The 24-year-old midfielder who joined Maccabi in the summer from Hapoel Haifa, played a key role in inflicting Maccabi Haifa a second defeat in 10 days. Noy, who spent two seasons at Sammy Ofer, stepped into the shoes of suspended captain Dor Peretz, helped Maccabi collect three points but sets his sights on Tuesday’s clash against Be’ersheva: “We need to win there as well, and only then can we talk further. I think we worked very well as a team. We stuck to our way and did exactly what we needed to do. We followed the game plan, remained very focused, and everyone was committed together to achieve the goal.”

On winning without captain Dor Peretz: “Dor is a very important player, our captain, and he doesn’t need many words. But we have a very talented group here. We’re in a good process, and I feel we are improving from game to game. This was a significant step to continue that process and to arrive with confidence for the match against Be’ersheva.”

Responding to the suggestion that the first half was the team’s best of the season, Noy said: “Thank you for the compliments. As I said, we’re going through a process, and I’m glad it looks that way from the outside. We did what was required, and now we move on to the next match. It’s always enjoyable to come to Sammy Ofer, the atmosphere is amazing, and it’s great to win here. Being at Maccabi Tel Aviv is a completely different experience, to win here with Maccabi in such a big match is a great feeling, and I’m very happy about it.”

On the improvement since the defeat to Be’ersheva, Noy added: “We look and feel good. We’re trying to take it game by game. We haven’t beaten Be’ersheva yet this season, and we’re coming into Tuesday’s match with a lot of energy and a desire to show that we are a strong team that belongs at the very top. The burden of proof is on us. Today’s win gave us a lot of confidence and showed good football, now we need to bring that into the next game.”

Ido Shahar scored his 8th league goal and 15th in all competitions this season as Maccabi recorded their 16 victory of the season.

Shahar, a product of Maccabi’s Youth Academy who played at the Under 19 side which is named after Shahar Brickman sent his condolences to the Brickman family following the death of former Maccabi chairman Gideon Brickman who passed away last week. “I would like to send my condolences to the Brickman family on Gideon’s passing. Everyone knows what kind of person he was for Maccabi. I hope we managed to give them a little bit of comfort” Shahar said after the match.

The midfielder who dedicated his goal to Ido Daniel (RIP), a Maccabi fans who died from cancer last month, wore a shirt with his picture, explained: “Ido Daniel was an amazing kid from Kibbutz Kfar Menachem. His family and he were Maccabi fans. I visited them during the shiva and received so much strength and a feeling that’s hard to explain. Even when he didn’t leave the house, the only place he would go to was Bloomfield, and those two hours of escape meant everything to him. I promised the family I would make a small gesture for them.”

On Maccabi’s convincing victory on the night, Shahar said:

“We had a big victory. To be honest, we lifted that cloud over us, that until the start of the playoffs we hadn’t beaten any big team. I’m happy we’re on a good run. We feel good as a team. We’re still in third place, eight points behind, that’s a lot. We need to stay focused and do the job match by match.”

As Maccabi moved within six points from Beitar Jerusalem and eight behind leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva that arrive at Bloomfield on Tuesday, Shahar said: “You should never write off Maccabi, but I understand why people think that way because of the gap. We still have a lot to play for, we want to make the fans happy. There’s a cup final, and in the league we’ll do everything as long as there’s a chance. We hope to make the fans happy again in the match against Be’ersheva on Tuesday.”

