Pre Game

Three days after suffering a painful 1-0 defeat to Hapoel Be’ersheva at Turner stadium in the league, Maccabi return to Bloomfield stadium for the State Cup Semi Final against the same opponents.

Maccabi’s coach Mladen Krstajic made no less than six changes from the side that was beaten in Be’ersheva as Daniel Tenenbaum, who played in most of the State Cup ties of this campaign, replaced Daniel Peretz in goal. Idan Nachmias also returned to the side as he replaced Josue Sa to partner Enric Saborit at the heart of defence. Matan Baltaxa was named at left-back in place of Ofir Davidzada with Shahar Piven keeping his place on the right to complete the back-four.

Dan Glazer, who served his one match suspension against Be’ersheva and Gabi Kanichowsky who recovered from a shoulder injury that limited them both to spectators role at Turner, the returned to Maccabi’s midfield. 18-year-old Oscar Gloukh kept his place while veteran midfielder Avi Rikan who scored a vital spectacular equaliser in the Cup against Kiryat Shmona was also drafted in to add more experience. Upfront Krstajic stuck with Djordje Jovanovic and Stipe Perica hoping to get more from his Balkan striking duo.

With Tal Ben Chaim withdrawing in the last minute due to a back injury, Krstajic welcomed back into the squad Dan Biton who recovered from his ankle injury.

On the bench behind him, Krstajic named Daniel Peretz, Matan Hozez, Dan Biton, Brandley Kuwas, Eden Shamir, Sheran Yeini, Eyal Golasa, Ofir Davidzada and Josue Sa all waiting for a chance to make an impact.

First Half

The match began with frantic pace as Maccabi were desperate to stamp their authority putting Be’ersheva’s midfield under pressure right from the off. Seven minutes from the start Maccabi took the lead after an Oscar Gloukh had his initial shit blocked by Miguel Vitor before Djordje Jovanovic sent the rebound into the bottom far corner.

Gloukh could have doubled Maccabi’s lead two minutes later as Shahar Piven carved Be’ersheva’s defence open with a pass to Avi Rikan whose square ball reached Gloukh. But with only the keeper to beat in a comfortable position to score, the youngster miscued his shot which rolled wide of the target. A last gasp Matan Baltaxa tackle on Eugene Ansah in the 11th minute prevented there forward from pausing a threat on Daniel Tenenbaum’s goal.

Gloukh’s trickery on the edge of Be’ersheva’s penalty area saw the diminutive youngster create the time and space as he danced past two defenders but his shot wasn’t powerful enough to bea Omri Glazer who collected with ease. Five minutes later however, Be’ersheva were back on level terms as an Andre Martins cross was knocked down for Mariano Barriero who slotted home from close range.

In the 41st minute Be’ersheva completed their comeback as what began as a Maccabi corner resulted with a counter attack at the opposite end which saw Eugene Ansah shrugg off Gabi Kanichowsky and charge half the length of the pitch to beat Tenenbaum.

Hatem Elhamid was booked for a rough challenge on Gloukh on the stroke of halftime. Kanichowsky, floated the resulting free kick into the area before Enric Saborit headed towards goal only for Glazer to collect once again.

Second Half

With no changes at the interval, the second half began with a Tenenbaum save following a Roei Gordana shot a minute after the restart. Gloukh continued to look dangerous as he blasted a shot from outside the area that cleared the crossbar in the 52nd minute.

Matan Baltaxa was booked by Reinshrieber for a mistimed tackle on Andre Martins in the 55th minute before Eyad Abu Abid headed the resulting free kick onto the roof of the net.

Be’ersheva’s coach introduced Rotem Hatuel and Or Dadia for Ansah and Elhamid right on the hour mark. Three minutes later Krstajic reacted with three changes of his own as Ofir Davidzada replaced Baltaxa, Brandley Kuwas came-in for Kanichowsky while Dan Biton replaced Rikan. Be’ersheva’s changes paid off in the 66th minute as Hatuel sent a header which bounced on the ground to go in off the post to make it 3-1.

