Yonatan Cohen, the Maccabi Tel Aviv striker looked back at his side’s 2:1 comeback win over Bnei Yehuda and the club’s goals ahead:

“We didn’t have a great first half, we weren’t as focused and gave up a goal. The coach spoke to us at halftime and we also talked amongst ourselves that we weren’t going to lose the whole season as that is one of our goals. We want to win every match and we came into the second half focused and ready to go thanks to the fans as well who gave us even more drive. I’m happy we won.”

Going unbeaten this season:
“This is a historical season for Maccabi and we all want to be a part of it. We don’t want to lose at all this season, we want to win every match and now we have to turn our attention to Hadera on Saturday.”

Not looking to far ahead:
“We aren’t looking ahead to the State Cup or even a month or two months down the line. We are focusing on our next match in league play against Hadera.”

Avi Rikan, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder looked back at his side’s 2:1 comeback win over Bnei Yehuda in which he scored the decisive goal:

“The first half wasn’t good enough and we allowed Bnei Yehuda the chance to take advantage of their style of play. The second half was better and we played with much more energy thanks to the fans cheering us on. I am happy that we scored two goals and this was an important win for us.”

Maccabi going unbeaten:
“We come into every match in the most serious manner and we prepare match by match. This was the key for us and that’s why we are at a point where we are undefeated. We also want to continue to win on Saturday and the goals that we have in front of us will keep us focussed.”

Are you thinking about the fact that with two victories Maccabi will win the title?
“We aren’t looking ahead to Maccabi Haifa and we will begin preparing for the match against Hapoel Hadera first. I hope that we will win and then we can start thinking about the next match. We are aware of the situation and even though we have a big lead every single minute is important to us and you saw how badly we wanted to win today. We aren’t going look too far ahead but we will come into the Hadera match with a lot of energy with the goal of winning the contest.”

Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach looked back at his squad’s 2:0 win over Hapoel Hadera to begin the playoffs:

“This was an important win. We didn’t play our best football but we took the 3 points. We deserved the victory and were the better team. We still have to improve. Over the last few matches we haven’t showed what we have wanted to.”

About the championship:
“We have some time to rest before the next match. We have to change our mentality in order to give 100% to win and we have to play better. We haven’t played the football we have wanted to in the first half and we have to understand why that is.”

Working hard:
“It’s important to win every match. There are any times that I am happy with the way we have played and there have been many matches like that. We are expecting some difficult matches in the playoffs and we have to change our mentality and work hard to show that on the pitch.”

Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach looked back at his squad’s 2:1 win over Bnei Yehuda at the Netanya Stadium and began by talking about the change of mentality from the first half to the second:

“The players changed their mentality at the beginning of the second half and played better than the first half. But there were a lot of places where they still had to improve. We won the game but I am not satisfied as to how we won. Our opponent created a lot of chances in the second half and we had a lot of problems whereas they didn’t create any chances in the first half. We have to play them three more times this season.”

Going undefeated in the regular season and looking ahead:
“The players fought from the first game until the last game of the regular season. But now we have 30 points in front of us and we have to be ready for the mini league. We must look at every game and prepare game by game including this coming Saturday against Hadera.”

Easy to win?
“Every game isn’t easy. We have to concentrate, prepare ourselves and analyze today’s mistakes and give our best to win the game on Saturday.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped Bnei Yehuda 2:1 to end the regular season undefeated after 26 Matchdays. Visiting Bnei Yehuda took a 1:0 lead in the first half as Tambi Sagas scored off a missed penalty but an Eliran Atar second half free kick and a Rikan strike in the 81’ off an Atar assist completed the comeback as Maccabi took the 3 points. Vladimir Ivic’s squad will now ready to open the Championship Playoffs on Saturday afternoon when they host Hapoel Hadera at 16:00.

Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included, keeper Predrag Rajkovic, Enric Saborit, Shahar Piven, Sheran Yeini, Eli Dasa, Dor Peretz, Avi Rikan, Dor Micha, Chico Ofoedu, Omer Atzili and Eliran Atar.

Available on the bench: Daniel Tenenbaum, Jair Amador, Maor Kandil, Ruslan Barsky, Dan Glazer, Itay Shechter, Yonatan Cohen.

