Maccabi’s players took part this morning in an event that marked the long partnership between the club and its’ business partner EURODRIVE which took place at its’ flagship display room in Glilot. Dan Glazer who was one of five Maccabi players who attended together with Enric Saborit, Andre Geraldes, Daniel Peretz, Yonatan Cohen, spoke to the media that arrived to cover the event.

The 26-year-old didn’t hide the disappointment from Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Bnei Sakhnin which came on the back of a draw in the derby, and said: “We are obviously disappointed with the last two results in the league. We wanted to win just like we always want to win matches. We will get back to the training ground and work hard, see our mistakes as well as the good things we did, and do everything to correct what we did wrong”.

On the rest of the season and the race for the league title: “We still feel that we are capable of doing it and believe in our ability to do so. This is something we tell ourselves in the dressing room on a daily basis. We are working hard to try and win this championship. We are aware of the fact that our recent results and our form were not good and we are not hiding from that. We will have to train and work hard in order to improve and win matches even by force. Nothing is over just yet there are plenty of points and matches still left to play for.”

Maccabi’s players Enric Saborit, Andre Geraldes, Daniel Peretz, Yonatan Cohen and Dan Glazer arrived on Wednesday at EuroDrive’s new flagship display room to mark another year of partnership between the club and the leading car leasing company.

Amongst those who attended were EuroDrive’s owners, Eli Shimrich and Shai Messika, Mtro Motor’s CEO Tomer Komarov and Real Estate expert Guy Blushinsky.

The players posed with some of the new vehicles on display and took a couple of the luxury cars for a short test drive.

EuroDrive’s owner Eli Shmirich said: “Today we mark 14 years of partnership with Israel’s premium football club. Just like we had grown as a firm, the partnership with the club has grown as well. EuroDrive and Maccabi Tel Aviv share the same DNA of professionalism and striving for excellence as we are sure this successful collaboration will only continue to grow in the future.”

Dan Glazer, added: “EuroDrive has been part of our family for a long time now. We are happy with the club’s collaboration with them and delighted to be launching this amazing new display room. I wish EuroDrive all the success for the future and to continue the partnership with Maccabi for many years to come.”

Maccabi’s Deputy CEO for commercial development, Daniel Levy, said: “The fact this partnership has been going on for so many years is a victory for us as it proves the client has an added value. They feel and believe that they are rewarded for the money they pay. For us as a club it is an honour to be here and inaugurate this amazing new display room.”

The 1-1 draw against 10-man Bnei Sakhnin at Bloomfield stadium saw Maccabi drop two valuable points in the race for the league title. Goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, who conceded only his 10th goal in the league this season, admitted: “It is no secret we weren’t at our best today. There are plenty of things we must improve as we must all take a close look at ourselves in the mirror. Improving the little details should come from deep down. We must pick ourselves up and move from here.”

On what didn’t work on the night, Peretz added: “Maybe it is a matter of energies we must improve to be more positive and dominate proceedings on the pitch.”

Knowing that the four-point-gap from the top of the table could be increased to seven, Peretz remained adamant: “We are not out of the title race. There are 16 matches still left to play, and there are plenty of points still left to play for. All the teams are going to drop points, there is the Playoff, and we must remain focused on ourselves from the next game as we believe we are still in this and are capable of coming back.”

Eran Zahavi scored his 13th league goal of the season which cancelled Bnei Sakhnin early lead but he was denied time after time by Gad Amos who helped his side salvage a point at Bloomfield.

The 35-year-old who had a close range header saved by Amos inside injury time, said: “He had a good game but we must not wait for the 90th minute to score. We battled and gave everything we could and should have scored. It is annoying that once again we were chasing the game.”

Zahavi, whose side had a numerical advantage from the 36th minute following the dismissal of Beram Kayal, said: “Sakhnin did a good job as they battled even more than we did and gave everything. We didn’t put away the chances we created which hurts. We are not collecting the points we should and not piling the pressure on the leaders like we should be doing, but we are making their lives easy”.

