Preview
Ranked third in the table with 56 points from 30 matches and having failed to register a victory in their four opening Playoff matches, Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the Tel Aviv derby.
The two disappointing back-to-back defeats to Hapoel Be’ersheva, a 1-0 defeat at Turner stadium in the league followed by a 3-1 State Cup Semi Final exit at Bloomfield three days later – ended all hopes of winning a trophy this season.
But with six matches still left to play in the 2021/22 campaign, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s coach Mladen Krstajic and his players have plenty to play for. Runaway leaders Maccabi Haifa are well beyond Maccabi’s reach as they are 13 points ahead in the table, but a seven point gap behind Be’ersheva is not something which can’t be achieved. While Maccabi failed to register a victory in its’ five recent League and Cup matches, when it comes to Tel Aviv derbies their unbeaten run against Hapoel now stretches to 21 matches in all competitions. The last Hapoel derby victory was recorded almost eight years ago in the 2013/14 season as Paulo Sousa was then in charge of the Yellow and Blue with Eran Zahavi scoring Maccabi’s consolation goal. Oscar Garcia, Pako Ayestaran, Slavisa Jokanovic, Peter Bosz, Shota Arveladze, Jordi Cruyff, Lito Vidigal, Cruyff for a second stint, Vladimir Ivic, Giorgios Donis, Patrick van Leeuwen and Barak Itzhaki hadn’t lost a Tel Aviv derby as coaches since.
Krstajic, who had no intention of being the first coach to end that run made several changes from the side that was knocked out of the State Cup as Daniel Peretz returned to goal and replaced Daniel Tenenbaum.
Josue Sa, was named as the defensive partner of Enric Saborit right in front of Peretz with Shahar Piven and Ofir Davidzada completing the back-four on the right and left respectively. Dan Glazer led the team out wearing the captain’s armband while Eyal Golasa who made a second half substitute appearances against Be’ersheva was also assigned to the midfield engine room. Avi Rikan and Oscar Gloukh both kept their places to complete a strong four-man midfield. Djordje Jovanovic who scored a late winner in the previous derby, led the line together with his striking partner Stipe Perica as the Balkan duo were facing two young Hapoel central defenders in Or Israelof and Stav Lemkin.
First Half
The Tel Aviv derby, in what has become an almost standard procedure, began with a barrage of flares and smoke grenades which were thrown onto the pitch immediately after kick-off causing a delay of several minutes. When the smoke finally cleared and visibility improved around 10 minutes later, referee Eitan Shmuelevic restarted the match.
The opening stages of the match were mostly at the centre of the pitch as tackles were flying thick and fast. Daniel Peretz seemed to be the busy keeper of the two as he was forced to stretch himself to keep out a dangerous Freddy Plumain header in the 11th minute following a Shlomi Azulay cross. Two minutes later at the opposite end Maccabi came close to break the deadlock as Avi Rikan cancelled Hapoel’s defence with a perfect dipping long ball into the path Djordje Jovanovic. The 22-year-old forward brought the ball down with a perfect first touch only to be denied by goalkeeper Bogdan Sarnavskyi who charged off his line to catch the Serb’s attempt of a chip.
Moments later, Dan Glazer stopped a Doron Leidner counter attack with a foul and consequently picked his 11th booking of the season. Azulay tried curling the resulting free kick but Peretz reacted well to catch the ball which was making its way into the top corner.
As the fourth official indicated 12 minutes of added time to the first half, Maccabi came close once again as Jovanovic rose high to meet Ofir Davidzada’s cross and send a header goal-bound. Sarnavskyi pulled a reflex save and needed to come to the rescue once again to keep out Stipe Perica’s rebound. Within a minute Hapoel were reduced to 10 men after Shai Elias was sent off following the intervention of VAR as he was spotted spitting at Enric Saborit.
Second Half
Mladen Krstajic made his first change after the interval as Matan Baltaxa replaced Davidzada at the restart. Maccabi’s claims for a penalty in the 51st minute after the ball struck Or Israelof’s hand inside the area were waved by Shmuelevic. But in the 56th minute the deadlock was finally broken at the end of a lethal Maccabi counter attack. Perica skipped past an Israelof tackle to charge down the right flank before sending a pinpoint cross towards Jovanovic who volleyed home giving Sarnavskyi no chance.
Avi Rikan forced a save from Hapoel’s keeper in the 59th minute as his low drive from the edge of the area was turned out for a corner. In the 63rd minute Krstajic made a double change as Andre Gerlades replaced the tired Shahar Piven while Gabi Kanichowsky came in for Eyal Golasa.
The dual between Jovanovic and Sarnavskyi continued in the 66th minute as the Serbian forward curled a surprising low drive that Hapoel’s keeper pushed out for another corner.
Avi Rikan flashed a low drive that almost doubled the score three minutes later. In the 63rd minute Krstajic made a double change as Andre Gerlades replaced the tired Shahar Piven while Gabi Kanichowsky came in for Eyal Golasa.
The dual between Jovanovic and Hapoel’s keeper continued in the 66th minute as the Serbian forward curled a surprising low drive from the edge of the area that Sarnavskyi pushed out for a corner.
Josue Sa should have opened his Maccabi account and double the lead on 69 as he found himself in an excellent position to score. The Portuguese central defender chested down a Saborit header following Rikan’s corner but sliced his shot wide of the post when it seemed easier to score. In the 72nd minute however, Bloomfield erupted once again as Rikan curled another corner which was spilled by Sarnavskyi into his net to double the score. Three minutes Rikan didn’t need any help from anyone. Oscar Gloukh exchanged passes with Saborit to break into the area and fire a shot which was blocked by an Hapoel defender before Rikan pounced onto the rebound and volleyed home Maccabi’s third and his second on the night. Krstajic made his fourth and fifth changes as Glazer and Gloukh bowed out and were replaced by Sheran Yeini and Eylon Almog on 76.
In the 80th minute Rikan added an assist to his brace. A counter attack which began with Almog reached the veteran midfielder who released Jovanovic with a perfectly timed pass. Jovanovic, lifted the ball over the keeper to score his second on the night and Maccabi’s fourth. The goal fest continued in the 85th minute with Almog playing an instrumental role as his accurate cross allowed Perica to join-in the celebration and seal the score at 5-0.
Maccabi ‘Shahar’ arrived at the Netanya stadium on the back of two successive defeats to Hapoel Be’ersheva and Bnei Sakhnin that saw them concede pole position in the table to Ashdod – the team they knocked out in the Semi Final. 
The second period was dominated by Petah Tikva’s attempts to cut the deficit and claw their way back into the game, while Maccabi tried increasing their lead. Rivera came close in the 66th minute but forced a save from Erlich before Tomer Alon denied Ariel Lugasi at the opposite end two minutes later.
