Eylon Almog, a product of Maccabi’s Youth Academy, signed today a new five-year-deal which will keep him at Maccabi until the end of the 2023/24 season. 

Almog made his senior debut at the age of 17 in the State Cup match against Hapoel Kfar Sava in the 2015/16 season, before adding two more appearances in the State Cup and Toto Cup in 2017/18. This season Almog made his senior league debut at Maccabi during the victory over Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy stadium, and added two more appearances in the Toto Cup. Last season Almog spent on loan with Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla for which he scored 7 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions. In the transfer window he joined top flight newcomers side Hapoel Hadera on loan and scored 4 more goals in 19 appearances.      

Eylon Almog told the club’s official website: “I am delighted and excited to sign a new contract at a club which is like a home to me in the last nine years. I would like to thank the club for the faith shown in me and can’t wait to return that on the pitch at Bloomfield and any other stadium. Yalla Maccabi!”.

Maccabi CEO, Ben Mansford, said: “This is very exciting news for everyone connected to Maccabi. Eylon is a stand out talent in Israel and after being a star in the youth teams, last year saw him make two very successful loan moves to Beitar Tel Aviv and Hapoel Hadera. Eylon’s progress saw him recognized with a Senior call-up to the Israeli national team. This pre-season, Eylon impressed Vlada and the rest of the staff and is now part of the first team squad. This new and improved contract shows how far he has come, but equally incentivizes him to continue to drive forward. I hope Eylon will continue to work hard and become a Maccabi star in the future. This commitment further evidences Mitch’s commitment to the Academy and those it produces”.

Almog scored 1 goal in six appearances for Israel’s U-21’s and has an impressive record of 20 goals in 40 appearances for Israel’s young national teams.

 

 

 

Maor Kandil signed a new contract extension today according to which the club has the option to keep him at the club until the end of the 2023/24 season. The right-back who joined Maccabi Tel Aviv from Bnei Yehuda in July 2018 and in his first season helped the club win the League title and the Toto Cup scoring 2 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions – featured five more times this season. 

Maccabi’s CEO, Ben Mansford, told the club’s official website: “Maor Kandil has been a pleasure to have around the Club since joining in the summer of 2018. We promised Maor that if he did his bit on the pitch, that we would hold up our promise of reviewing his terms. The new negotiations will see Maor potentially stay with us until the end of the 23/24 season. I look forward to seeing Maor return to playing soon and really pushing the other defenders all the way. Well done Maor”.

Kandil, added: “From the first moment I joined Maccabi I felt at home here and I am delighted to have extended my contract at this club. The Maccabi fans and I have formed a special relationship – I can’t wait to be back on the pitch and play in front of them at Bloomfield stadium”.

 

Yonatan Cohen, has extended his stay with the Maccabi Tel Aviv family until the end of the 2023/24 season after signing a new contract at the Club today.

Cohen, is a product of the Club’s Youth Academy who scored 15 goals in 44 appearances for Maccabi over the past two seasons. During this time, Cohen has become a national team player and a Championship medal winner. Having made his senior debut for Maccabi in 2017/18 season, Cohen has now scored a total of 16 goals in 50 appearances for the Club in all competitions.   

Yonatan Cohen told the club’s official website: “I am delighted to sign a new contract at the club I grew up, received my football education and is my home. Now all I am left to do is to prove on the pitch that the faith shown in me is justified. Yalla Maccabi”.

Maccabi CEO, Ben Mansford, added: “I am delighted to be able to have been part of the discussions which resulted in Yonatan extending his time at Maccabi. Since returning from loan at the beginning of last season, Yonatan was adamant he would stay and become an important part of the squad. Yonatan has done just that and the new contract today is a reward for his continued development. There is so much more to come from Yonatan and I hope this contract will work as another springboard for him to go on to become the Player we will believe he can be. Again, I must thank Mitch for his constant commitment in ensuring that the best home grown talent stays at Maccabi. Good Luck Yonatan!”.

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Dan Glazer thanked the club’s fans for choosing him as their man of the match after the victory over Hapoel Beersheba on Monday but he said the entire team and the coaching staff deserved credit for the landmark victory.

“It was a tough game against perhaps our most difficult league opponents the coaching staff prepared us really well for every possible situation, they gave us the tools to solve every conceivable problem and we showed our worth on the pitch.

“Despite our fine form, we must remember that we have another difficult match on Saturday against Hapoel Raanana, so we need to ensure that we stay focused.

“It was important for us to send the 24,000 fans home happy and I’m pleased that we managed to do just that. I hope they will continue to support us in the marvelous way that they have done so far.

“There are still plenty of first round games to go but it’s great that we have overcome the difficult opponents, on paper, at least, and we continue to look forward to the next matches.

“The entire team feels confident, we broke an important record by not conceding any goals in eight full matches since the start of the season and it’s all down to the defence, midfield and the attack.

“I predicted to my teammates that Itay Shechter would be the first player to score at Bloomfield and I want to congratulate him for this. He works very hard and I hope he is able to continue to make the Bloomfield crowd happy.

