Pre Match

Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at the Sammy Ofer stadium ranked fourth in the table with 25 points from 15 matches and 10 points behind second place Maccabi Haifa. An extra ordinary statistic of a solitary defeat in the last 33 league encounters between the sides and an unbeaten run of 18 matches in succession – is something Maccabi brought with them. But history was left at the stadium’s gates for one of the biggest matches of the Israeli footballing calendar.

Mladen Krstajic who guided Maccabi as coach to a State Cup victory over Hapoel Marmorek, a 1-1 draw in the league against Bnei Sakhnin followed by a 2-1 victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva last week, was facing his first big match since his appointment at Maccabi last month.

The Serbian coach made a couple of changes from the side which beat Petah Tikva as he stuck with a similar formation naming Enric Saborit, Idan Nachmias and Matan Baltaxa as the three central defenders in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Maor Kandil was handed a rare start as the right wing-back at the expense of Andre Geraldes while Ofir Davidzada was named on the opposite flank. Dan Glazer led the team out with the captain’s armband as the combative midfielder lined-up alongside Eden Shamir in the midfield engine room. Eylon Almog who set-up two goals against Petah Tikva kept his place in the side, as did Matan Hozez and Eduardo Guerrero who led the attack.

Dan Biton who recovered from illness and Osama Khalaila who completed his one-match touchline-ban returned to the squad and were named amongst the substitutes waiting for their chance alongside Andre Geraldes, Brandley Kuwas, Stipe Perica, Tal Ben Chaim, Gabi Kanichowsky, Eyal Golasa and Daniel Tenenbaum.

First Half

The electric atmosphere didn’t seem to faze Maccabi as Mladen Krstajic’s charges who were supported by a vocal 4000 traveling fans, began the match with pressure on Haifa right from the off. Eduardo Guerrero won a corner in the opening minute and as Matan Hozez whipped the ball into the path of Eden Shamir, it came off the head of Dolev Haziza to beat his own keeper and put Maccabi in front. Shamir was the first player to be booked by referee Liran Liani in the 4th minute and Enric Saborit followed eight minutes later as tempers seemed to flair.

In the 15th minute however Shamir didn’t require assistance from any Haifa player as he won the ball on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area, turned and unleashed a thunderbolt that rocketed into the top corner to double Maccabi’s lead.

Haifa began to show their qualities from set pieces as Shaun Goldberg headed an Omer Atzili free kick that beat Daniel Peretz but struck the post in the 20^th minute. Matan Baltaxa was then forced to a goalmouth clearance in order to keep out Bogdan Planjic’s rebound and maintain Maccabi’s two goal lead.

With the hosts enjoying most of the possession, Maccabi continued to look dangerous on counter attacks. In the 25th minute a clever Maor Kandil pass released Hozez whose square ball towards Eduardo Guerrero saw the Panamanian forward flick the ball but force Josh Cohen to a spectacular save. Peretz was drawn into the action on the half hour mark as he punched out an Ali Mohamed volley following another Haifa free kick that was initially blocked. Maccabi’s defence marshalled by Idan Nachmias, Matan Bamtaxa and Saborit managed to hang on to their lead despite Haifa’s pressure towards the end of the half.

Second Half

With no changes to either side at the break, both teams emerged after the interval for another action packed 45 minutes. Mohamad Abu Fani blasted a shot that sailed over Peretz’s crossbar on 47 before the Maccabi custodian needed a double save to deny Dein David shortly after.

Eylon Almog limped off with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Gabi Kanichowsky in the 55th minute. Haifa had the ball in the back of the net on 63 as David slid the ball past Peretz only to be denied by the offside flag. Krstajic reacted instantly with a double change as Stipe Perica and Tal Ben Chaim replaced Guerrero and Hozez.

Having changed all his forward line, Krstajic was now forced to make changes at the back as Matan Baltaxa was stretchered off in the 73rd minute with an injury and was about to be replaced by Andre Geraldes. But as the Portuguese defender waited on the side-lines for the nod to get in, Ben Chaim was fouled by Ryan Strain and Liani awarded Maccabi a spot kick. VAR intervened and cancelled Liani’s initial decision and awarded Maccabi a free kick on the edge of the area which Kanichowsky fired straight at the keeper.

Boosted by the fact the penalty was cancelled, the Haifaites got back in the game almost instantly. Substitute Godsway Donyoh fed Tjaronn Cherry who sent a low shot past Peretz to cut the deficit on 77. Within two minutes Haifa were back on level terms as Omer Atzili released Donyoh into the area as he shrugged off a Nachmias challenge before scoring Haifa’s second to the delight of the home fans.

In the 87th minute Haifa completed their comeback as Shamir fell injured inside the area before Cherry’s chip released Atzili whose square ball was turned in by David to make it 3-2.

Despite seven minutes of added time, Maccabi couldn’t find a breakthrough as Haifa managed to hang onto their lead until the final whistle ended the encounter and the unbeaten run.

The league match played more than any other

Maccabi met Maccabi Haifa 168 times in the league – as this match was played more than any other league fixture. Maccabi won 70 matches, Haifa won 48 and 50 matches were drawn with a total goal tally of 244-208.

Since the 2013/14 season eight matches took place between Maccabi and Haifa in the second league round. Maccabi won seven of those matches and another match was drawn (A 2-2 draw in 2016/17 at Sammy Ofer).

Maccabi currently holds a run of 18 unbeaten league matches against Haifa. Since January 2017 Maccabi won 12 league matches while 6 others were drawn.

This is Maccabi’s second longest run against any opponents, three matches short of the longest run of 21 unbeaten matches against Hapoel Be’ersheva which was set at the start of the new Millennium.

Since moving from Kiryat Eliezer to Sammy Ofer, Haifa hosted Maccabi for 13 league encounters. Of those 13 league matches Maccabi won 7, drawn 6 and lost 0 with a 69.2% success rate.

Kicking-off 2022

Ever-since Israel proclaimed its’ independence Maccabi started a new colander year with 66 league matches, 4 Toto Cup matches and 3 State Cup matches.

This will be the fifth time in the history that Maccabi begins a calendar year with a league match against Maccabi Haifa. Maccabi Petah Tikva (7) and Maccabi Netanya (6) met Maccabi more times as the first match of the calendar year.

Four previous league encounter against Haifa at the start of the year:

January 5^th 1952 – 7-0 victory at the Maccabiah stadium

January 3rd 2011 – 3-0 defeat at Kiryat Eliezer stadium.

January 6^th 2014 – 3-1 victory at Bloomfield stadium.

January 6^th 2020 – 4-3 victory at Sammy Ofer stadium.

Liran Liani will officiate the match against Maccabi Haifa for the fifth time in his career. The 44-year-old referee oversaw 3 Maccabi victories (2012/13, 2018/19 and 2019/20) with another match ending in a draw (2015/16).

 

 

The 25-year-old forward who scored his debut league goal against Maccabi Petah Tikva last week, said: “Obviously this is not just another game. It’s a match of the season and everyone knows the importance and arrive prepared accordingly. We are all excited and know how important this match is for both clubs”.

On the match-up against the in-form Haifaites, Hozez added: “There is no doubt they are in good form and playing well, but I think at matches like these all these things are neutralised. Both teams arrive more or less on level terms. I don’t think it will make us feel any less than them. We know what we are worth and what are our targets, we will arrive at this game to play like a big team”

After a relatively successful December that included 3 goals, led to you voting for Tal Ben Chaim as Maccabi’s KOPELL Group sponsored Player of the Month.

The 32-year-old forward clinched most of the votes in the survey ahead of Gabi Kanichowsky and Eden Shamir who finished second and third respectively