Category: News
Maccabi beat Netanya 4-1
Preview
Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium after a three-week absence for the MD29 WINNER League match against Maccabi Netanya. Following the 3-1 victory Hapoel Be’ersheva at Turner, Zarko Lazetic’s side climbed to the top of the standings with 63 points. Lazetic will try guide his charges to a fifth league victory in succession which would increase the lead at the top to five at least until Monday when Be’ersheva face 3rd place Maccabi Haifa.
Lazetic made a single change from the side that won at Turner as Eran Zahavi replaced Dor Turgeman upfront.
Simon Sluga kept his place in goal for the 12th time with Raz Shlomo and Nemanja Stojic lining-up as the two central defenders in front of the Croatian custodian. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s back-four. Issouf Sissokho remained in the anchorman role with Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz completing Maccabi’s midfield trio. Osher Davida who set up two goals at Turner and Weslley Patati who scored two and set up another supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation. Zahavi was making his 10th league start, seeking to add to his 4 league goals and 7 in all competitions this season.
On the bench Lazetic named alongside goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Stav Lemkin, Idan Nachmias, Dor Turgeman, Joris van Overeem, Elad Madmon, Ofir Davidzada, Hisham Layous and Ido Shahar.
First Half
Prior to kickoff, two ceremonies were held, the first in memory of Itzik Elgarat (69) a Maccabi fan who was held hostage in Gaza for 510 and was murdered by Hamas. The second ceremony was in memory of former Maccabi and Netanya midfielder, Moshe Gariani, who scored 18 goals in 119 appearances during the 80’s. Maccabi began the match with one mission – scoring an early goal to get the crowd going. Seven minutes from the start the deadlock was broken as Weslley Patati carved Netanya’s defense open with a perfect through ball to Dor Peretz. The midfielder sent a shot come cross in the direction of the far post where Osher Davida tapped the ball home from point blank range.
Seven minutes later Maccabi doubled the lead with a spectacular goal scored by number seven Eran Zahavi. The goal which will compete as one of the goals of the season will also compete as one of the best goals Zahavi scored during his illustrious career. Gabi Kanichowsky brought down on the edge of then area a Tyrese Asante long ball. Kanichowsky then flicked the ball to Peretz who continued with a lopping ball towards Zahavi. The veteran Maccabi striker launched himself in the air and with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick volleyed the ball under the crossbar for his 200th goal in Yellow and Blue. In the 22nd minute Netanya cut the deficit as Itay Ben Shabat rose above Maccabi’s defense to head a cross which beat Simon Sluga as it went in off the crossbar to set the score on 2-1.
Three minutes after the half hour mark, Maccabi restored their two-goal lead. Davida whipped in a pinpoint cross from the left and Zahavi flicked the ball with his head past Omer Nir’on and into the bottom far corner for his second and Maccabi’s third. A Patati cross on 39 was blocked by Netanya’s defense and fell to Revivo whose attempt of a half volley sailed over the crossbar. A minute later referee Yigal Frid awarded Netanya a penalty after Nemanja Stojic was judged to have tripped Daniel Dapaa in the box. But VAR intervened called Frid to the screen before the initial decision was overturned and the penalty cancelled. On the brink of halftime, Sluga was forced to full stretch as he threw himself across goal to claw out a powerful dipping shot by Heriberto Tavares.
Second Half
Lazetic made one change after the internal as Idan Nachmias replaced Tyrese Asante at the restart. A Maccabi counterattack in the 51st minute began with Patati who squared to Kanichowsky before teeing up Zahavi. The 37-year-old lined up his shot from the edge of the area but Nir’on dived to his right and collected with ease. In the 64th minute Lazetic made a double substitution as Joris van Overeem and Dor Turgeman came on for Sissokho and Zahavi.
