Sagiv Jehezkel faced the media on Thursday ahead or Saturday’s MD28 WINNER League match away to Maccabi Haifa. The match at Sammy Ofer will be the second encounter against Haifa in a space of 10 days as both teams faced each other in the Semi Final of the State Cup.

Maccabi will travel to Haifa on the back of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby that saw them open a three point lead from fourth place. At the same time, Maccabi remain eight points adrift of second place Beitar and 10 behind leaders Hapoel Be’ershava that face each other at the weekend.

“Our focus is first and foremost on the upcoming match, and beyond that we are not dealing with anything else” Jehzkel said. “We have an important game and we’ll come as prepared as possible to win it” he added. Following the 3-1 defeat to Hapoel Beersheva on the final day of the regular season Maccabi recorded two defeats on the bounce as Jehezkel said: “After every match we draw conclusions, even after victories. I’m happy we knew how to bounce back from that defeat, to do our things and win.”

The fact the match against Haifa is normaly billed as a top of the table clash yet this time will see fifth host third, saw Jehezkel insist: “It doesn’t affect us. That’s the current situation and our position. We try to do the best we can and focus on our own game to win.”

On his personal season and the fact he doesn’t always start, he said: “I deal with it like a mature player. I understand the situation. The coach has his decisions and I trust and respect him and the coaching staff. In every minute I get, I’ll prove that I deserve to be here. I’m here for the team and the club and I’m happy to be here. I’ll play in any role I’m needed in and try to do it in the best possible way.”

As Maccabi as well as the rest of the league now enter a highly congested fixture schedule due to the one-month long imposed break due to the war with Iran, Jehezkel said: “It is part of the situation. The coach will make the right adjustments, we’ll come into every game fully prepared and approach each one properly.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club, the owner Mitch Goldhar, the management, players and staff share in the grief of the Brickman family upon the passing of the head of the family, Gideon Brickman, who previously served as Chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, and after whose late son Shahar the youth team, Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shahar’, is named.

During his years as Chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Brickman led the club through a significant period of development and consolidation, working tirelessly to improve the club. In addition, in his role as Acting Chairman of the Israel Football Association, he contributed from his experience and leadership to the advancement of Israeli football at a national level and influenced the shaping of the game.

Brickman devoted many years to extensive public service and served as Chairman of the Sports Betting Board, Toto. He was one of the prominent figures in the Maccabi movement and in Israeli sport as a whole, and his son Tal worked for many years at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The club bows its head in his memory and sends its sincere condolences to Shoshi, Tal, Keren and the entire Brickman family.

Ofek Melika returned to Maccabi’s goal after sitting out the midweek State Cup Semi Final against Maccabi Haifa, and helped his side collect three points at the end of a tense Tel Aviv derby. Melika, who pulled a spectacular save from Fernand Mayembo in the second half before Hapoel managed to score yet a foul of the Hapoel captain on him saw the goal disallowed, admitted: “I had flashbacks from the previous derby where Hapoel scored a two late goals, but this was rightly disallowed and we kept a clean sheet and won the match in a team effort.”

Meika also complimented fellow goalkeeper Roi Mishpati and said he thrives under the competition: “He had an amazing match against Haifa in the Cup. Watching from the bench is never easy as every player wants to play in a Semi Final and a Final but this is the staff’s decision which I respect as it pushes me to perform.”

Preview

A week after the 3-1 defeat to Hapoel Be’ersheva in the final league match of the regular season and four days after securing a place in the State Cup Final with a 3-2 victory over Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium. The Tel Aviv derby against arch city rivals Hapoel on MD27 of the WINNER League, will kick-off the Playoff with one of the biggest fixtures in the footballing calendar. Memories of the dramatic late 2-1 defeat when both teams last met at the end of January on MD20 that ended a 12-year-long unbeaten run, are still fresh. But as Hapoel also have 49 points and trail Maccabi only on goal difference, means that there is lot more than local pride at stake. Maccabi’s coach Ronny Deila who previously coached Celtic in Glasgow’s Old Firm, will experience his first derby in Tel Aviv. The 50-year-old Norwegian didn’t make too many changes from the side that beat Haifa in midweek. Goalkeeper Ofek Melika, who was rested in the Cup, returned to goal with Roi Mishpati making way. Heitor dos Santos and Ali Camara lined up as the two central defenders in front of Melika. Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo who were both on target against Haifa at Teddy, completed Maccabi’s back-four on the right and left, respectively.

