The victory takes Maccabi tally to 8th place in the table with 4 points, level with Maccabi Haifa, Bnei Sachnin and Beitar Jerusalem. Saturday’s opponents Hapoel Be’ersheva are ranked fourth with five points, while leaders Hapoel Nof Hagalil, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Haifa all have seven points.
Pre Match
Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the match against Maccabi Haifa needing a result to put an end to the indifferent start of the domestic season which saw them collect one point from a possible six. Despite a convincing European campaign that saw Maccabi begin the Conference League group stage with a 4-1 victory over Alashkert on Tuesday, in the league a defeat to Bnei Sachnin on an opening day was followed by a 1-1 draw against Maccabi Petah Tikva. For the visit of Haifa, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made a single change from the side that played on Tuesday. The defense remained unchanged as Idan Nachmias, Luis Hernandez, Andre Geraldes and Ofir Davidzada were the back-four assigned to protect Daniel Peretz in goal.
Sheran Yeini, making his 493rd appearance in all competitions for Maccabi to go level with Avi Nimni in fourth place of the all-time appearance record, led the team out with the captain’s armband. Yeini was joined by Dan Glazer at the heart of midfield with Dan Biton completing the midfield trio. Brandley Kuwas whose second half substitute appearance against Alashkert was his debut for Maccabi, was handed his first start and league debut. Gabi Knichowsky who scored his debut goal against the Armenians was named on the opposite wing with Stipe Perica leading Maccabi’s attack.
First Half
The electric atmosphere created by both sets of fans led to the kickoff being delayed as the visiting fans threw flares onto the pitch, one of which burnt a hole in the net. Once the game began, Maccabi started on the front foot with Brandley Kuwas breaking down the right flank before being brought down by Sun Menachem.
Haifa’s defence struggled to clear Dan Biton’s free kick which was curled into the danger zone allowing Idan Nachmias to tuck the ball home from the goalmouth. VAR had a look into the goal, but could find nothing wrong as Maccabi were infront after only three minutes. Maccabi continued to press and threaten to cause damage with crosses from the left, but none of the attempts to find Stipe Perica reached the tall Croat. In the 12th minute Haifa were awarded a free kick after Omer Atzili was fouled on the edge of the area which Tjaronn Cherry curled towards the top corner. But Daniel Peretz was at full stretch to pull a stunning save and deny Haifa an equaliser.
In the 25th minute Dan Glazer was the first player to be booked for a foul on Atzili who blasted his free kick against the wall from the edge of the area. Maccabi came close to double the score as Perica rose high to meet Gabi Kanichowsky’s cross into the area, but despite sending a powerful header which threatened to rocket in, Josh Cohen pulled a reflex save and push the ball out for a corner. Muhammad Abu Fani limped off and replaced at Haifa by Ali Mohamed on the half hour mark and less than a minute later the visitors were back on level terms through Sun Menachem.
The fourth official indicated 5 minutes of added time to the first half and less than sixty seconds later Sheran Yeini released Brandley Kuwas who blasted a left foot drive that Cohen could only punch put for a corner. From the resulting corner, Yeini was allowed a free header but sent the ball to the wrong side of the post. Maccabi continued to push forward and came close to restore the lead but Biton sent a weak shot that Cohen collected with ease.
Second Half
With no changes at halftime, Kuwas began the second half where he left off as in the 50th minute he blasted a powerful left foot drive that Cohen tipped over the bar. Dolev Haziza curled a shot that narrowly missed Peretz’s goal on 52. A minute later, Biton was given a chance to show his skills with a direct free kick which he curled wide.
In the 59th minute, Bloomfield stadium erupted as Yeini beat a Haifa defender with a close dribble inside the area before teeing-up Perica who sent his shot under Cohen to make it 3-1. Peretz pulled another stunning save to deny Haziza who sent a dangerous right foot shot from the corner of the area in the 73rd minute.
Yeini came close to score a goal himself as Luis Hernandez headed a ball across the area which the skipper chested down but had his shot deflected for a corner. Patrick van Leeuwen made his first change in the 80th minute as Avi Rikan replaced the tired Biton for the final 10 minutes. Yeini then received treatment for a head injury following a collision with Haifa’s Ori Dahan than left the skipper with a blue band on his head.
An exchange of passes between Kuwas and Perica in the 84th minute left Rikan with time and space to blast a shot which he sent narrowly wide of the target. Van Leeuwen made his second substitution as Eden Shamir replaced Yeini in the 88th mnute.
An exchange of passes between Kuwas and Perica in the 84th minute left Rikan with time and space to blast a shot which he sent narrowly wide of the target. Van Leeuwen made his second substitution as Eden Shamir replaced Yeini in the 88th mnute.
Inside injury time Kuwas bowed out to a standing ovation as he was replaced by Eylon Almog while Osama Khalaila came in for Perica.
Almog managed to get the ball in the back of the net which would have made it 3-1 hadn’t the referee canceled the goal and blown the full time whistle. But that didn’t dampen the celebrations at the end of the game as Maccabi recorded yet another league win over the bitter rival.
