Preview

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the final match of the season in a bid to end the 2021/22 campaign on a high with a victory over bitter city rivals Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby. With his team ranked third in the table with 66 points from 35 matches, one point adrift of Hapoel Be’ersheva, Maccabi’s coach Mladen Krstajic wanted to record the 20th league win of the season. After being held to a 1-1 draw at Bloomfield, Krstajic is aware of the fact that only a victory, together with Be’ersheva dropping points at home to Bnei Sakhnin could see Maccabi finish the season in the runners up spot.

Injuries and suspensions left Krstajic with a depleted squad forcing him to make changes as Eyal Golasa (yellow cards) and Matan Baltaxa (ankle) joined a list of absentees that already included Maor Kandil, Dan Biton and Josue Sa.

Daniel Peretz, kept his place in goal for the 36th time in the league as the young keeper became the only ever-present player this season. Shahar Piven returned to the heart of defence alongside Enric Saborit with Ofir Davidzada at left-back and Andre Geraldes completing the back-four on the right. Dan Glazer led the team out wearing the captain’s armband and with Eyal Golasa serving a one-match touchline ban, Gabi Kanichowsky and Oscar Gloukh completed the midfield-trio. Orel Baye, who made his league debut away to Maccabi Haifa was handed his debut start on the left wing. Eylon Almog whose goal against Be’ersheva was his first league goal of the season was named by Krstajic on the right wing.

Upfront, Djordje Jovanovic stepped-in for Stipe Perica aiming to add to the nine league goals he scored since joining Maccabi in January. On the bench, Krstajic named Daniel Tenenbaum, Idan Nachmias, Matan Hozez, Stipe Perica, Tal Ben Chaim, Eden Shamir, Osama Khalaila, Sheran Yeini and Avi Rikan.

First Half

As soon as the game kicked off, dozens of flares were thrown onto the pitch from both ends of the stadium forcing the game to be stopped. The thick and heavy smoke led to the police ordering the players off the pitch and back into the dressing rooms. When the smoke finally cleared, and the police completed picking-up all the left overs, play was resumed in the 17th minute. Two minutes after the restart, Djordje Jovanovic tested Ernestas Setkus with a long range effort which beat Hapoel’s keeper but curled just wide of the target.

At the opposite end, Freddy Plumain flashed a header wide of Daniel Peretz’s goal following a Shlomi Azulay cross in the 21^st minute. Setkus needed a double save two minutes later in order to keep-out Eylon Almog’s low left foot drive from the edge of the area before reacting quickly to deny Jovanovic’s rebound. In the 25^th minute, Hapoel’s Lithuanian keeper was at it again as he punched out for a corner another Jovanovic’s powerful shot.

Two minutes after the half hour mark, Hapoel’s captain Dan Einbinder was the first player to be booked by referee Orel Grinfeld for a rough challenge on Orel Baye. Oscar Gloukh carved himself an opening on 34 as he drove through the middle of Hapoel’s midfield before releasing a powerful shot which was equalled by Setkus.

Peretz was at full stretch to keep out an Osher Davida left foot shot following a cut-back by Doron Leidner before the Hapoel winger was booked for stopping Gloukh’s counter attack. The fourth official indicated 17 minutes of added time, and shortly after Baye was shown the yellow card for a foul on Shlomi Azulay.

On the stroke of halftime, Maccabi came close as Jovanovic and Ofir Davidzada combined well to release Baye who created the time and space by skipping past a Hapoel defender. But the 18-year-old who could have scored his senior debut goal released a weak shot which was caught by Setkus. Shortly after, Grinfeld blew the whistle for the end of the half that lasted just more than an hour.

Second Half

With no changes at the restart Maccabi began the second half where the first one left off – pressure on Hapoel in a bid to break the deadlock. Maccabi’s coach Mladen Krstajic made his first change in the 52nd minute as Avi Rikan replaced Baye adding a fresh pair of legs but also a wealth of experience.

A minute after the hour mark, the combination of Davidzada and Almog down the left released Gloukh but once again Setkus kept Hapoel’s goal sealed. Stipe Perica came-in for Gabi Kanichowsky on 65 as Krstajic made his second change adding more fire power as the tall Croat joined his Serbian teammate Jovanovic upfront.

It took the Balkan duo 10 minutes to break the deadlock as Maccabi finally took the lead in the 75th minute. Shahar Piven sent a long ball out of defence which was flicked by Jovanovic into the path of Perica who volleyed home the opener under Setkus and into the bottom far corner.