I’m also pleased we could give a great sendoff to outgoing CEO Ben Mansford who left us today. It was an important day for him and we wanted to make him proud, we have great affection for him.”

By beating Hapoel Beersheba 2-0 in the TASE Premier League clash at Bloomfield on Monday, Maccabi Tel Aviv stands peerless at the top of the standings with 20 points.

The win over the southerners included a number of important milestones for Vladimir Ivic and his charges after they secured an eighth consecutive win since the start of the season without conceding a goal.

By keeping a clean sheet for eight straight matches, Maccabi have set a new record for not conceding a goal since the start of a season, a record hitherto held by Hapoel Yahud, whose goal was breached in the 58th minute of the eighth round of action in the 1981-82 season. 

The series of clean sheets actually began in the last round of last season when Maccabi beat Hapoel Beersheba 4-0, so the string stands at nine.

The mark has been achieved on five other occasions: Maccabi Haifa in 2004-05 and 2009-10, Beitar Jerusalem in 1971-72 and 1973-74 and Rishon Lezion in 1980-81.

The overall record for clean sheets was achieved during the 1988-89 season by Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi have amassed 20 points so far this season, which equals the same number achieved at this stage last season. More points were accrued on three previous occasions: 24 points in 1993-94 and 21 points in 2013-14 and 1995-96.

Of note individually, Itay Shechter became the first Maccabi player to score a goal at the new Bloomfield Stadium. It was his first league strike of the season. Maccabi’s previous goals at the new Bloomfield were own goals, scored by Terrence Sainsbury of Maccabi Haifa, and Loay Taha of Beersheba, the first goal on Monday.

Enric Saborit was the outstanding player for Maccabi, working both wings and he delivered two telling passes, as did Dor Micha and Dan Glazer. Saborit also dispossessed the opposition on 16 occasions, the most by any player on the night. Glazer was also outstanding, winning the ball on 18 occasions, including eight dispossessions.

Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Itay Shechter entered the history books on Monday and became the team’s first player to score a goal at the new Bloomfield Stadium when his injury time solo effort sealed a 2-0 win over Hapoel Beersheba.

“I’m so happy, I want to first of all thank (outgoing CEO) Ben Mansford, a dear man who has played a vital role in bringing me to Maccabi and I want to wish him all the best for the future,” an ecstatic Shechter said after the win.

“This is a super-important victory, we knew the match would be tough and there would be a great battle on the pitch but I’m pleased and we move forward.”

In discussing Maccabi’s abilities this season, he said: “It’s true that last season we were better in the top third of the pitch and we knew that this season would be more difficult and we didn’t expect to open a big gap from the outset. We give our all in training and it’s clear for everybody to see that we are formidable opponents. Teams with good defences are usually the ones who end up with titles and I believe that in the past year other clubs have prepared better to face us, which is why our task is that much more difficult. “Often teams play with three central defenders but regardless, we do need to create more chances.”

He said that the defence and the midfield were all creating a strong side but said that not many sides had created many chances against Maccabi since the start of the league. All that was now left was for the attacking unit to pick up the pace.

“I’m certain that the forwards will also improve,” he said.

The 32-year-old ended by committing to playing on for a few more years and giving his best.

“I work hard and do my best at every training session, I believe that I have a few more good years left in me.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv substitute striker Itay Shechter scored a solo injury goal deep in injury time and became the club’s first ever scorer at the new Bloomfield Stadium on Monday as they overcame Hapoel Beersheba to rise to the top of the TASE Premier League standings.

Shechter took possession of the ball on the right of the Beersheba area and stormed into the box to stab the ball past Ernst Netkos’s goal as the home crowd erupted in delight on a cool Tel Aviv night. 

Maccabi, who played for much of the match with a one-man advantage, were clearly the dominant side throughout the match, while their goalkeeper, Daniel Tenenbaum at the other end of the pitch was barely tested throughout the 90 minutes and kept his eighth straight clean sheet, a new record for any club since the start of the season. 

The first goal, in added time in the first half, was an own goal when Beersheba’s Loay Taha, while trying to keep out a cross by Matan Hozez, headed the ball into his own net. 

Beersheba’s Miguel Vitor was sent off in the 32nd minute after he received a second yellow card from referee Ziv Adler when he fouled Chico Ofoedu just outside the area.

Maccabi started off in dominant fashion and in the fourth minute, Yonatan Cohen curled a 25 metre free kick that was palmed away at the last moment by Beersheba goalkeeper Ernst Setkos, who made some excellent diving saves. 

Within a minute, Beersheba had their best chance but were denied by Tenenbaum’s crossbar from a header by Josue Pesquiera.

Cohen had another free kick from similar distance in the 10th minute with another thunderous shot that skimmed the roof of the net.

The game was held up in the 19th minute and a VAR check was required before referee Adler ruled that Miguel Vitor had trodden on Yonatan Cohen’s foot accidentally, thus avoiding a red card for the Beersheba player.

Cohen was again tasked with the free kick and a curling shot from the left forced another excellent diving save from Setkos.