Maccabi Tel Aviv secured a second league title in succession with a 3-0 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv on Saturday night. Vladimir Ivic’s side was dominant throughout the season and at the end of another derby victory, the players summed up the outstanding achievement. 

Tibi, who scored the second goal of the game before breaking into tears revealed after the final whistle: “I would like to start by saying that we know Mitch was watching us from afar. We all miss him but he is in our hearts. It was very exciting for me to return after not playing for four months and the goal I scored was an extremely emotional moment for me.”

When asked about his father he lost recently, Tibi added: “Sadly he is no longer with us but I believe he is looking down and seeing everything – so the goal is dedicated to him”.

Schechter: “I ran to Ivic like he was my mother”. 

When did you understand that Maccabi won the championship?

“I understood that it is ours in the match-ups against Maccabi Haifa. It was difficult, Haifa had an amazing season, they were breathing down our necks. The matches against them were the deciders. From here I would like to extend greetings to our owner, Mitch Goldhar who watched the match and obviously to Jack. I would like to thank them for the love and support”. 

“There are players here, true men, who don’t leave the game until the last minute”, he added, “Even when we concede we don’t leave the game and win matches in the 94th minute. The quality of our personnel here is top quality. We receive everything we need and all the conditions in order to succeed. We have an extremely powerful team, one can see that in every big game. A team which concedes only 8 goals, players are working extremely hard not to concede goals at the back and then we have the quality upfront to score the goals. It is a super dominant championship”

Round 2: Maccabi – Bnei Yehuda

 

Round 4: Maccabi – Maccabi Haifa

Round 5: Beitar Jerusalem – Maccabi 

Round 6: Maccabi – Hapoel Hadera

Round 8: Maccabi – Hapeol Be’ersheva

Round 10: Maccabi – Hapoel Haifa

Round 10: Maccabi – Hapoel Haifa

Round 10: Maccabi – Hapoel Haifa

Round 11: Kiryat Shmona – Maccabi

Round 12: Hapoel Tel Aviv – Maccabi 

Round 17: Maccabi Haifa – Maccabi 

Round 17: Maccabi Haifa – Maccabi 

Round 17: Maccabi Haifa – Maccabi 

Round 19: Hapoel Hadera – Maccabi 

Round 26: Maccabi Netanya – Maccabi

Round 28: Maccabi – Maccabi Haifa

Round 28: Maccabi – Maccabi Haifa

Round 31: Hapoel Tel Aviv – Maccabi

Round 31: Hapoel Tel Aviv – Maccabi

After a nervous start from both sides, Maccabi created the first chance of the game in the 20th minute as Kandil fed Nick Blackman who managed to guide the ball on target before Hapoel’s keeper collected with ease. Less than a minute later, Blackman fed Eylon Almog but the young forward blasted high into the empty tribune.

Daniel Tenenbaum was first tested in the 42nd minute as Iad Abu Abid blasted a long range low drive which got deflected as it hit one of the players. But Maccabi’s Brazilian keeper cleared the danger and pushed the ball for a corner. two minutes later as he denied Doron Leidner’s left foot drive.

Gal Leibovic’s halftime whistle sent both teams to the dressing rooms at a stalemate as the few in the stadium and thousands at home were hoping for a better second half.

Two minutes after the hour mark, Ivic, made a double change as Dor Peretz and Ofir Davidzada came in for Golasa and Saborit respectively. Within a minute, Kandil floated a cross into the path of Blackman whose header flashed near the post.

In the 65th minute, Davidzada fed Rikan who broke into the area before being brought down for a penalty. Blackman stepped up and blasted the spot kick into the roof of the net to take the lead.

onatan Cohen and Itay Schechter were both waiting on the halfway line to come in for the final 15 minutes as they watched Blackman blast a left foot drive which was punched by Hapoel’s keeper Arik Yanko who caught Peretz’s rebound header. This was the final contribution of the Englishman who came off together with Almog on 77.

The two substitutes combined in the 81st minute as Cohen curled a free kick from the left and Schechter rose unmarked and force a save from Yanko. But Tibi turned in the rebound, double the score with his 3rd personal goal of the season.

Ruslan Barsky was given a chance to join the celebration as he replaced Rikan for the final X minutes. Tenenbaum reacted well to keep out Omri Altman’s free kick. Imanuel Boateng was sent off for a foul on Schechter on 89 but the veteran striker had the final laugh as he scored the best goal of the game. Jair switched sides with an accurate ball across the pitch to Kandil whose cross was accurately headed in by Schechter to seal the win at 3-0.

Pregame

Vladimir Ivic made three changes to the side which beat Hapoel Haifa on Tuesday as Jair Amador and Eitan Tibi were named alongside Schahar Piven as the three central defenders. Sheran Yeini and Ofir Davidzada dropped to the bench allowing Enric Saborit to move back to the left wing-back role with Maor Kandil keeping his place on the opposite wing. 

Eyal Golasa returned to the midfield at the expense of Dor Peretz partnering Avi Rikan and candidate for player of the season Dan Glazer.

Upfront, Nick Blackman and Eylon Almog kept their place with Itay Schechter and Yonatan Cohen waiting for their chance on the bench together with Parfait Guigan and Ruslan Barsky who completed the 9 substitutes on the bench.

“I would like to address you with a personal message. I am asking you not to arrive at the stadium or anywhere near the stadium. I am asking you not to arrive at Kiryat Shalom or anywhere near Kiryat Shalom. This request is in order to protect and look after your health. As you all know, Covid19 is widely spreading these days, and one fan who tested positive for Covid19 was outside the stadium in one of our recent matches.”

“In addition, incidents which occurred outside the stadium didn’t help either. I am asking you to watch the game at home and enjoy it with us – your health is a lot more important than any victory and any championship celebration. I am pleading with you to follow the guidelines of the Health Ministry and the Police”