Biton flashed a left foot shot that was deflected wide of the post and out for a corner on 68, three minutes before Krastajic made his fourth change as Eyal Golasa replaced Gloukh. Jovanovic headed a Dan Glazer cross over in the 72nd as Be’ersheva defended deep leaving most of the pitch for Maccabi’s players. Matan Hozez replaced Piven in the 81st minute as Krstajic made his fifth and final change for the closing stages.

Tenembaum made a reflex save to deny Ramzi Safuri’s powerful right foot shot while at the opposite end Jovanovic was booked for a tackle on Omri Glazer. As Reinshreiber stopped twice following missiles that were thrown from Maccabi’s stands, the fourth official indicated 10 minutes of added time.

Wednesday’s State Cup Semi Final will be the 50^th time Maccabi play in this stage out of 85 years in the competitions’ history. Maccabi, advanced from that stage on 37 attempts and holds the record appearances in both the State Cup Semi Final and Final.

Maccabi failed to advance from the Semi Finals in two of the previous 16 attempts (Hapoel Ramat Gan 2003 and Bnei Yehuda 2019).

Hapoel Be’ersheva, met Maccabi once in the Semi Final (1962) and recorded a 3-0 victory at the Katamon stadium in Jerusalem. This was the first ever meeting with Be’ersheva in the history.

Overall Maccabi met Be’ersheva in the Cup on 8 occasions with Maccabi winning 7 of the ties. The only time Be’ersheva beat Maccabi in the Cup was in the final of 1997 (1-0).

The second time Maccabi faced Be’ersheva in the Cup Final was in 2015 which resulted in a memorable 6-2 victory.

Maccabi played Be’ersheva twice in the past in less than a week. In 1986, the league on Saturday ended with a 0-0 draw while three days later Maccabi lost 2-1 in a Toto Cup Semi Final.

In August 2020 both sides met twice in the space of five days in the Super Cup as Maccabi won both legs 2-0 to clinch the title.

The record number of goals by a player in the Semi Finals was scored by Rafi Levy during the 6-0 victory over Shimshon Tel Aviv in 1958.

Miko Belo played 12 times in the Semi Finals and is the player who made the most appearances at this stage.

Maccabi reached a penalty shoot-out six times in the Semi Finals advancing through on 4 occasions.

The security situation last year forced the relocation of the Semi Finals from Bloomfield stadium to Sammy Ofer.

Last time Bloomfield stadium staged a State Cup Semi Final in 1996. Nir Klinger and Itzik Zohar scored the goals on the way to a 2-1 Semi Final victory over Maccabi Haifa on the way to a memorable double in 1995/96.

Dan Glazer, who missed Sunday’s league defeat at Be’ersheva as he served a one-match-touchline-ban was asked about Maccabi’s ability in a game he was a spectator, said: “There is no doubt that we didn’t have a good game and we spoke about it after the match. We didn’t show up but the best thing about football is that one can always correct things. Tomorrow we have an important match, we will have to show much better football and correct the impression from the previous game”.

The 25-year-old added: “Be’ersheva played better, they also didn’t have the best of games” he added: “We analysed the game, the coach explained to us what worked and what didn’t. The aggressiveness, the attitude and the energies are things we should bring in 200 percent. This is what wins big matches – aggressiveness and attitude, so hopefully we will do it tomorrow”.

1991/92: Maccabi Tel Aviv 4:2 Maccabi Haifa
Let’s open up with a game that may not have gone down as one of the most famous semifinals in history but it was one of the best of the 1990’s. 6 goals, Maccabi Haifa and 90 minutes of crazy football. Watch:

Continue to the next great moment

Preview

Maccabi travelled to Turner stadium for the league match against Hapoel Be’ersheva on the back of last week’s disappointing injury-time equaliser that ended all championship aspirations. Three days before both sides meet at Bloomfield stadium for the State Cup Semi Final, Maccabi that are three points behind Be’ersheva in the table have still plenty to play for. Mladen Krstajic made three changes from the side that was held to a 1-1 by Maccabi Haifa as suspensions and injuries forced the Serbian coach to shuffle his starting line-up.

