Pregame

Three days after being held to a 1-1 draw by Ashdod at Bloomfield, both sides lined-up against each other in the Quarter Finals of the State Cup. With a ticket in the Semi Final at stake, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made several changes to his starting line-up. Eytan Tibi stepped-in for Matan Baltaxa as the partner of Louis Hernandez at the heart of defense that other than that remained unchanged. Eden Karzev and Dan Glazer returned to the heart of midfield to partner Dor Peretz as the midfield trio.

Eduardo Guerrero who made a second half substitute appearance against Ashdod returned to the front-line on one wing as did Tal Ben Chaim and Nick Blackman who were both rested on Sunday. Aleksandar Pesic, Matan Hozez, Avi Rikan and Sheran Yeini all dropped to the bench waiting for their chance to make an impact alongside Etey Shechter and Ofir Davidzada.

First Half

Maccabi began the match with pressure on Ashdod right from the off but despite the fact most of the play was in the home side’s half, Yoav Geraffi wasn’t required to do much. Eduardo Guerrero looked lively down the right flank but a cross he sent in couldn’t find the heads of Tal Ben Chaim or Nick Blackman.

Ashdod were forced to make a change early in the game as Timothy Awani was stretchered off and replaced by Omri Ben Harush on 27. Dor Peretz came close with a flying close range header on the stroke of halftime following another Guerrero cross, but Geraffi pulled a spectacular save which wouldn’t have counted anyway as the midfielder was deemed to have been offside.

Second Half

Van Leeuwen made his first substitution after the interval as Sheran Yeini replaced Dan Glazer for the restart. Ashdod on the other hand made the same change they did at Bloomfield on Sunday as Ya’acov Brihon came in this time for Moussa Bagayoko.

In the 52nd minute Maccabi launched a counter attack that resulted with Ben Chaim breaking through being fouled on the edge of the area by Tom Ben Zaken. Peretz stepped-up to take the free kick which he powerfully side-footed low only to be deflected past Geraffi and break the deadlock.

Aleksandar Pesic and Yonatan Cohen came-in for Blackman and Ben Chaim right on the hour mark as Van Leeuwen added more firepower upfront.

Five minutes later, Cohen sent a cross which rolled across the face of goal with Guerrero launching himself to try and push the ball home but the Panamanian forward couldn’t connect. An Enric Saborit cross was headed towards goal by Peretz forcing Geraffi to stretch himself and deny Maccabi a second goal.

Van Leeuwen made his two last changes as Avi Rikan and Matan Hozez replaced the industrious Karzev and the tired Guerero for the final 12 minutes. Yeini fired a left foot shot from the edge of the area that crept to the wrong side of Geraffi’s post on 82. Hozez who just came in, pulled his hamstring yet remained on the pitch in-order not to leave the team to fight with 10 men for the closing stages. The injury gave way as Hozez couldn’t continue and was stretchered off before the referee indicated 6 minutes of added time.

Ashdod tried everything in a desperate bid to clinch a late equaliser but Maccabi defended bravely until Idan Leiba’s full time whistle that secured Maccabi’s place in the Semi Finals.

Karzev, who was introduced as a second half substitute during the 1-1 draw against Ashdod at Bloomfield on Sunday, said ahead of Wednesday’s Cup match:

“We needed a short while to clear our heads. We stopped, put everything aside, and now we are preparing for the match and waiting for it to start” Karzev said. “There is no room for corrections in the Cup, we need to win and and try and secure the victory as early as possible in the game. I really hope we do so and I trust my teammates and the staff that we will complete the task at hand”.

Pre Match

Going into the game with a two-point deficit from the top, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made several changes from the side that beat Maccabi Petah Tikva last week for the visit of Ashdod.

Matan Baltaxa returned to the starting line-up as the partner of Louis Hernandez at the heart of defense. Avi Rikan stepped-in for Eden Kartzev in midfield alongside Sheran Yeini and Dor Peretz.

Eduardo Gurrero whose brace helped Maccabi beat Petah Tikva 3-1, dropped to the bench and was replaced by Matan Hozez while Eylon Almog replaced Tal Ben Chaim. Aleksandar Pesic kept his place as the Serbian striker led the attack once again.

Shortly before kickoff a ceremony took place on the pitch as a tribute to the Championship winning class of 91/92.

First Half

The fact Ashdod were missing several key players as well as their coach Ran Ben Shimon who was serving a one-match-touchline-ban didn’t have any effect on the visitors who began the match on the front foot.

 

Four minutes from the start Ashdod came close to draw first blood as Hamoudi Kna’an led a counter attack before sliding the ball to Hayford Adjei who shot wide. Daniel Tenenbaum was forced to a fingertip save to deny Ramzi Safuri’s powerful shot following a short Ashdod corner.

It took Maccabi several minutes to get back in the game as Matan Hozez and Enric Saborit both sent telling crosses across the face of Ashdod’s goal. Yet neither Aleksandar Pesic nor Avi Rikan could get on the back of those crosses to launch a threat on goal. Sheran Yeini couldn’t keep his shot as the ball comfortably fell for him on the edge of Ashdod’s area. Saborit tried his luck from a tight angle but his shot narrowly missed the target. Ashdod’s keeper Yoav Gerrafi pulled a stunning save to deny Louis Hernandez before Pesic shot over the crossbar and wasted a good chance.

 

Second Half

Two minutes after the interval, Ya’acov Brihon who was introduced at the restart, exploited a mix up in Maccabi’s defense to break into the area and curl a shot into the bottom far corner and beyond the reach of Tenenbaum.

The Brazilian born custodian kept Maccabi in the game as he pulled two stunning saves in the space of one minute. Tenebaum first pushed out Nenad Cvetkovic’s powerful close-range-header before stretching himself to keep out Safuri’s drive from the resulting corner. Van Leeuwen made a double change on 57 as Yonatan Cohen and Eduardo Gurrero came in for Hozez and Almog.

Within a minute Maccabi came close to level the score as Avi Rikan managed to beat Geraffi only to be denied by the base of the post. Eden Kartzev replaced the tired Yeini in the 63rd minute as Van Leeuwen added a fresh pair of legs into the midfield.

In the 70th minute Maccabi’s pressure finally managed to crack Ashdod’s defense open as Saborit showed persistence and determination to fight-off two defenders and the keeper before pushing the ball over the line.

Van Leeuwen made his two final substitutions as Etey Shechter and Dan Biton replaced Pesic and Rikan for the final 17 minutes. Shechter was in the thick of things almost instantly as he held off a defender on the edge of the area to tee-up Dor Peretz whose shot was saved by Geraffi.

Cohen came close on 84 as he cut inside from the left onto his right but Geraffi was there once again to deny the Maccabi forward a goal on his comeback from injury. Kartzev blasted a powerful right foot shot from the edge of the area that crept to the wrong side of Geraffi’s post in the 90th minute. Inside injury time Guerrero’s cut back found Peretz whose initial shot was blocked by the Ashdod keeper who pulled a double save to deny what could have been a dramatic win.

Liran Liani’s final whistle meant that both sides will settle for a point each as they face each other once again on Wednesday – this time in the State Cup Quarter Finals.

“The second half was more encouraging as we created plenty of chances, enough to score more and win the match, but we didn’t do it” Peretz added, “In the second half I looked a lot closer to what I would like to see myself, but sadly that didn’t result in a goal or an assist. There is a still a long journey ahead. Anything can happen. We will need to show up in every match in order to take points”