Following their participation in the win over Bnei Yehuda on Tuesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv players and the winners of our Nivea Masters table football tournament, Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit, attended the Superpharm branch at the TLV Mall where Nivea held a special event for fans. The players talked about the battle for the championship and their main rivals, Maccabi Haifa.

The TASE Premier League administration on Wednesday set the dates for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fixtures in rounds 18-20 that will be played in January.

Maccabi will host Beitar Jerusalem at Bloomfield on Monday, January 13, kickoff at 20:15, we will be away to Hapoel Hadera on January 18 in Netanya, kickoff at 19:50, and will host Ashdod SC at Bloomfield on Saturday, January 25 at 19:50.

Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to winning ways on Tuesday after two league draws and a defeat in the State Cup, and notched a 3-0 win over Bnei Yehuda at Bloomfield to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the TASE Premier League standings over Maccabi Haifa, who also won 3-0.

This was the third meeting between the two clubs so far in the current season. Maccabi have won twice and there has been a goalless draw. Tuesday’s win has extended Maccabi’s league winning run during Hanukka to the last five festivals of light and it was another clean sheet for the club and for Daniel Tenenbaum, the 14th of the season. 

Omer Atzili has been out for the past six months but has made a swift return to form and the two goals he scored in Tuesday were his first this season in all competitions. Atzili likes to make it a double and last season, in the eight games in which he scored, he netted twice in five.

Eyal Golasa celebrated the win with his first goal of the season in between Atzili’s two strikes but both scorers are indebted to Yonatan Cohen, whose excellent form of late was manifested in his assists for all three goals. He has had five in total this season to add to his five goals. 

Chico Ofoedu is also happy after the game. He has been out through injury since Sept. 11 when Maccabi beat Hapoel Haifa 3-0 and he returned as a substitute on Tuesday.

Stats show that Atzili was Maccabi’s most dangerous player on the night, with six attempts at goal, four of them on target. Jair Amador had to attempts from set pieces but both were cleared off the line. Avi Rikan led with three telling passes, two of them accurate, and in defence, Eitan Tibi dispossessed opponents 12 times and Dan Glazer did so eight times.

Maccabi Tel Aviv were in total command as they notched another win on Tuesday and maintained their place at the top of the TASE Premier League standings. Omer Atzili scored twice and Eyal Golasa once in the 3-0 win over hosts Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv at Bloomfield.

“This was a very important win for me and my confidence and I’m pleased I was able to score when the team needed it most, I hope to be able to deliver more during the rest of the season,” Atzili said after the match.

The striker’s first goal came in the 22nd minute with a a first-time shot from a corner taken by Yonatan Cohen, who passed a short corner along the turf. Atzili curled the ball powerfully into the roof of the Bnei Yehuda net with his teammates and opponents only able to look on. It was a pre-meditated move that had been worked on in training, he said.

Celebrations for the second goal were more subdued, as Atzili said he did not think the ball was going in and apologised to teammates for not choosing another option rather than shooting at goal. 

“I thought the keeper had collected the ball and when it rolled in, it was a bit too late for celebrations, he said.

Atzili added that the team knew they had to win on Tuesday after a bad loss on Saturday and two consecutive league draws.

“The loss was certainly at the back of our minds and we found it hard to sleep at night. We knew that today was a very important game because it could have been a slippery slope if we had failed to win, but I’m pleased that we have acquitted ourselves well.

“Just because we had a couple of mediocre weeks doesn’t mean we aren’t dominant and we shouldn’t be written off. We are still league leaders and we are formidable opponents for any side. As long as we do what we need to do, we will be just fine.”

All-dominant Maccabi Tel Aviv had little trouble notching another win and maintaining their place at the top of the TASE Premier League standings on Tuesday after a 3-0 win over hosts Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv at Bloomfield.

Maccabi were far too strong for their opponents in all departments and Bnei Yehuda seemed destined for defeat from the opening whistle as they let their opponents control the pace and the midfield. 

The team in orange were soft in their defending and their lax attitude spelled resignation from the outset.

For their part, Maccabi could have upped the pace but were happy to use their superior skills and team play as they moved the ball around with confidence as they went about banishing the shock State Cup defeat at the hands of Hapoel Umm El Fahm on Saturday. 

The 3-0 margin might have been higher had it not been for Bnei Yehuda defender Ismail Soro, who cleared the ball off the line on two occasions. First, in the 17th minute after a Jair Amador header from a corner that was clearly on its way into the net. The same two players were involved in the second clearance late in the second half.

Maccabi got on the score sheet in the 22nd minute when Omer Atzili struck a first-time shot after Yonatan Cohen passed a corner along the ground. Atzili curled a powerful left-foot shot into the roof of the Bnei Yehuda net with his teammates and opponents only able to look on.

Three minutes later, Cohen again was in the thick of the action as he headed at the goal from close range but Bnei Yehuda’s goalkeeper Emilios Zobas kept the ball out.

Cohen was the main man in most of the attacking moves and he set up Golasa for Maccabi’s second goal in the 28th minute with a stealthy assist. Golasa slotted the ball into an empty net with Zobas completely out of position and the Bnei Yehuda defence in complete disarray. 

The second half started with less intensity and Maccabi seemed content to bide their time. Zobas made a good save in the 65th minute from a close-range header by Jair Amador and shortly afterwards, Soro cleared the second Amador header off the line.

Atzili sealed the score line with the help of a terrible Zubas howler in the 81st minute when the Maccabi forward’s right-footed shot from the edge of the area crept under the Lithuanian goalkeeper’s body as rolled slowly across the goal line. It was a happy night for Maccabi, and a miserable one for Bnei Yehuda, and for Zobas, in particular.

It’s the height of Hanukka and Christmas Eve and tonight at 20:15 Bnei Yehuda will host Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 15th round of the TASE Premier League at Bloomfield. The away team will try to add another fixture to the wins column and three vital points after two consecutive league draws and a shock defeat in the State Cup.

Coach Vladimir Ivic will want to ensure an end to the brief rut and as league leaders, Maccabi will try to ensure they keep the gap from their nearest rivals, Maccabi Haifa, to at least three points. 

Maccabi are on 34 points after 14 matches while at the other end of the pitch, Bnei Yehuda are in eighth place in the standings with 18 points. Coach Yossi Abuksis’s charges are winless in three consecutive league matches and have lost their last two, to Hapoel Haifa and Kiryat Shmona.

It’s the second league meeting between the two clubs this season and the previous encounter, which was Maccabi’s first home match at the new Bloomfield, ended in a goalless draw. The two adversaries also met in the first clash of the season, July’s one-off Champion of Champions trophy between last season’s league and cup winners and Maccabi emerged as 1-0 winners. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of the match, coach Vladimir Ivic said: “We are fully aware of the club we represent and we must ensure that our future results will be good. We will need to work hard and rely on our fans’ support, I’m sure they will be with us. We all have the same ultimate goal and we can succeed if we will be together.”

Midfielder Avi Rikan, who also spoke to the media in the pre-match news conference added: “This is a league fixture and the last competition we are involved in this season, so of course we want to get back on the winning path. We have the chance to redress the balance after Saturday’s defeat and we need to be ready for the occasion. Bnei Yehuda are a club that have made things difficult for us in the past so we will have to be at our best. The only way to recover is to win and put the bad period behind us. We want to turn a new page with a win.”