After recovering from an injury to make a second half substitute appearance in midweek, Issouf Sissokho, returned to the anchorman role. The 24-year-old Malian midfielder was named behind Maccabi’s top two goal scorers Ido Shahar (10) and Dor Peretz (11) forming the midfield trio. Emir Sahiti who scored four goals in seven appearances in all competitions before the war with Iran, returned to the starting line-up after two appearances as a substitute. Helio Varela, who also has four goals to his name was named on the opposite flank. Upfront, Deila stuck with Elad Madmon whose man-of-the-match performance in midweek earned him another start while Saied Abu Farchi returned from suspension and started on the bench.

Alongside Mishpati and Abu Farchi, Deila, named Sagiv Jehezkel, Raz Shlomo, Yonas Malede, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy and Osher Davida among the substitutes.

First Half

A wall of sound and sea of color welcomed the two sets of players onto the pitch at Bloomfield which was almost packed to its capacity for the first time since the war with Iran broke in February. Pyrotechnics display from both ends of the pitch immediately after the kickoff saw the match halted. When the smoke had cleared and play resumed Maccabi were clearly the dominant side as Ronny Deila’s team enjoyed most of the possession. It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken as Maccabi’s captain and top scorer Dor Peretz set Bloomfield alight. Issouf Sissokho sent Helio Varela down the left before the Cape Verde winger burst forward and cut the ball back from the byline. Peretz didn’t even need an additional touch as he blasted a powerful shot from the edge of the area which rocketed into the bottom corner giving Assaf Tzur no chance.

In the 26th minute Hapoel came close as Loizos Loizou lost Sissokho with a drop of a shoulder and began a counterattack before slipping the ball to Emmanuel Boateng whose shot hit the upright. Four minutes after the half hour mark Varela kept tormenting Hapoel’s defense with his pace as he received a long ball and charged forward before he was brought down by Marcus Coco. Referee Yigal Frid didn’t hesitate as he showed Hapoel’s defender a yellow card. Tyrese Asante rose high to meet Ido Shahar’s resulting free kick, but unlike the midweek Cup match against Haifa, the Dutch defender’s header was easily collected by Tzur. Three minutes later at the opposite end Ofek Melika charged out of his goal to block Boateng with his feet. Asante was booked for a foul in the middle of the park shortly before the fourth official raised his sign for 7 minutes of additional time.

Ali Camara dropped to the ground clutching his hamstring as the Guinean central defender remained on the pitch while Raz Shlomo was getting ready to come on. Five minutes into the addition Emir Sahiti skipped past a defender near the corner of Hapoel’s area. The 27-year-old Kosovan winger squared to Peretz who fired a shot from the exact place he scored but this time his effort cleared the crossbar. On the brink of halftime Maccabi came close to double their lead as Varela slipped Roy Revivo in but the left back’s cut-back was cleared by a Hapoel defender from the goalmouth. The halftime whistle sent the two sides to regroup in the dressing rooms and prepare for the second period.  

Second Half

Deila made his first change after the break as Shlomo came on for the injured Camara at the restart. Three minutes after the restart Hapoel were awarded a free kick which Stav Turiel curled to the back post. Fernand Mayembo sent a powerful header which Melika initially saved before the rebound was fired in by Chico Alves. Hapoel celebrated an equalizer but there celebrations were short lived as VAR intervened and called Frid to the screen spotting a foul on the keeper as the goal was disallowed.

Two minutes after the hour mark Varela turned inside leaving Mayembo behind him but his shot sailed high over the crossbar. Deila reacted with a second substitution as Saied Abu Farchi came on for Elad Madmon who worked tirelessly upfront. A minute later Heitor dos Santos went down in the box after a head collision with Hapoel’s Xanda Silva. The Brazilian defender needed medical treatment before walking off together with Sahiti as Deila made a double substitution introducing Sagiv Jehezkel and Osher Davida. Asante pushed into the middle with Jehezkel taking his role at right back while Jehezkel slotted into the right-back position.

In the 75th minute Sissokho limped off holding his groin as Deila was forced to make his fifth and final change introducing Itamar Noy for the closing stages.

In the 90th minute a foul by Doron Leidner on Davida led to a scuffle between the two sides at the end of which Frid was called to the screen and showed Davida the red card. Inside injury time and despite the numerical disadvantage Maccabi defended bravely and celebrated the victory at the final whistle.