While Krstajic was ready to introduce Sheran Yeini, Matan Hozez and Tal Ben Chaim who were all waiting on the side-lines to come on – Maccabi doubled their lead. Gloukh released Jovanovic into the area in the 82^nd minute and as the Serbian striker was impeded in the box, Rikan pounced on the ball and from the tightest of angles scored the second. Gloukh, Almog and Jovanovic bowed out to a standing ovation by the delighted Yellow part of Bloomfield.

Yeini made his 30th appearance in Tel Aviv derbies to climb into second place of the all-time appearances in derbies above Benny Tabak and Avi Nimni. The 35-year-old Maccabi skipper who made his 519th competitive appearance for the club, is now 3 derbies short of equalling Miko Belo’s record of 33 Tel Aviv derbies. Grinfeld’s full-time whistle confirmed that Maccabi remain unbeaten in Tel Aviv derbies for the past 8 years.

Saturday’s Tel Aviv derby will be the 163^rd league encounter between Maccabi and Hapoel with Maccabi winning 58 matches, 58 matches drawn and 46 matches won by Hapoel.

Maccabi are unbeaten in the last 17 league derbies and 22 in all competitions. The total goals tally is 200-154 in Maccabi’s favor.

The 5-0 victory in the previous derby equaled the highest record which was achieved twice in the 1969/70 and 2016/17 seasons.

Sheran Yeini made 29 appearances in Tel Aviv derbies as he is currently ranked second in the all-time appearance charts alongside Avi Ninmi and Benny Tabak. Should Yeini feature in Saturday’s derby he will move will take the 35-year-old veteran captain within three appearances from Maccabi’s all time record holder Miko Belo.

Saturday’s derby will conclude Maccabi’s 70^th season since the State of Israel was founded. Maccabi’s all-time record on the final day of the season is currently: 36 victories, 11 draws and 22 defeats.

The Tel Aviv derby was played on the final day of the season in four occasions: 1955/56 (3-0 victory), 1958/59 (2-2 draw), 1960/61 (1-1 draw), 2006/07 (3-0 defeat).

Rafi Levy (2) and Yitzhak Nachmias scored for Maccabi in the 1955/56 season which was a direct battle for the league title.

The highest ever victory on the final day of the season was an 8-0 win over Beitar Tel Aviv in 1992/93.

Eylon Almog’s goal against Hapoel Be’ersheva on MD35 made him Maccabi’s 18^th goal-scorer in the league this season – an all-time record number for the club. This record number of goal scorers in one season saw Maccabi go level with Beitar Jerusalem (2006), Hapoel Tel Aviv (2014) and Hapoel Hadera (2019).

Besides goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, the only field players to feature in the league without scoring are Dan Glazer, Andre Geraldes, Ofir Davidzada, Eyal Golasa, Sheran Yeini, Shahar Piven, Josue Sa, Maor Kandil and Orel Baye. A goal by one of these players in the derby will set a new Israeli record for the numbers of different goal scorers.

 

 

Preview

Boosted by the 3-1 victory away to Maccabi Haifa last week, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the final home match of the season against Hapoel Be’ersheva. While Maccabi recorded two victories in succession over Maccabi Netanya (2-1) and Maccabi Haifa (3-1), Be’ersheva suffered three defeats on the bounce to Maccabi Netanya (3-0), Maccabi Haifa (1-0) and Hapoel Tel Aviv (2-1). As a result, Maccabi, moved within a point from Be’ersheva and could strengthen their claim to finish second in the event of a victory – with two matches still left to play.

Maccabi’s coach Mladen Krstajic made several changes from the side that won at Sammy Ofer as he kept his defence unchanged. Enric Saborit and Idan Nachmias lined-up right in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz with Andre Gerlades and Matan Baltaxa completing the back-four on the right and left respectively.

Dan Glazer who served his one-match touchline ban against Haifa, returned to the side and led the team out wearing the captain’s armband. Eyal Golasa kept his place in midfield while Oscar Gloukh who came off the bench to score against Netanya and Haifa returned to the midfield at the expense of Eden Shamir. Eylon Almog and Brandley Kuwas kept their places and were named by Krstajic on both wings in support of Croatian striker Stipe Perica who led the line.

Daniel Tenenbaum, Tal Ben Chaim, Gabi Kanichowsky, Eden Shamir, Avi Rikan, Ofir Davidzada, Shahar Piven, Orel Baye and Djordje Jovanovic were all named on the substitutes bench.

Prior to kickoff a ceremony took place as a tribute to former player Aaron Schoenfeld who scored 10 goals in 76 appearances at Maccabi winning 1 Championship, 2 Toto Cups and 1 Super Cup between 2017 and 2021.