First Half
Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi traded chances in the 5’ when Baltaxa’s attempt in the box was saved by Rajkovic and Micha’s shot from 15 meters went out. Two minutes later Chico’s opportunity missed the target and in the 12’ Rikan’s long shot was blocked by the defense.

Maccabi continued to control the pace of play but couldn’t create any opportunities until Atar’s free kick went off target which was followed by Rikan receiving a yellow card in the 30’. However, Dasa pulled down Tchibota in the box to set up a penalty for Bnei Yehuda. The initial spot kick by Shay Konstantini was saved by Rajkovic when he dove to his right but Tambi Sagas put in the rebound for a 1:0 lead.

Yonatan Cohen replaced an injured Micha in the 40’ as Ben Yehuda took a slim one goal advantage into the break.

Second Half
Cohen opened the half with a long distance effort but keeper Yehonatan Shabi made the save and in the 50’ Dasa crossed the ball to Ofoedu but he missed the goal. Two minutes later Atar sent the ball to Rikan and his 20 meter attempt just went out while Cohen and Ofoedu almost found the equalizer a minute later.

Atar would find that equalizer in the 60’ when he sent a perfect free kick into the top right hand corner of the goal. Itay Shechter entered the contest for Ofoedu as the striker almost completed the comeback but his 64’ header just went by the post. Saborit was issued a yellow card a minute later while Rajkovic was up to the task in the 72’ when he saved a one on one chance by Tchibota.

Atzili’s attempt went over the goal and Ivic made his third substitute in the 76’ when he inserted Ruslan Barsky for the aforementioned Atzili. Two minutes later Cohen sent a ball to Peretz but his header just missed the target as Maccabi came closer to taking the lead.

And take the lead they would in the 81’ when Rikan pounded home the ball thanks to an Atar assist as the Yellow & Blue went ahead 2:1. Tchibota almost drew even in the 89’ but his shot went off the bar. Barsky picked up a yellow card in added time while Bnei Yehuda were reduced to ten men when Ismaila Soro was issued his second yellow card for a reckless tackle on Rikan.

Tchibota had a last gasp free kick to find the tying goal but the ball was cleared by the Maccabi defense and the referee blew the whistle as the Yellow & Blue remained undefeated throughout the regular season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv is heading into the final stages of the season and each week becomes yet another moment in history as records continue to be broken. Don’t miss the chance to be a part of the Yellow & Blue action with the opportunity to witness history being written right before your eyes.

If you want to secure your seat and be a part of the action, this is your last chance to do so as the next 3 home matches there won’t be regular single seat ticket sales. Make sure to purchase your 4 Match Playoff Ticket Package now.

Sale Points

• Leaan Website
• Leaan Ticket Office, Frishman 42, Tel Aviv Sunday-Thursday 09:00-18:00, Friday 09:00-13:00.
• Phone *8780 Sunday-Thursday 09:00-18:00, Friday 09:00-13:00.

Please note

• Home Ticket Printing Only! – The 4 Match Ticket Package will be sent to your email
• Single ticket sales will occur should tickets remain
• Youth Ticket Packages are only available at the Leaan Ticket Office and phone after identification

Last chance to be a part of history
Playoff Packages

West 109/209 Youth – 250 NIS
West 108/208 – 400 NIS
West 109/209 Adult – 400 NIS
Lower East – 440 NIS
West 204-207 – 440 NIS
E+ – 600 NIS
Silver – 1,200 NIS

Limited availability

Playoff packages purchased via the website or phone are 5 NIS more than the
Leaan ticket office (amounts listed)

Sheran Yeini, the Maccabi Tel Aviv captain looked ahead to Monday night’s (20:30) contest against Bnei Yehuda:

“Our philosophy at Maccabi is that we don’t look too far ahead. Every game is important to us and we come as prepared as possible. We aren’t even thinking of the Cup match at the moment.”

About the preparations:
“We’ve been preparing the best that we can this past week. We aren’t thinking about the playoffs, just about the next match.”

The opponent:
“It’s always tough to play Bnei Yehuda and it will be a challenge.”