Josue Sa kept his place alongside Enric Saborit as the two central defenders in-front of goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, with Shahar Piven and Ofir Davidzada completing the back-four on the right and left respectively.

With Dan Glazer serving a one-match-touchline-ban, veteran skipper Sheran Yeini led the team with the captain’s armband at the anchor-man role. Having suffered a shoulder injury against Haifa last week, Gabi Kanichowsky, was left out of the squad in order to give him some time to recover. After celebrating his senior league debut with a goal against Haifa, Oscar Gloukh, lined-up alongside Yeini at the heart of midfield. Matan Hozez and Tal Ben Chaim were named as the two wide men in a four-man midfield with Djordje Jovanovic and Stipe Perica spearheading Maccabi’s attack.

Daniel Tenenbaum, Matan Baltaxa, Idan Nachmias, Brandley Kuwas, Eden Shamir, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Andre Geraldes and Eylon Almog were named on the substitutes bench waiting for a chance to make an impact.

First Half

In front of an almost packed Turner stadium, the hosts were the dominant side in the opening stages of the game putting pressure on Maccabi’s defence. Shahar Piven, starting at right-back was the first player to be booked by referee David Fuxman following a foul in the 11^th minute on Be’ersheva’s Rotem Hatuel.

With Matan Hozez on the right and Tal Ben Chaim on the left Maccabi looked lively down the wings and tried supplying ammunition for Stipe Perica and Djordje Jovanovic upfront. In the 17th minute Hozez charged past Mariano Bariero who tugged his shirt and was consequently booked as well. In the 22nd minute, a long Piven ball over the top of Be’ersheva’s defence released Jovanovic but goalkeeper Omri Glazer charged out of his area and cleared the danger before the Serbian forward could have a shot on goal.

A minute later at the opposite end Be’ersheva charged for a counter attack that left Danilo Asprilla clear inside the area. But a last gasp Enric Saborit tackle denied the Colombian forward whose effort went high and wide. In the 26th minute however the hosts took the lead from a Helder Lopez cross that appeared to have deflected off Piven to beat Daniel Peretz at the far post.

In the 39th minute Peretz was at full stretch to push out a Roei Gordana dangerous drive before Piven cleared the rebound. Within a minute Peretz was at it again as his good positioning on his goal-line helped him catch Asprilla’s close range header.

Fuxman’s halftime whistle sent both teams into the dressing room, but for Mladen Krstajic the interval couldn’t have come any faster as it was clear that Maccabi’s Serbian coach will need to make some changes.

Second Half

Krstajic made no less than three changes at the restart as Avi Rikan replaced Piven, Matan Baltaxa came in for Ofir Davidzada while Eden Shamir replaced Sheran Yeini. The changes in personnel were not the only ones Krstajic made as he reverted to a 3-5-2 formation with Baltaxa joining Saborit and Josue Sa at the back while Hozez and Ben Chaim switched to wing-back roles on the left and right respectively.

Good work by Hozez down the flank in the 55^th minute gifted Perica the ball on the edge of the area only for the Croatian striker to waste the chance as he shot over. Perica was booked for a foul on Gordana in the 59th minute as that was his final contribution before being replaced moments later by Brandley Kuwas.

In the 71^st minute Idan Nachmias replaced Sa who limped off with an injury as Krstajic made his fifth and final change. Jovanovic snapped a shot in the 78th minute which was caught by Glazer while Rikan sent a powerful effort from the corner of the area that shaved the crossbar and landed on the roof of the net two minutes later.

In the 85th minute Oscar Gloukh released Hozez into the penalty area before the winger’s shot was blocked by Glazer. After the fourth official signalled four minutes of added time Maccabi were awarded two corners as Peretz even came up for one of them only to head over the bar as it was clearly not Maccabi’s night.
The defeat, the 6^th of the season and first since January, kept them on 56 points from 30 matches – six behind Be’ersheva and 13 from the top.  

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