minute Milson was handed a chance to make his Maccabi full debut as he came on for Cohen. Within two minutes, Guiagon sent the pacy Angolan winger with a long ball, but what seemed like a tug of the shirt by a Larnaca defender went unpunished by the referee.

Bruno Gama who was introduced minutes earlier at Larnaca, curled a right foot shot that landed on the roof of Peretz’s net in the 65th minute. Dor Peretz should have scored at the opposite end within a minute as Zahavi managed to pick him with a perfect pass. Peretz, who missed a handful of chances last week, shrugged off a defender but from five meters out saw his effort saved by Piric. Maccabi continued to press in a desperate attempt to break the deadlock but Zahavi’s left foot drive that beat the keeper on 72 struck the base of the post.

In the 77th minute Peretz rose high to meet Biton’s corner but sent his header over while two minutes later AEK came close as the ball deflected off Joris van Overeem and crept out for a corner. Bloomfield was silenced for a second as the resulting corner was bundled in at the end of a goalmouth scramble only for the referee to rule it out for a foul.

Keane made a double change in the 84th minute as Shahar Piven and Gabi Kanichowsky replaced Yvann Macon and Biton. Less than 30 seconds later Maccabi were awarded a penalty after Milson was tripped inside the area. Zahavi stepped up, kept his calm, and successfully sent Piric the wrong way to convert the spot kick and put Maccabi in-front.

Guiagon came off to a standing ovation by the 26,152 fans as he was replaced by Eyal Golasa for the closing stages. The full time whistle allowed Maccabi fans and players alike to breathe out in relief and prepare for next week’s first leg of the Playoff against Celje of Slovenia that won their tie against Neman of Belarus 4-1 on aggregate.

Djorje Jovanovioc, will join FC Basel after Maccabi Tel Aviv FC reached an agreement for his sale of the 24-year-old Serbian striker who joined from Cukaricki in January 2022.

Thank you Djole and Good luck!

Yonatan Cohen’s goal at the AEK Arena in Larnaca earned Maccabi a 1-1 draw in last week’s Conference League 3rd qualifying round first leg as he now faced the media ahead of the return leg: “The match in Larnaca was positive as we created loads of chances against a team that mostly defended” Cohen said. “At such European matches if you don’t score you get punished and end up. The match could have easily turned on its head if not for the penalty save of Daniel Peretz who kept us alive. I am sure that with a packed Bloomfield stadium and with the support of our fans, there is no reason why will not complete the task. We will come humble yet determined and hope we will do it.”

Cohen, whose second half goal in Cyprus was his second in four competitive matches this season, sport about the start of this campaign: “Both the team and myself began the season on a high note, but we still have some tasks to complete. Clearly, last season wasn’t what I expected it to be but a footballer’s career can lead you to various directions and one must always be prepared to deal with failure or success. I am happy that I managed to deal with it in a good way and move on, as nothing is over.”

On his relationship with his new coach, Robbie Keane, Cohen added: “We have had some conversations, Before a player and a coach he is also an amazing person who speaks with me at eye level. We have a good chemistry, had some good conversations which is something I really appreciate and I really love his high demands. He expects me to improve all the time and he demands a lot both from me and the entire team. I think that we will all improve, and on a personal note – I must as well, so that I prove that my place is on the pitch.”

Cohen, who spent a couple of week’s this summer together with his wife as guest at Eran Zahavi’s house, spoke of the bond he struck off the pitch with the veteran striker: “In short, we met several years ago whilst on national team duty. I think we clicked immediately. We bonded and remained in touch despite playing for different clubs. We had many conversations last season and he helped persuading me to return and promised ‘I will help you and you will do well’. The bond we have is very solid, we are close friends off the pitch, our wives are good friends as well. We all had a holiday together in the summer and as my wife and I moved out of our flat and were considering to move in with a parents for a fortnight – they invited to host us. I would like to thank Shai and Eran as we are all close friends. Our target though is to win the championship back to Maccabi, win more titles but first and foremost secure qualification to the group stages and that begins against Larnaca at Bloomfield.”

Maccabi hosts AEK Larnaca on Thursday (Bloomfield, 20:00) for the return leg of the Conference League 3rd qualifying round. Shortly before we battle it out with the Cypriots for a place in the Playoffs, we recalled a similar scenario Maccabi experienced exactly five years ago.

Maccabi began the 2018/19 season with a European campaign that saw the team compete for a place in the EUROPA League group stages.

After advancing past Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros 2-1 on aggregate before a 4-2 aggregate victory over Radnicki Nis of Serbia – Maccabi were drawn against Pyunik. A 0-0 in Yerevan, was followed by a return leg in Netanya on August 16th 2018 for a tricky match which ended on a high note with a Playoff berth.

Daniel Peretz kept his outstanding record as he made a late penalty save to ensure that Maccabi salvage a 1-1 draw from their first leg away to AEK Larnaca. In the 86th minute, with the score at 1-1, AEK were awarded a penalty, but Peretz saved Ivan Trickovski’s spot kick, his 5th of the last 8 attempts in all competitions.

Peretz, who saw his teammates miss several chances, said at the end of the game: “That is football for you. When you take a lead and fail to score the second goal – there will always be chances. We should have scored these chances. We played really well, up until the final action which is where we should improve and intend to do so next Thursday.”

Peretz, who had a good view of the action from the his end of the pitch, added: “We missed loads of chances which is a good sign of us creating chances. A lot of this has to do with the sharpness of the players, as we work a lot on finishing at the end of our training sessions. I am confident the goals will come.”

The young custodian who experienced an extra ordinary summer with the Israel U21’s that reached the Semi Finals of the European Championships after Peretz saved several spot-kicks, spoke about the penalty he saved against AEK: “It is no secret that I watch a lot and analyse penalties of opposing players – and it paid off once again. I have to give a lot of credit to our analyst Gal (Fishman) who always helps me and collects the clips for me which is not an easy task.”

Ahead of next week’s return leg against AEK at Bloomfield, Peretz added: “Our fans arrived here today and we could hear and feel them right from the start. I know this is nothing compared to the atmosphere they will create at Bloomfield next week. We know we need everyone with us next week especially as the current score means that we must win.”

Eran Zahavi, who missed a series of chances which could have easily sealed Maccabi’s victory at the AEK Arena, admitted after the match: “I take for responsibility for the result as I had enough chances to kill the game off”.

“We were taught a lesson today” Zahavi added, “We should have put this game to bed before reaching this stage. We should have been leading 2-0 or 3-0 and make this game a lot more calm than we actually did. We didn’t score the second goal which is a shame and we are fortunate to have Daniel with us as he saved us tonight. Penalties are his expertise so it is god he is still here and now we have to finish it off at Bloomfield”.

The 36-year-old striker, summed up: “We need to give a lot of credit to all the fans who turned up here tonight, 600 or 700 from Tel Aviv who supported us and made us feel them. We paid them back with a good game of football, slightly less in terms of the result but now we will return to Bloomfield. I know the stadium will be full next week, we will receive the support we are used to and hope to achieve the result we want.”