Eran Zahavi returned to score as he successfully converted an 83rd minute penalty to help Maccabi to a 4-0 victory over Beitar Jerusalem at Bloomfield. Zahavi, who scored his first ever league goal in Yellow and Blue against Beitar Jerusalem in 2013, took his tally to 100 league goals at the club.

At the end of the match, the 35-yeare-old marksman summed up the match and paid tribute to Oscar Gloukh who scored a goal and added an assist. “Oscar is an amazing player, he is a talent of the highest pedigree as he does everything like a seasoned professional. We want him to develop and will be extremely happy for him. The aim is for him to an important factor – I haven’t seen too many players of his age play at this level and with such quality. He constantly asks for the ball and constantly makes threats on goal”.

Having missed a penalty against Ashdod last week, Zahavi didn’t think twice before taking the penalty against Beitar: “I never hide from responsibility. Sometimes you score and sometimes you don’t – I will happily keep on taking responsibility and step up to take penalties. I am just delighted it went in as missing week after week is too much for me”.

On his start to the season, Zahavi said: “I suffered from an injury which wasn’t that simple and takes time to recover from. To readjust to Israeli football takes time. People might dismiss it but there is also readjusting to the country and the country. Luckily, I have a an amazing club which supports me and gives me all the necessary tools to succeed. I believe that I will soon be back to full fitness and everything will be ok. I have high expectations from myself and these expectations are no different from when I scored 35 league goals in one season”.

Preview

Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD5 ONE ZERO League match against Beitar Jerusalem on the back of last week’s disappointing 0-0 draw away to Ashdod. In a bid to guide his side back on course before the international break, Maccabi’s coach, Vladimir Ivic, made several changes to his starting line-up.

Daniel Peretz who kept a clean sheet in Ashdod and was named in Israel’s Under 21 squad which face the Republic of Ireland in the Playoffs, kept his place in goal. Derrick Lukassen who made a cameo debut appearance for Maccabi at Ashdod and was denied a late winning goal by VAR, was handed his debut start in front of a sell-out Bloomfield stadium. The Dutchman was named alongside captain Sheran Yeini and Enric Saborit as the three central defenders in front of Peretz. Maor Kandil was given the nod ahead of Andre Geraldes as the right wing-back while Ofir Davidzada completed Ivic’s defensive line on the opposite left flank. Dor Peretz and Gabi Kanichowsky were both named in the midfield engine room with Oscar Gloukh assigned to a more attacking role behind the forwards. Djordje Jovanovic returned from suspension after completing his one match touchline ban as the young Serbian forward partnered Eran Zahavi upfront.

On the bench alongside goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Ivic named Dan Glazer, Joris van Overeem, Parfait Guisagon, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Andre Geraldes, Shahar Piven and Matan Hozez who all waited for their chance to be called upon.

First Half

Maccabi began the match with pressure on Beitar right from the off as Vladimir Ivic’s side enjoyed most of the possession while the visitors struggled to even cross the halfway line. It took Maccabi less than five minutes to reach the first chance as Enric Saborit floated a cross from the left and Maor Kandil ghosted in at the far post before sending his close range header over the crossbar. Oscar Gloukh had a shot blocked and Gabi Kanichowsky saw his 11th minute effort narrowly miss the target.

Maccabi continued to press as Gloukh had another shot blocked on 13 while Kanichowsky struggled to keep his shot down two minutes later. Maccabi’s keeper, Daniel Peretz, didn’t touch the ball at all in the opening stages while his opposite number, Itamar Yisraeli was clearly the busier keeper. In the 24^th minute, Roei Reinshrieber showed he has no intention to tolerate any time wasting as Yisraeli went into the referee’s book. Three minutes later as Gloukh was brought down on the edge of the area, Reinshreiber awarded a free kick but Eran Zahavi’s attempt to curl his shot on target was blocked by the Beitar wall.

Derrick Lukassen was also booked by Reinshreiber in the 34th minute for a pull on Beitar’s Colombian winger Danillo Asprilla. In the 37th minute however the deadlock was finally broken as Ofir Davidzada began the move down the left, exchanged passes with Gloukh and teed up Kanichowsky. The diminutive midfielder unleashed a powerful low right foot drive that gave Yisraeli no chance, put Maccabi in front and register his 3rd league goal this season.

Djordje Jovanovic could have doubled Maccabi’s lead within a couple of minutes but the Serbian striker pushed the ball rather than strike it allowing Yisraeli to gather with ease.

Two minutes before the break Gloukh was rewarded for his efforts as the 18-year old midfielder charged towards the Beitar area and fired a shot which crept into the bottom corner doubling Maccabi’s lead to 2-0.

Second Half

Vladimir Ivic made one change after the break as Shahar Piven replaced Lukassen at the restart while his Beitar counterpart Yossi Abuksis introduced Yarden Shuah for Eduardo Guerrero.