Previe

Maccabi arrived at Sammy Ofer for the WINNER League MD28 match away to Maccabi Haifa on the back of two victories in succession. Ronny Deila’s side that beat Haifa 3-2 in the State Cup Semi Final 10 days ago and followed with a 1-0 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby will aim to extend that run. With his side currently third in the table with 52 points, eight adrift of second place Beitar Jerusalem and 10 behind leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva that face each other later today, Deila will try lead Maccabi to victory and cut that gap. In the absence of suspended duo, Dor Peretz and Osher Davida who are both serving a one-match touchline ban for yellow and red cards respectively, as well as Ali Camara (injury) – Deila was forced to make changes. Ofek Melika kept his place in goal with Heitor dos Santos and Raz Shlomo lining up as the two central defenders in front of the 21-year-old keeper. In Peretz’s absence, Roy Revivo was handed the captain’s armband in what was the 22-year-old full-back’s 123rd appearance in Yellow and Blue. Tyrese Asante who just like Revivo was making his 42nd appearance for Maccabi this season, completed the back-four on the right. In midfield, Issouf Sissokho slotted into the anchorman role just behind Itamar Noy and Ido Shahar who will aim to go level with Peretz in the goalscoring charts. Shahar’s tally this season currently stands on 14 in all competitions, but the 24-year-old diminutive midfielder will need to score 2 goals if he wishes to go level with Peretz in the number of goals scored in the league. On the wings, Deila named Helio Varela and Emir Sahiti whose roles will be supplying the ammunition for Saied Abu Farchi. The 19-year-old striker who returned from suspension, will lead Maccabi’s attack and try add to his tally of 10 goals this season.

On the bench, Deila, named Kervin Andrade amongst the substitutes, as the 21-year-old Venezuelan midfielder was back in the squad for the first time since February. Alongside Andrade, Deila named goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Sagiv Jehezkel, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Itay Ben Hemo and Lotem Asres.

First half

Several empty seats were visible at the Sammy Ofer Stadium for what is normally billed as the Clasico of Israeli football. While the hosts’ disappointing season had its effect on the number of home fans, Maccabi’s traveling fans arrived in numbers as 2500 members of the yellow and blue army filled the South-west corner of the stadium. Pyrotechnics display from both ends of the stadium followed the kickoff, but while the flares were burning in the stands Maccabi dominated the early stages. An exchange of passes in the box involving Emir Sahiti and an Itamar Noy backheel, freed Ido Shahar whose close-range effort was blocked for a corner. At the opposite end Haifa’s captain Dolev Haziza headed a corner onto the roof of Ofek Melika’s goal. In the 15th minute the deadlock was broken by a lethal Maccabi counterattack as Sahiti carved Haifa’s defense with a perfect through ball to Helio Varela. The Cape Verde winger’s bursting pace down the left took him past Jelle Bataille as he charged into the box and blasted a low accurate shot that found the bottom far corner. Ten minutes later Haifa thought they were back on level terms after Melika saved Silva Kangani’s initial effort and as Maccabi’s defense struggled to clear the danger Ethan Azoulay drilled in the rebound. But Haifa’s celebrations were short lived as VAR intervened before referee Aviad Shiloah ruled the goal out for offside.

Maccabi continued to look dangerous going forward as a minute after the half hour mark Sahiti squared to Shahar who had another sight of goal, but his effort was easily collected by Georgiy Yermakov. Two minutes later Roy Revivo was booked a fact which would sideline him from Tuesday’s match against Hapoel Be’ersheva at Bloomfield. Barak Bachar was forced to make his first change as Ali Mohamed limped off and was replaced by Navot Ratner in the 35th minute.

Maccabi almost doubled their lead on 41 with a spectacular team effort that saw Tyrese Asante chip the ball from the byline towards the back post where Varela was standing unmarked. But Varela’s powerful close-range volley, agonizingly cleared the crossbar. Abu Farchi had an effort which went wide before Asante got booked for a foul which would also earn him a one-match-touchline ban against Be’ersheva. Haifa had the ball in the back of the net once again as Trivante Stewart rose above Maccabi’s defense to head in a corner. But Shiloah spotted a Haziza foul on Melika and the goal was disallowed denying Haifa an injury time equalizer.

Seconds later Maccabi doubled their lead as Asante slipped the ball to Abu Farchi who turned in the box before blasting a thunderbolt that rocketed into the roof of the net giving Yermakov no chance.

Second Half

Abu Farchi’s goal celebration led to a scuffle on the pitch as both teams continued the exchanges in the tunnel. When both teams emerged for the second half, Shiloah booked Abu Farchi before the restart. Haifa came close to cut the deficit right after the restart as Raz Shlomo conceded possession to Stewart before Dolev Haziza received the ball and fired a shot which Melika collected. In the 53rd minute Stewart came even closer as Kangany found him with a square ball before the Jamaican striker hooked his shot over the crossbar. Four minutes later, while Haifa were attempting to take a corner, Itamar Noy went down in the box after being struck by Stewart. VAR called Shiloah to the screen, and the Jamaican striker was consequently shown the red card leaving Haifa with 10 men for the rest of the match.

