Maccabi Tel Aviv showed their superior class and were too good for Hapoel Kfar Sava in all departments in Saturday’s afternoon kickoff at Bloomfield as they notched a 4-0 win and swept their opponents aside.

It was one-way traffic for almost the entire 90 minutes as Kfar Sava were outclassed, and who for the last half hour were left with 10 men after having a player sent off. 

Maccabi looked confident from the start and Kfar Sava were barely able to mount a challenge. Indeed, Daniel Tenenbaum in the Maccabi goal only was tested seriously only once during the entire match.

Signs that a goal was in the offing came in the 15th minute when there were two close shaves within seconds, as first Eitan Tibi saw his header rebound off the post and then another header by Yonatan Cohen went just wide.

Itay Shechter finally converted a chance and in the 18th minute when unmarked in the area on the right, he blasted a right-foot shot diagonally high into the Kfar Sava net.

Omer Atzili made it 2-0 in the 55th minute with a powerful volley from 10 metres out after the ball was passed across the area from the left by Yonatan Cohen. 

Kfar Sava’s woes were compounded in the 60th minute when Mahmoud Youssef was sent off following a VAR review and referee Idan Leiba changed his yellow card to a red in response to Youssef going in studs first for a tackle on a Maccabi player.

Cohen finally got his own name on the score sheet after helping others score, he struck a similar, but even better goal to Schechter’s in the first half with a scorching left-footed shot from a sharp angle on the left that landed in the top right corner of the Kfar Sava net. 

Substitute Chico Ofoedu, now recovered from injury, completed the rout with a deflected header from close range gave Kfar Sava keeper Yigal Becker no chance to even react and the 9,549 fans who braved the cold and wet afternoon weather went home with a smile on their face. Kfar Sava had Becker to thank for ensuring the rout didn’t turn into an embarrassment as he made four additional good saves.

Maccabi’s next league clash will be away to second-placed Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium on January 6.

The upcoming meeting between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Kfar Sava will mark the 100th time the two clubs have met and it comes at the very end of the second decade of the 21st century.

There have been 86 league meetings, seven State Cup ties and six Toto Cup meetings between the two clubs. In the league, Maccabi have won 42 times, 28 clashes have ended in draws, and Kfar Sava have won on 16 occasions. The goal difference ratio is exactly two-to-one in favour of Maccabi, 140-70. 

In 44 home fixtures, Maccabi have won on 24 occasions, 13 matches have been drawn and Kfar Sava have won seven times. The goal difference is 80-35.

Maccabi’s biggest margin of victory, 5-0, has been achieved three times, twice in 1998-99 and in 2015-16.

Avi Nimni, Eli Driks and Benny Tabak are the most prolific scorers against Maccabi, with eight goals each. Two players have scored hat-tricks against Kfar Sava, Benny Tabak in 1988-89 and Andrej Koubica in 1998-99.

Kfar Sava’s current coach, Ophir Haim, is a product of Maccabi’s youth department and played for the full team 91 times in two stints between 1998-99 and 2005-06, scoring 11 goals. 

Over the years, 20 players have turned out for both clubs, including one foreign player, Jose Duarte.

This clash will be the last of 2019 for Maccabi and records since 2008-09 show a perfect that every year-end clash has ended in a win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC has received with great dismay the decisions handed down by the Israel Football Association (IFA) Disciplinary Court in response to the incidents that took place during the Tel Aviv Derby.

Despite all the efforts made by the club in conjunction with the security firm it employs and with the police to apprehend and punish fans who were involved in the unruly incidents during the Derby, the Court nevertheless decided to punish the club in a harsh and unprecedented manner that completely undermines the tireless efforts that the club has undertaken in recent years to battle unruly fan behaviour.

Such court rulings not only show a lack of support for the club in its efforts to isolate fans whose only intention is to disrupt order, it also completely ignores, indeed, it dismisses the club owners’ unflinching efforts in this regard. The owners allocate large funds to battle unruliness and specifically to ensure fans’ safety and law and order through the deployment of security personnel and technological means.

We find it bizarre that the Court has completely ignored the fact that a club’s vicarious liability for its fans must only be ascribed when no efforts have been made to identify and apprehend offenders, and clearly, this is not the case.

A decision such as the that handed down prompts honest and dedicated fans who have purchased season tickets in good faith with hard-earned money, and who did not attend, or were unable to attend the away match to turn their backs on the game through utter frustration at the actions of the Disciplinary Courts, the League Management and the Israel Football Association.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC presented clear evidence of the efforts it has made to apprehend offenders and the Court should have taken these efforts into consideration. Moreover, it should have shown support for the club and its pro-active approach to tackle unruly fan behavior. But rather than show support, the court chose to punish the club with several penalties that we will appeal vigorously in the coming days.

The club has committed itself honestly and enthusiastically to take all required actions to tackle violence and these have yielded results, indeed the club should not have been expected to act any differently. Even if incidents such as those that occurred in the derby are repeated in the future, the Court’s decision cannot be seen as anything other than populist lip service that is detached from all reality and it sets a very poor precedent that makes no sense at all.

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.”