Four minutes after his introduction Turgeman received a long ball from Stojic and with one touch killed it dead to break into the area before he was brought down by Nikita Stoyanov. Frid pointed at the spot before the 21-year-old striker stepped up and blasted the penalty home to score Maccabi’s fourth his 17th goal of the season. Lazetic made another double change as Kanichowsky and Davida bowed out to a standing ovation with the duo replaced by Ido Shahar and Elad Madmon. Shahar almost scored three minutes after he came on as the diminutive midfielder reacted first to a loose ball but his close range toe poke could only find the side netting. In the 90th minute Patati had the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman raised his flag for offside denying the Brazilian a fifth.
Lazetic ahead of Netanya
From Prica to Zahavi: 5 goals to ignite your fire
In his ears: Roy Revivo’s playlist
Patati: “Maccabi is like a family to me”
The 21-year-old Brazilian who scored his 11th goal in all competitions this season said at the end of the match: “I am delighted with the victory at a match which was very important for us. I hope we continue this way all the way to the championship. It was a vey important match, but there are eight matches still left to play. Every match is very important. We must remain focused but we can still be happy and celebrate the victory today.”
“We have a very good team” Patati said: “We are working very hard every day in order to play this way. We played well and I would like us to continue this way.”
When asked to compare life in Israel and Brazil, Patati added: “The atmosphere at matches are similar, stadiums are full and I would like to thank our fans who travelled here and helped us win the match today.”
Patati who joined Maccabi in the summer from Santos, said of his future plans: “I have a three year contract so I am here. I leave such matters for my agent but I would like to continue playing here as I am very happy here. Maccabi is like a family to me – everyone is helping me all the time including the fans”
Lazetic sums up the victory
Maccabi beat Beersheva 3-1
Preview
Maccabi arrived at Turner stadium for the top of the table clash against leaders Hapoel Be’ersheva trailing the hosts by a point in the table. One match into the Playoff, Zarko Lazetic’s side have 60 points from 27 matches while Be’ersheva who had a point deducted by the IFA disciplinary court are on 61. Lazetic who guided Maccabi to a 1-0 victory over Be’ersheva at Bloomfield and saw his side held to a 2-2 draw at Turner was aiming to record a victory at the toughest ground in the league.
Raz Shlomo partnered Nemanja Stojic as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Simon Sluga. Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo completed Maccabi’d defensive line on the right and left respectively. Issouf Sissokho in the anchorman role was named at the bottom of the midfield trio that included Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz. The 29-year-old whose winning goal in May 2018 inflicted Be’ersheva their first ever domestic defeat at Turner stadium, returned from suspension to lead the team out with the captain’s armband. Weslley Patati recovered from an ankle injury and was back in the side on one wing with Osher Davida who scored Maccabi’s opener against Hapoel Haifa before the international break, was named on the opposite flank. Dor Turgeman led the line aiming to increase his goal tally and inflict Be’ersheva their first home defeat this season.
On the bench Lazetic named goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, alongside Stav Lemkin, Idan Nachmias, Eran Zahavi, Joris van Overeem, Elad Madmon, Ofir Davidzada, Hisham Layous and Ido Shahar.
First Half
Maccabi’s players seemed unphased by the sea of red and wall of noise created by the home fans at Turner stadium. The 1530 Maccabi fans who packed the north east corner of the stadium were in a state of delirium after 10 minutes as Wesley Patati Maccabi put Maccabi infront. Raz Shlomo sent a long ball out of defence which Helder Lopez tried to head back to his keeper but Osher Davida latched on the loose ball and charged forward. With only the keeper to beat Davida opted to roll the ball past Niv Eliasi who saved but Patati reacted first and headed in the rebound from point blank range. Five minutes after Maccabi’s opener Dor Turgeman was cautioned by referee Orel Grinfeeld for going down in the box too easily.