Zahavi was desperate to get his name on the scoresheet as he received the ball in the middle of Beitar’s area but the veteran marksman was surrounded by too many defenders who prevented him from getting a shot on target. Maccabi continued to dominate as in the 54^th minute Jovanovic headed a Davidzada cross over the crossbar. Four minutes later, Beitar reached an unlikely chance as Maccabi’s defence was required to show its’ quality with Sheran Yeini delivering a perfect last gasp tackle to block an Adi Yona shot from close range.

Three minutes after the hour mark, Piven released Gloukh whose powerful left foot shot was caught by Yisraeli. Zahavi came inches away from reaching Yeini’s cross two minutes later but Yisraeli managed to intercept. Gloukh proved too much for Beitar’s broke into the area but his effort blocked by a combination of the keeper and the post. Maor Kandil bowed out to a standing ovation as he was replaced in the 66th minute by Eyal Golasa.

Saborit carved Beitar’s defence with a perfect through ball to Jovanovic on 75 but the Serbian striker was blocked by a defender for a corner. Ivic made another double substitution as Joris van Overeem and Matan Hozez came in for Dor Peretz and Kanichowsky.

Gloukh sent a powerful left foot shot that that was caught by Yisraeli three minutes after the hour mark following good work by Piven. Two minutes later Zahavi was inches away from reaching Yeini’s cross which Yisraeli managed to catch. Gloukh who was head and shoulders above any player on the park, received a perfect chip from Zahavi as he broke into the area on 66 but his effort was blocked by a combination of the keeper and the post. Kanichowsky blasted the rebound which was blocked by a defender before Maor Kandil bowed out to and was replaced by Eyal Golasa.

Another rare Beitar attack in the 78^th minute saw Davidzada race with Asprilla and match the pace of the Colombian whose powerful shot narrowly missed the top corner of Peretz’s goal.

Hozez made an immediate impact as he was brought down by a Beitar defender inside the area after a perfect through ball by Gloukh. Reinshreiber awarded a spot kick and Zahavi who missed a penalty against Ashdod last week, blasted the ball home to make it 3-0. Parfait Guiagon replaced Zahavi who was given his standing ovation by the majority of the 26,043 fans at Bloomfield.
Maccabi completed the rout in the 87^th as Gloukh registered another assist this time teeing up Golasa for Maccabi’s fourth to seal a clean 4-0 victory.

Maccabi’s 35-year old skipper Sheran Yeini spoke about the team recovering from the two points dropped at Ashdod: “We really believe in our ability and I don’t think there is a reason for any pressure, we are athletes competing in sport and can’t always guarantee victories. An away match at Ashdod is a tough fixture for any team. Ashdod are an excellent side, we reached our chances and strongly believe in ourselves as a team”.

Yeini, who is playing his 19th season at Maccabi paid tributes to the fans for their support: “I don’t think I ever witnessed in all my years at Maccabi such support specifically at this stadium in Ashdod. It was fantastic as with this level of support we felt it was like a home match. The fans’ support is obviously important for us as the fact they are showing their connection to us is good. They love to see us play and all want to be part of the teams’ success. We expect to see them all at Bloomfield on Saturday”.

After three victories from the opening three league matches Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped points as Ashdod which held the Yellow and Blue to a 0-0 draw. Daniel Peretz, who kept a clean sheet for the third match this season, summed up what happened on the pitch at the Yud Alef stadium and related to the issue of his international call-up.

The 22-year-old keeper said after the game which saw his side miss a first half penalty before VAR denied Maccabi a late winner by disallowing a goal for offside: “I am not broken at all. This is part of football. We could have won the game as we were the better side, created plenty of chances against a side that defended a lot and made our lives difficult. Sadly, the ball didn’t go in”.

Peretz, who was named man of the match for another spectacular save he made which kept his goal locked once again, added: “Obviously I would prefer if another player would have been named man of the match and we would have scored goals and won the game but it doesn’t always happen. We struggled a bit today upfront, but still could have won the game as we created chances in the first half and had we scored the game would have developed completely different”.

Peretz, who has been a regular with Israel’s Under 21’s but has been on the verge of a call-up to the senior side, said: “I feel ready and its’ a privilege to represent your country and play for either the national team or the U21’s. I will play for whichever team that calls me up. I will accept this with open arms and just be happy to represent either team. They are both two amazing stages and as a player of Israel’s national teams I will be happy to represent my country”.

On the disappointment of celebrating a late goal which was chalked off by VAR, Peretz revealed: “I was delighted when we scored that 90th minute goal which was a reward for all our efforts throughout the game. But when the referee started making his way towards the VAR screen I guessed what was about to happen because they only do so when it is a 100% certain. We still had 8 minutes and I believed we are capable of scoring but ultimately it didn’t happen”.

Looking ahead at the remainder of the season, Perretz said: “A season is a marathon and we know we can’t win every match even though this is what we aim for. We are realistic enough to know that it will not happen. Ashdod are a tough side and we know they will cause other teams problems especially in this stadium”