First Half

Maccabi began the match on the front foot as Eyal Golasa tested Omri Glazer 90 seconds after the start with a low drive from the edge of the area which was equalled by Be’ersheva’s keeper. Two minutes later a Matan Baltaxa counter attack caught the visitors’ defence by surprise he sent a perfect cross towards Brandley Kuwas who should have tapped the ball home. Somehow, Kuwas’ weak effort was cleared off the line by Helder Loppez in what should have been the miss of the season, if the offside flag didn’t save the Curacao international the embarrassment. Nikita Rukavytsya was inches away from heading Be’ersheva into the lead at the opposite end as his header from point blank range narrowly missed the target. In the 15th minute however, Rukavytsya was shown a direct red card by referee Gal Leibovic for a reckless tackle on Baltaxa’s ankle. Be’ersheva were left with 10 men while Mladen Krstajic was forced to make a change as Baltaxa limped off with an ankle injury and was replaced by Shahar Piven. In the 24th minute, Eyal Golasa beat two Be’ersheva players on the edge of the area before teeing-up Enric Saborit whose left foot shot sailed over the crossbar.

Saborit continued to pose a threat down the left flank as his telling cross towards Stipe Perica rolled across the face of Be’ersheva’s goal with the Croatian striker failing to make contact. A minute later, Saborit struck a shot with his right foot that deflected off a defender before Glazer collected with ease.

Three minutes after the half hour mark Be’ersheva’s keeper needed a double save to take the sting out of Perica’s powerful shot from outside the area. Two minutes later Golasa released Oscar Gloukh into Be’ersheva’s penalty box with a clever flick but the youngster’s shot found Glazer ready.

Kuwas tried his luck in the 43rd minute, but once again Glazer came to Be’ersheva’s rescue as he pushed the ball out. A goalmouth scramble inside injury time saw Perica denied by Be’ersheva’s defence before Idan Nachmias’ effort was cleared for a corner. The deadlock was finally broken shortly after as Kuwas curled the resulting corner and Eylon Almog rose high to head in the opener.

Second Half

While Krstajic made no changes after the break, his Be’ersheva counterpart, Elyaniv Barda, made a double change of his own at the restart as Sagiv Yehezkel and Danilo Asprilla replaced both Ramzi Safuri and Eugene Ansah.

Maccabi came close to double their lead on 49 as Gloukh found Saborit inside the area but the Spaniard sent his volley onto the roof of the net. Andre Geraldes, who didn’t score a goal in 3 years at Maccabi, almost scored his debut goal in the 52^nd minute but the Portuguese full-back flashed a volley wide of the post.

Krstajic made three changes on the hour mark as he introduced Avi Rikan for Kuwas, Tal Ben Chaim replaced Almog and Djordje Jovanovic came-in for Perica.

Golasa received a standing ovation from the majority of the 14,762 fans as he was replaced in the 72^nd minute by Gabi Kanichowsky for Maccabi’s fifth and final substitution. Jovanovic looked lively as the Serbian striker curled a shot which narrowly missed the frame of the goal as Maccabi looked destined to score the second. But in the 75th minute and against the run of play Be’ersheva were back on level terms as Miguel Vitor headed a corner that beat Daniel Peretz to make it 1-1.

In the 80th minute three of Maccabi’s substitutes combined well to create a great chance as Jovanovic released Kanichowsky whose cut-back was fired by Rikan wide of the post. Nachmias should have scored less than a minute later as the central found himself right in front of goal, but he lost his footing and didn’t manage to connect. Despite five minutes of added time, and amid Maccabi’s desperate attempts to score a late winner, Be’ersheva managed to hang onto the draw.

The point gained kept Maccabi in third spot with 66 points, one adrift of Hapoel Be’ersheva. On the eve of the final league round, Maccabi are still in with a chance to finish the season in second place but their fate are no longer in their hands. A victory in Saturday’s Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel at Bloomfield together with Be’ersheva dropping points against Bnei Sakhnin at Turner could see Maccabi finish in the runners up spot.

Eylon Almog didn’t hide his disappointment that his debut league goal against Hapoel Be’ersheva wasn’t enough to earn Maccabi three valuable points. “we had so many good chances to kill off this match, way before the goal we conceded, but this happens in footbal” he said. “We paid the price for the chances we missed, they were reduced to 10 men, and we should have finished off the chances we created but we didn’t score and then we conceded. We wanted to win this game but it didn’t happen and we have to move on. Now we have a tough game ahead of us as everyone knows what is a derby”.

While Maccabi suffered a blow in their bid to finish second, the race for the runners up spot will go to wire as Almog admitted: “We have a derby before us and everyone at Maccabi knows the meaning of a derby. We want to do our job, win the derby and see if results elsewhere would go in our favour”.