In the 23rd minute Guy Mizrahi stopped Patati’s counter attack with a tackle that Grinfeeld ignored but was called by the VAR to the screen before sending off the former Maccabi Youth Academy graduate to leave the hosts with 10 men. A minute after the half hour mark Maccabi were awarded a free kick near the byline as Lopez tripped Davida. Patati turned from scorer to provider as he sent a pinpoint cross to the far post which was met by a Dor Peretz header that doubled Maccabi’s lead and silenced Turner.
Maccabi increased the lead to 3-0 as Peretz found Davida with acres of space down the right before the winger charged forward and squared to Patati who side footed the ball home for his second and Maccabi’s third. Inside injury time Maccabi came inches away from a fourth as Peretz tried a shot from the edge of the area which took a deflection to beat Eliasi but struck the crossbar and bounced out.
Second Half
While Lazetic kept his side unchanged, his opposite number Ran Kuzukh made a double substitution with Matan Baltaxa and Yoni Stoyanov replacing Eliel Peretz and Iuri Medeiros at the restart. Two minutes into the second half Be’ersheva cut the deficit as Kings Kangwa picked the ball inside his own area and ran almost the entire length of the pitch before exchanging passes with Dan Biton and rifling a shot into the top corner.
Lazetic made his first change as Elad Madmon came on for Dor Turgeman on 59. Roy Revivo nutmegged Be’ersheva opponent to break into the area but saw his effort saved by the keeper. Lazetic made two more changes in the 75th minute as Sissokho and Patati bowed out and were replaced by Joris van Overeem and Eran Zahavi for the closing stages. In the 86th minute Lazetic made two more changes as Tyrese Asante and Davida were replaced by Idan Nachmias and Hisham Layous.
Madmon could have increased the lead as he charged into the area but was stopped by Eliasi who also saved Zahavi’s powerful drive but nothing could dampen the mood at the final whistle
A numbers game: Maccabi arrives at Turner
Maccabi and Be’ersheva played each other in the league on 164 occasions with Maccabi winning 64, Be’ersheva winning 31 while 39 matches ended in a draw. The total goal tally currently stands on 189-113.
Be’ersheva hosted Maccabi for 65 matches, with Maccabi winning 24 league matches away from home while Be’ersheva won 21. Maccabi is the only team in the league with a positive record away to Be’ersheva out of the 26 clubs who played away to Be’ersheva for five matches or more.
Maccabi’s record in the 17 matches which were hosted at Turner since it was opened currently stands on 5 victories, 5 draws and 7 defeats.
The highest victory at Turner was a 6-1 Toto Cup rout on the opening match of the 2023/24 season with Eran Zahavi (3), Yonatan Cohen, Dor Peretz and Dan Biton scoring the goals.
Maccabi’s highest victory in the league at Tuner was 4-0 on the final day of the 2018/19 season. An own goal by John Ogu, Yonatan Cohen, Avi Rikan and Eli Dasa scored Maccabi’s goals.
Eighty-three Maccabi players featured against Be’ersheva in the league.
Dor Peretz holds Maccabi’s appearance record at Turner with 10 while Ofir Davidzada and Avi Rikan featured 9 matches each.
Twelve players scored for Maccabi in the league at Turner. Eran Zahavi, Dor Peretz and Yonatan Cohen scored 2 goals each.
Be’ersheva’s coach Ran Kuzukh faced Maccabi 7 times in the league of which Maccabi won 4, drawn 2 and lost 1.
Maccabi and Be’ersheva locked horns in the Playoff for 24 matches of which Maccabi won 10, lost 6 while 8 matches were drawn.
Under the current league format Maccabi met Be’ersheva for the second Playoff match (MD28) four times. In 2014 and in 2015 Maccabi hosted the fixture at Bloomfield winning both matches twice. A Barak Badash brace in 2014 led Maccabi a 2-0 victory and in 2015 an Eran Zahavi brace and a goal by Tal Ben Chaim gave Maccabi a 3-1 victory. Be’ersheva hosted the fixture in 2016 (1-1) and 2017 (0-1).
