Eran Zahavi who scored a dramatic late penalty to award Maccabi three points with a 2-1 victory away to Hapoel Be’ersheva, said at the end of the match: “I think we just played a match of the highest quality, with an excellent atmosphere from both sets of fans. It was an open game with a football atmosphere which created plenty of chances. I really enjoyed it and I am delighted we took the three points back home with us, an overall excellent night.”

Zahavi, whose injury time winning penalty was his 18th league goal this season, which took Maccabi within two points from Be’ersheva, added: “We currently need to look at things on a game by game basis. We set ourselves targets this season and we would like to meet them. Obviously we are behind and things don’t depend on us but we know that how we end this season and show better form we will win more points in the Playoff. This could help us retain our deterrent force as well as the faith of the fans, the staff and the fans. It will help us come with such energies for next season as well. Now I have already taken a few steps forward too many.”

Zahavi, summed up: “We need to improve in every training session and every game that we walk onto the pitch – that will help us collect as many points as we possibly can. I strongly believe in our team and know that we can do great things. This season is a massive miss. We scored the highest number of goals, we conceded the least number of goals and we are still 10 points adrift of the top spot. I am very disappointed because we shouldn’t have dropped some of the points we did, which is a shame. This is the situation for the moment, and we must do the best we can until the end of the season.”

Preview

Maccabi arrived at Turner stadium for the MD30 ONE ZERO League match against Hapoel Be’ersheva aiming to close the 5 point gap they have from the second placed hosts. Last week’s 1-1 draw against Maccabi Haifa at Bloomfield, took Maccabi’s tally to 59 points and seriously dented hopes of catching up with the leaders. But a victory at a stadium where Maccabi hadn’t won in two years, would edge Maccabi closer towards the second place in the table.

Enric Saborit serving a one-match touchline ban due to nine yellow card, forced Maccabi’s coach Aitor Karanka to make a change in his defence which otherwise remained unchanged. Nir Bitton stepped into the heart of defence to partner Derrick Luckassen as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz with Andre Geraldes on the right and Ofir Davidzada on the left completing the defensive line. Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz kept their places in Maccabi’s the midfield engine room with Gabi Kanichowsky and Dan Biton supplying the width to the midfield. Upfront, Karanka stuck with his striking duo Djordje Jovanovic and Eran Zahavi who led the team out wearing the captain’s armband.

On the bench, Karanka welcomed back Daniel Peretz who fully recovered from his back injury but also included Eylon Almog for the first time since the 24-year-old forward returned from a loan spell in Austria. Veteran club captain Sheran Yeini who also recovered from a facial injury, was also named amongst the substitutes as were Rares Ilie and Joris van Overeem, Parfait Guiagon, Eyal Golasa, Shahar Piven and Dor Turgeman.

First Half

A firework display of the home fans immediately after kick off caused a longer delay than usual as a large banner behind goal caught fire, forcing the local fire brigade to intervene and kill the flames. When play was resumed around 9 minutes later, Beersheva came close to draw first blood as Shapi Suleymanov received the ball inside Maccabi’s area on 17 before blasting a powerful drive which struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down and out. In the 20th minute Maccabi took the lead as Dan Biton’s pinpoint free kick found Dor Peretz who guided his header past Omri Glazer.

Beersheva were back on level terms five minutes later as Suleymanov exploited a mistake in Maccabi’s defence and beat Daniel Peretz with a shot into the top corner. Tempers flared on the half hour mark as Peretz was booked for a foul on Dor Micha while Derrick Luckassen was also shown a yellow card less than a minute later for a foul on Patryk Klimala.

Gabi Kanichowsky could have restored Maccabi’s lead in the 35th minute only for the diminutive midfielder to blast his shot over the crossbar. Eran Zahavi had a chance as well as he picked a loose ball on the edge of Beersheva’s area in the 40th minute but sent his shot high over the bar. The delay after kickoff led referee Eytan Shmuelevic to add 10 minutes to the first half. A mix-up between Beersheva’s keeper and his defence gifted the ball Zahavi before Biton tried catching Glazer off his line but saw his long-range effort land on the roof of the net.

Second Half

Aitor Karanka made no change to personnel after the break while his Beersheva counterpart Elyaniv Barda introduced Eugene Ansah for Miguel Vitor. Be’ersheva came close on 49 as he reced passed Bitton to break into the area but sent his shot against the side netting.

Zahavi should have taken the lead on 57 as a perfect counter attack saw Biton send Djordje Jovanovic down the right. The Serbian forward sent a pinpoint cross into the box but Zahavi miscued his header agonisingly wide of the target. Barda made a double substitution in the 65th minute as Ramzi Safuri and Rotem Hatuel came on for Micha and Kilmala.

Safuri almost put Beersheva infront as he spotted Glazer off his line and sent a long range effort which was making its way in but Maccabi’s custodian recovered in time to save on his line. Biton bowed out and was replaced by Rares Ilie while Eyal Golasa came on for Dor Peretz as Karanka made a double substitution in the 84th minute.

Two minutes later, the substitution almost paid off as Guiagon tore through Be’ersheva’s midfield and released Jovanovic. The Serbian forward rattled the crossbar before Ilie blasted the rebound against the side netting.

The fourth official added seven minutes and Maccabi came close as Guiagon and Ilie charged forward for a counter attack but the Romanian’s square ball was cleared for a corner before Zahavi could slot the ball home. Shahar Piven replaced Bitton for the closing stages as Karanka made his final change on the night before the game ended in dramatic fashion.

Guiagon dribbled into the area and was fouled by Ansah before the referee needed the assistance of VAR before awarding a penalty. Zahavi stepped up, kept his calm, and fired the spot kick high into the net to secure the victory.

To date 126 league encounters were played between the two sides of which Maccabi winning 58, losing 30 and 38 others were drawn with a goal tally of 176-109.

Monday’s match will be Hapoel Be’ersheva’s 804th home match in the league of which they hosted Maccabi 61 times.

Of all the league clubs to have played 3 matches or more at Be’ersheva, Maccabi is the only team in the league with a positive record – 22 victories and 20 defeats.

On the other hand, Maccabi were beaten in all of their last three visits to Be’ersheva. This is the only opponent Maccabi had such a record against in the last 10 years. Three successive defeats to Be’ersheva was also record in 2017.

Maccabi record at Turner stadium currently stands on 3 victories, 4 draws and 6 defeats.

A 4-0 win is Maccabi’s highest victory at Turner and was recorded on the final day of the 2018/19 season.

Sixty six Maccabi players represented Maccabi against Be’ersheva at Turner to date. Avi Rikan made the most appearances for Maccabi featuring in 9 matches.

Nine players scored for Maccabi against Be’ersheva at Turner with Yonatan Cohen being the only player to have scored twice.

Maccabi played 60 league matches during Passover since the State of Israel was initiated, winning 36 losing 13 while 11 matches were drawn. The goal record currently stands on 107-49.

The fastest goal by a Maccabi player during Passover was scored by Eran Zahavi in 2015. A third minute striker led Maccabi to a 3-1 victory over Be’ersheva.

This will be the third time in succession Maccabi faces Be’ersheva during Passover. In the 2020/21 season, Nick Blackman scored two headers on the way to a 2-1 victory at Bloomfield, while last season Maccabi suffered a 1-0 defeat.