Zahavi summed up a frustrating night: “We are not creating the tempo we would like. We must string a victory to another victory. For the moment we are not doing that but we will have to improve in every aspect. The players must all take a good look in the mirror and give a 100%. The moment everyone will be on top form, fully focused and giving everything for the team – things will be easier. The players here have the ability I know that without a doubt, but somewhere it has yet to click”.

Preview

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD21 ONE ZERO League match against Bnei Sakhnin after hosting the midweek cup tie against Maccabi Petah Tikva at Netanya. With his side at second place, five points adrift of the leaders, Maccabi’s Spanish coach, Aitor Karanka, who rested several players in the 4-0 victory over the second division side, made seven changes to his starting line-up.

Daniel Peretz started in goal while Daniel Tenenbaum who kept a clean sheet against Petah Tikva and was involved with two of Maccabi’s goals, suffered a back injury in training and was replaced on the bench by Or Yitzhak. Nir Bitton returned to the heart of defence as the 31-year-old former Celtic defender, partnered Derrick Luckassen as the two central defenders. Andre Geraldes returned to the right full-back position with Enric Saborit completing Karanka’s back-four on the opposite left flank. Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz were named by Karanka in the midfield engine room as the duo were set to face tough opposition from their Sakhnin counterparts. Gabi Kanichowsky who scored a goal and assisted another against Petah Tikva, and Parfait Guiagon were handed the wide roles in Karanka’s formation. Eran Zahavi led the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the 35-year-old who scored 12 league goals partnered Djordje Jovanovic who bagged a brace against Petah Tikva but scored one goal less than Zahavi in the league.

New signing Rares Ilie, who arrived on loan until the end of the season from French outfit OGC Nice, didn’t make the substitutes bench but was unveiled to the Maccabi fans prior to kickoff.

First Half

Maccabi began the match on the front foot with pressure on Bnei Sakhnin’s defence right from the start. Parfait Guiagon broke into the area in the 10th minute but his attempt to find one of his teammates was blocked and cleared by the visitors’ defence. Two minutes later however, the visitors took the lead against the run of play as Beram Kayal found Fabian Sporkslede on the edge of the area. Sporkslede sent a square ball into the path of Guy Melamed who blasted a right foot shot that gave Daniel Peretz no chance and Sakhnin a 1-0 lead.

Six minutes later, Sakhnin’s Abou Doso had a shot which was blocked by Derrick Luckassen while a minute later at the opposite end, Eran Zahavi, headed a Gabi kanichowsky corner which was saved on the line by goalkeeper Gad Amos.

Hasan Hilu was the first player to go into the book of referee Yigal Frid for a foul on Guiagon in the 23^rd minute. Zahavi tried curling the resulting free kick which was blocked by one of Sakhnin’s players who stood in the wall. Maccabi tried desperately to level the score and came close within a minute as Luckassen managed to head a Kanichowsky free kick goal-bound, only for Amos to pull a spectacular point blank range and deny the Dutchman.

Sakhnin came close to double their lead in the 29th minute but Peretz came off his line to collect and prevent Melamed a close range tap-in. Kanichowsky tried a long range effort two minutes later, but Amos collected with ease. In the 36th minute a Beram Kayal tackle on Dor Peretz near the Sakhnin area saw Frid called to the VAR before he returned to the pitch and sent the veteran midfielder off with a red card. Maccabi tried to exploit their numerical advantage as Zahavi snapped a left foot shot from inside the area in the 40th minute but once again Amos was well positioned to keep his goal locked.

Maccabi’s best chance of the first half came in the fifth and final minute of added time. Peretz whipped-in a cross from the edge of the area before Djordje Jovanovic sent a powerful header forcing Amos to stretch himself and pull another stunning save. Frid’s halftime whistle sent both teams to regroup in the dressing room for 15 minutes before returning for the second period.

Second Half

The second half began where the first half left off as 30 seconds after the restart. Guiagon charged into the area and was blocked before Jovanovic latched on the loose ball and forced another save from Amos. In the 52nd minute Maccabi’s pressure paid off as Sakhnin failed to clear a Geraldes cross which fell to Saborit who spotted Zahavi unmarked at the center of the area. The Spaniard slid the ball to the veteran marksman who turned and fired an accurate shot into the bottom far corner to level the score with his 13th league goal of the season.

