Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Ashdod SC 1-0 in the seventh round of this season’s TASE Premier League on Saturday. They have still not conceded a goal and have a 9-0 goal difference.

It’s a rare statistic that provokes thought and calls for a deeper look at the record book.

The win over Ashdod was the first time that the club has maintained seven clean sheets since the start of the season and it surpasses the previous mark of six clean sheets since the start of the season set in 2013-14 when Juan Pablo was in goal for the club. 

If Maccabi keep another clean sheet next week against Hapoel Beersheba, they will set a new league record of eight consecutive matches without conceding since the start of the season. Hapoel Yahud were the first team to make it seven matches at the start of the season in 1981-82 but Maccabi’s record for consecutive clean sheets is already at eight, as they ended last season with a 4-0 win over Hapoel Beersheba.

The overall record for clean sheets during any part of the season is 10, and was set by Maccabi Haifa in 1988-89.

Goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum who is Maccabi’s No. 1 ‘keeper and has been between the posts 12 in games, seven this season and five last season. He has kept a clean sheet in ten of those outings, which is an all-time league record for a single goalkeeper.

Chico Ofoedu’s winning goal against Ashdod was his third this season. The Nigerian was also the most dangerous man on the field, as he had five attempts at the Ashdod goal, two of which were on target. 

Andre Geraldes, who set up Ofoedu’s goal with a cross in from the right, was also a potent force as he provided three assists, two of which found Ofoedu.

Dan Glazer was most successful in defence and won the ball 12 times off the opposition, and Dor Micha, who is often at the cutting edge of Maccabi’s attack, this time provided six telling passes through the midfield which began attacks. Four of those were accurate passes.

Maccabi Tel Aviv registered a new club record on Saturday by keeping a clean sheet for seven consecutive games after the 1-0 win over Ashdod SC thanks to the great form shown by goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum. 

“This was an important win. We are very happy that we did not concede a goal and that we managed to gain all three points,” the Brazilian goalkeeper said after the game. 

Concerning his own great ability and the seven consecutive games he has played without letting in a goal, he said modestly that it was much thanks to his teammates’ great work.

“Our defence begins in attack and all the way back to me and everybody deserves praise. I came to Maccabi and awaited my opportunity and now that I have taken it, I want to continue this way. We don’t think about records, only about winning and taking the points.”

With Hapoel Beersheba to come next Monday, Tenenbaum said: “Next week’s contest will be very important for us but ultimately, it will be another game over three points.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv returned from the international break straight into a very tough fixture against Ashdod SC and needed 70 minutes to break down their opponents through a goal by Chico Ofoedu on Saturday. After the final whistle, coach Vladimir Ivic said that the most important thing was securing all three points.

“It was a tough victory, it’s not easy to win in this stadium here in Ashdod but we deserved this win and we were the better team. I’m happy that we got all three points, we were the more positive side in the second half but we will need to improve our abilities so that we can play this way more often,” Ivic said. 

“We had several chances in the first part of the game but we didn’t score, although we are gaining confidence both in training and in matches and I believe that we will be even more assured as the season progresses.”

Next Monday, Maccabi will host league leaders Hapoel Beersheba at Bloomfield and Ivic said it would be a game with the same aim in mind.

“We played in this game in order to gain three points and it will be the same next week. We will come out and look to gain all three points becaust that’s the way to win the championship.”

Maccabi players are nusring several injuries and others have returned after recovering.

“We have some players who are back from injury and it’s good to have them back but injuries are part of the game and we will do everything to ensure that our injured players are given the means and the time to recover as quickly as possible.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv will be back in TASE Premier League action tonight at 20:00 in an away fixture against Ashdod SC and look to get back to winning ways after the goalless draw against Hapoel Hadera in the previous round.

League action already got underway on Saturday and Maccabi go into the clash in second place in the standings with 14 points from six matches, behind leaders Hapoel Beersheba, who have 17 points from seven after their 2-1 win over Hapoel Kiryat Shmona three days ago. A win at Ashdod’s municipal stadium will put both teams on equal points before their big clash next weekend at Bloomfield.

Going into the game, Maccabi coach Vladimir Ivic talked about the state of his squad and about Omer Atizili’s fitness and said: “He has been working with us in the past few weeks and now we will need to make a decision if he can be in the squad. I hope that he will be ready, but if not for this game, then we will have him for the next.”

Definitely out of the squad will be Dor Peretz, who was injured while training with the Israel squad ahead of last week’s game against Latvia.

Ivic said of Monday’s opponents: “We know that Ashdod are going to be tough rivals, particularly when we will be playing there. This is a team that can beat any opponents when they are at home. They have good, speedy players in attack and a good creative unit, but certainly, our objective will be to take all three points. We are expecting a difficult match.”

Midfielder Eyal Golasa, who is back from a long injury layoff, has talked about his own period on the sidelines and said: “I have tried as much as possible to keep out of sight and have worked very hard. I hardly saw my wife and the girls and it has been a tough time being out of action for almost a year but you try to gain strength from other things. Certainly, the club and the players have helped me and I am so pleased to have got through this. I feel great.”

For their part, Ashdod have had a reasonable start to their league campaign and lie ninth in the standings with seven points but in their last four outings, they have lost once and ended three other matches in draws.