Sahiti was booked on 62 for a foul on Bataille as tempers continued to flare. A counterattack on 66 almost resulted with another Abu Farchi goal after Varela sent him forward but the striker’s powerful drive missed the target. Deila reacted on 69 with a triple substitution as Heitor dos Santos, Issouf Sissokho and Abu Farchi all bowed out and were replaced by Sagiv Jehezkel, Ben Lederman and Elad Madmon. Seconds after being introduced as a substitute at Haifa, former Maccabi striker Djordje Jovanovic received a long ball out of defense before squaring to fellow substitute Guy Melamed who slid in and flicked the ball past Melika to cut the deficit. Deila reacted with a change of his own as he introduced Lotem Asres for his senior debut as the 19-year-old came on for the closing stages.

In the 82nd minute Asres found Sahiti in acres of space before the Kosovar winger had his shot blocked by the stretched arm of Shon Goldberg. Shiloah didn’t hesitate and awarded Maccabi a penalty. Shahar stepped up and as opposed to the Semi Final against Haifa at Teddy, successfully drilled the spot kick past Yermakov to restore Maccabi’s two-goal lead. Noam Ben Harush replaced Sahiti on 86 as Deila made his fifth and final substitution. Inside injury time Maccabi came close to score a fourth as Varela charged for a counterattack but was stopped by Yermakov before the final whistle ended the contest. As the players and staff celebrated the victory with the traveling fans after the final whistle, attention now turns to Bloomfield stadium on Tuesday as Maccabi host Be’ersheva.

Sagiv Jehezkel faced the media on Thursday ahead or Saturday’s MD28 WINNER League match away to Maccabi Haifa. The match at Sammy Ofer will be the second encounter against Haifa in a space of 10 days as both teams faced each other in the Semi Final of the State Cup.

Maccabi will travel to Haifa on the back of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby that saw them open a three point lead from fourth place. At the same time, Maccabi remain eight points adrift of second place Beitar and 10 behind leaders Hapoel Be’ershava that face each other at the weekend.

“Our focus is first and foremost on the upcoming match, and beyond that we are not dealing with anything else” Jehzkel said. “We have an important game and we’ll come as prepared as possible to win it” he added. Following the 3-1 defeat to Hapoel Beersheva on the final day of the regular season Maccabi recorded two defeats on the bounce as Jehezkel said: “After every match we draw conclusions, even after victories. I’m happy we knew how to bounce back from that defeat, to do our things and win.”

The fact the match against Haifa is normaly billed as a top of the table clash yet this time will see fifth host third, saw Jehezkel insist: “It doesn’t affect us. That’s the current situation and our position. We try to do the best we can and focus on our own game to win.”

On his personal season and the fact he doesn’t always start, he said: “I deal with it like a mature player. I understand the situation. The coach has his decisions and I trust and respect him and the coaching staff. In every minute I get, I’ll prove that I deserve to be here. I’m here for the team and the club and I’m happy to be here. I’ll play in any role I’m needed in and try to do it in the best possible way.”

As Maccabi as well as the rest of the league now enter a highly congested fixture schedule due to the one-month long imposed break due to the war with Iran, Jehezkel said: “It is part of the situation. The coach will make the right adjustments, we’ll come into every game fully prepared and approach each one properly.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club, the owner Mitch Goldhar, the management, players and staff share in the grief of the Brickman family upon the passing of the head of the family, Gideon Brickman, who previously served as Chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, and after whose late son Shahar the youth team, Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’, is named.

During his years as Chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Brickman led the club through a significant period of development and consolidation, working tirelessly to improve the club. In addition, in his role as Acting Chairman of the Israel Football Association, he contributed from his experience and leadership to the advancement of Israeli football at a national level and influenced the shaping of the game.

Brickman devoted many years to extensive public service and served as Chairman of the Sports Betting Board, Toto. He was one of the prominent figures in the Maccabi movement and in Israeli sport as a whole, and his son Tal worked for many years at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The club bows its head in his memory and sends its sincere condolences to Shoshi, Tal, Keren and the entire Brickman family.