Dan Glazer was booked in the 55th minute for a foul on Ihab Ghnaim near the center circle. This was Glazer’s final contribution on the night as he was replaced by Eyal Golasa shortly after.

Maccabi continued to dominate and a minute after the hour mark, Zahavi couldn’t direct his header on target as he sent Jovanovic’s cross over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Golasa released Saborit whose perfect square ball into the path of Zahavi was side footed by the 35-year-old striker wide.

Two minutes later, the dual between Zahavi and Amos continued as Guiagon released the veteran striker but his effort was blocked by Sakhnin’s keeper. Yonatan Cohen replaced Kanichowsky in the 68th minute as Karanka added a fresh pair of legs in a bid to carve an opening.

A rare Sakhnin attack in the 78th minute resulted with a corner which Dor Hugi headed and Peretz collected. Cohen who was introduced only 11 minutes earlier, pulled a muscle was replaced by Avi Rikan in the 79th minute.

In the 85th minute a Jovanovic cross into the path of Zahavi saw the veteran striker attempt a powerful volley which was blocked by a Sakhnin defender. Saborit also tried his luck with a long range left foot effort but Amos managed to deny the Spanish defender as well.

Zahavi must have thought he had scored the winner inside injury time. Zahavi headed Guiagon’s cross from close range, but Amos pulled yet another stunning save to keep his goal locked. Jovanovic wasted another chance in the dying seconds and as the ball ballooned into the stand it was proved that it is clearly not Maccabi’s night.

Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped two valuable points this evening (Saturday) after being held to a 1-1 draw by Bnei Sakhnin at Bloomfield stadium. At the end of the match, Aitor Karanka faced the media and summed up his teams’ performance on the night.

 

“It was a poor performance, I said before the game that we had a problem with the way in which we approach games as this is not the first time we concede an early goal or make mistakes and this was just one of those days,” Karanka said: “In the second half we created chances to score but that wasn’t enough.”

On what didn’t work on the night, Karanka said: “I must explain that to my players first and work on it on the training ground. This is time to think about what we are not doing well, think positively and change the mentality.”

On the chances to cut the gap at the top of the table, Karanka said: “We must focus on ourselves as I must explain to the players first on the way in which we want to win. We must bring passion and a strong mentality as I don’t care about the opponents or the points but only on our ability”.

Bnei Sakhnin visit of Bloomfield stadium on Saturday will be the 50^th league encounter between the two sides with Maccabi winning 32, losing 6 while 11 matches ended in a draw. The total goal tally of the league matches currently stands on 94-34.

Maccabi has a 72.8% success rate from their matches with Sakhnin which is the highest of all the 19 opponents which faced us in 40 matches or more.

The home record against Sakhnin currently stands on 18 victories, 5 draws and 1 defeat conceded in the 2004/05 season – with goal tally of 55-15.

The 5-0 State Cup victory over Sakhnin earlier this season was Maccabi’s highest in matches between the two sides in 66 matches in all competitions.

Maccabi’s highest victory over Sakhnin in the league were 4-0 wins recorded twice at Bloomfield in the 2010/11 and 2012/13 seasons.

Eran Zahavi is Maccabi’s leading goal scorer against Bnei Sakhnin with 12 goals to his name. Zahavi, who is the only Maccabi player to have scored a hat-trick against Sakhnin on the final day of the 2013/14 season, scored more goals only against Beitar Jerusalem (13).

Fifty five Maccabi players have a 100% record against Bnei Sakhnin with Eliran Atar (9) playing the most number of matches against them.

Throughout history, sixteen players featured for both sides of whom two foreigners: Scot Sealy and Alain Massudi.

Sakhnin’s coach Kobi Refuah faced Maccabi 15 times in the league, with Maccabi winning 9, losing 2 and 4 matches ended in a draw.