Pre Game

Still licking their wounds following the disappointing dramatic defeat at Haifa, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the match against Hapoel Be’ersheva 15 points adrift of the league leaders. Maccabi’s coach Mladen Krstajic who was missing several players through illness, injury and suspension was forced to make changes to his side against Be’ersheva who arrived at Bloomfield with an unbeaten record in 16 league matches. Eylon Almog, who limped off with an injury against Haifa and Eduardo Guerrero who was handed a two-match suspension by the IFA Disciplinary court, joined an already long list of absentees which included Luis Hernandez, Shahar Piven, Sheran Yeini and the latest addition of Eyal Golasa.

Daniel Peretz, who despite conceding three second half goals against Haifa had an overall good performance to keep his place in goal. Krstajic returned to a four-man defensive line as Matan Baltaxa and Idan Nachmias lined-up right in front of Peretz while Andre Geraldes replaced Maor Kandil and returned to the right-back position. Enric Saborit, who played against Petah Tikva and Haifa as a central defender, returned to his regular role at left-back. Dan Glazer led the team out once again wearing the captain’s armband as he teamed-up with Eden Shamir in the midfield engine room. Shamir, who scored a wonder goal against Haifa that came back-to-back with his goal away to Maccabi Petah Tikva – will seek a third goal in a row this time in front of the home fans. Gabi Kanichowsky returned to the side and completed the midfield trio with Tal Ben Chaim and Matan Hozez on both wings. Osama Khalaila who returned to the squad against Haifa after completing his one match suspension, was handed a rare start upfront as he led the line ahead of Stipe Perica. The Croatian striker as well as Brandley Kuwas, Avi Rikan, Maor Kandil, Dan Biton, Ido Shahar and Ronen Hanzis all waited for their chance to make an impact from the substitutes bench.

First Half

Prior to kickoff a minute of applauds was held in memory of Shlomo Gerbi who played for Maccabi in the late 60’s and 70’s and passed away last week.
Maccabi began the match with composure as Mladen Krstajic’s formation seemed to have surprised his Be’ersheva counterpart.

The visitors had the first shot at goal as David Petruzzi’s shot in the fourth minute was equalled by Daniel Peretz. A minute later Petruzzi almost turned provider as his square ball was volleyed wide by Sagiv Yehezkel. Maccabi’s first serious attack resulted with a Matan Hozez shot that struck the side netting in the seventh minute. Be’ersheva’s captain, Miguel Vitor, went into the referee’s book for a foul on Dan Glazer on 13 as tackles were flying all over.

Maccabi’s first shot on target came in the 28th minute as Enric Saborit blasted a powerful left foot shot that was caught by Omri Glazer. Hozez curled a left foot shot from the edge of the area that went wide on 33. Maccabi’s claims for a penalty following a tug of shirt on Matan Baltaxa in the 37th minute were waved by the referee and the VAR. On the stroke of halftime a Hozez cross reached Eden Shamir inside the area, but his attempt of an overhead kick went straight into the hands of Glazer.

Second Half

While Krstajic stuck with the same team, Roni Levy made one change as Eugene Ansah came on for Yehezkel at the restart. Baltaxa flashed a header wide of the post in the 50th minute following a corner.

Daniel Peretz kept Maccabi in the game as gr pulled a stunning save to deny Nikita Rukavytsya who broke clear through in the 58th minute. A minute later at the opposite end Saborit blasted a left foot shot that dipped before Glazer managed to catch on his line. Eden Shamir forced Glazer to fingertip save right on the hour mark to keep out the midfielders powerful drive.

Osama Khalaila carried a counter attack in the 63rd minute and sent a perfect cross into the dangerzone only for Hozez to miss it with his attempt of a diving header. Two minutes later Khalaila was rewarded for his efforts as a Kanichowsky shot deflected off his body to wrongfoot Glazer and break the deadlock.

Krstajic made a double substitution in the 70th minute as Khalaila and Ben Chaim bowed out to a standing ovation and were replaced by Stipe Perica and Dan Biton. 

Biton fired a free kick against the wall after Kanichowsky was fouled in the 75th minute before Hozez forced Glazer to push his free kick over the crossbar three minutes later. Saborit came close to double the score in the 85th minute but the Spanish left back who ghosted behind Be’ersheva’s defence, headed Biton’s pinpoint cross wide of the target. Avi Rikan replaced Hozez in the 88th minute as Krstajic made his third change and added an experienced head and a fresh pair of legs for the closing stages.

Kanichowsky was also given a standing ovation by the majority of the 21,311 fans as he came off inside injury time for Brandley Kuwas shortly before the final whistle was sounded.

Tal Ben Chaim admitted that Monday’s dramatic defeat to Maccabi Haifa was the toughest of his footballing career, but remained adamant that the team will have to bounce back against the top of the table side. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit of Be’ersheva to Bloomfield, Ben Chaim said: “With all the hardships and there were massive hardships here, we need to pick ourselves up. We are facing an extremely tough home match against Be’ersheva who so far had an amazing season” Ben Chaim said. “I believe that once again Be’ersheva are favourites for this game which is a scenario I never believed could happen – that other teams would be favourites against us at Bloomfield. I think this feeling alone should give us the extra motivation we need in order to turn up and win this game”.

With Maccabi ranked fourth with 25, Be’ersheva’s unbeaten run of 16 league matches places them top with 40 points a fact that Ben Chaim acknowledged: “There season so far is nothing short of monstrous, but we will be super prepared, respect our opponents like we do with every opponent and needless to say will do our maximum to win this match”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv left the Sammy Ofer stadium tonight (Monday) with a 3-2 defeat to Maccabi Haifa that completed a three-goal comeback.

At the end of the match Glazer said: “I am struggling to explain what happened, it is an extremely tough moment for me and the team. It is not a simple situation right now, but we were together in the good times and we will stick together and emerge stronger”.

When asked to explain how the team conceded a two goal lead in the second half, Glazer replied: “It wasn’t complacency or naivety, but it is hard to explain or find the reason so close to the match. There are plenty of emotions at the moment in the dressing room, but we will analyse the game and the less successful moments. Maccabi Haifa deserve credit as they played very well in the 10 minutes which led them to the victory, We will emerge stronger and together will come out of this”.

“Our facial expressions tell the story” Eden Shamir said. The midfielder who scored his debut league goal for Maccabi against Maccabi Petah Tikva and added a wonder goal against Haifa, added: “I would have loved to have stood here and talk about the goal, but on Saturday we already have an extremely tough match at home against Hapoel Be’ersheva. We will not raise our hands in defeat but will try and correct what needs to be done. I hope we learn from what happened here tonight, certainly in the final 20 minutes and come prepared for Saturday”.

 

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.