Hapoel Kiryat Shemona – Maccabi Tel Aviv, 2016/17
Following a number of poor results, Maccabi played Kiryat Shemona away at a pitch that has always caused the Yellow & Blue problems in the first round. As his father watched from the stands, Vidar Kjartansson knew exactly what money time meant. WATCH

It all starts with defense
Maccabi may have given up a goal via a free kick, but all in all the club played a solid match on the defensive end. You can see that by looking at the central defenders as Eitan Tibi won 15/17 tackles while Sheran Yeini went 14/18 in the same department. Jean-Sylvain Babin went 7/11 in successful tackles while stealing 8 balls from the opponent and Eyal Golasa also took away 8 balls as well, tied for second place in that stat.

Who was first you ask?
One of the key reasons that there has been such an improvement in the team’s results and aggressiveness on the pitch is thanks to Dor Peretz. The defensive midfielder was involved in over 50 tackles between the Toto Cup Final against Beer Sheva and the match versus Beitar and continuously interfered with the rival’s plans time after time. The midfielder also won 15/22 aerial battles and stole 9 balls in the Beitar contest, the most on the team. In fact, he also led the squad against Beer Sheva in that category with 10. Peretz (10.5km), Rikan (10.2) and Micha (10.2) ran the most kilometers for Maccabi at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.

Thinking offense
The defense worked well while the Yellow & Blue attack created many chances. Over the course of 90 minutes versus Beitar, Maccabi sent 37 balls into the box with 17 being accurate as the host’s only put 15 into the box with 6 finding their intended target.

Another impressive statistic was key passes. Maccabi made 23 of them with 16(!) being accurate for a 70% success rate. On the other side of the pitch, Beitar attempted only 7 with 3 hitting their target.

Two players who were constantly involved in building the attack were Dor Micha and Eli Dasa. The former led the club with 6 (5 accurate) while sending 11 balls into the box. The right back kept threatening the Beitar defense and made 4 key passes (2 accurate) while putting 8 balls into the area. The strikers were also involved in the offense as Nick Blackman (3/3 in key passes) and Eliran Atar (2/3) were involved on a constant basis as well.

Rikan continues to score and attack
How about Maccabi’s goal scorer over the past few weeks? It only took a minute for Avi Rikan to score his 4th league goal and 7th across all competitions. The midfielder didn’t stop with just that as he led the side with 5 attempts on goal with 3 hitting the target. Eliran Atar was also active taking three shots with two on target.

Blackman also had a quality evening, assisting on Rikan’s goal while scoring himself for his 5th league strike of the season. He drew even with Omer Atzily who up until the Beitar match led the club in that category.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will look to continue their positive momentum in Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al action on Saturday December 23 at 20:30 when they host Kiryat Shemona for a Matchday 14 encounter at the Netanya Stadium. Tickets are on sale so come out and cheer the Yellow & Blue.

Maccabi fans may purchase tickets for the following sections: West Stand Reserved Upper (203-209) & Lower Levels (101-109) , Silver and E+. This match is included in the 2017/18 season ticket package.

You may purchase tickets at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv, by telephone *8780 and via the Leaan Website

Please note:
Print at home is available

Ticket Prices
Leaan Ticket Office
West Stand
Adult – 100 NIS
E+ – 200 NIS
Silver – 350 NIS

Telephone/Website
West Stand
Adult – 105 NIS
Youth/Soldier/Woman – 55 NIS (Phone Sales only, not including section 103-107, 204-207 and are issued at the Leaan Box Office by providing appropriate documentation)
E+ – 205 NIS
Silver – 355 NIS

Ticket Collection
Tickets may be collected at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street between Sunday-Thursday 09:00-19:00, Friday 09:00-13:30.
Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Stadium ticket windows beginning 3 hours prior to the match until 45 minutes after the start of the match.

Avi Rikan, the Yellow & Blue midfielder looked back at his side’s 2:1 win over Beitar Jerusalem on Matchday 14 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al which opened up the second round of matches:

“I played as a defensive back a few times this season due to injuries, but when I play in the midfield I have been able to score goals and I work hard there because it’s a position I’ve played my whole life. Sometimes it takes time to get back into a position but I was able to do it quickly.”

Playing against his former club:
“I played here for many years and I had some good times where I also scored goals. I’m happy where I am now, we took the three points and I’m happy for our fans.”

Good vibe:
“We brought a good vibe into the match after the win on Thursday and from a professional point of view we were good on the pitch and we controlled our space and gave the strikers chances. Our central defenders played well and we did the job. We gained confidence after the Toto Cup win and now we have to keep moving ahead.”

Stability:
“I think we were playing but we lost points. This past week gave us a lot of strength and confidence. We have good players here who can play quality football. I’ve talked a lot about how we need to some stability even after wins as that is the most important thing for us.”

What Maccabi needs to look like:
“You have to look at each match separately. There were games where we dominated play but couldn’t score and there were games that we didn’t play well enough and didn’t create chances and we weren’t aggressive enough. I hope that we will be able to see this Maccabi Tel Aviv going forward. Where we press, control the pace of the match and keep clean sheets. Over the last few contests we have given up fewer goals and that’s important. We have to take this match and play like this in the games ahead. This is what Maccabi should look like.”

Winning the battles:
“We have to take the good things and concentrate on the basics which is to fight and win our battles on the pitch because that’s what will continue to give us chances.”

After one of the toughest seasons to date due to an injury, Eli Dasa finally was able to open up in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Starting XI as he took part in the 2:1 win over his former club Beitar Jerusalem:

“I don’t think that this was an amazing performance. Of course it’s always great to win at a difficult stadium against a club that’s taken many points against us in the past. I’m happy that I was able to make my league debut on the right foot and I hope that it will continue this way.”

Recovering from an injury:
“There were times that I wanted to jump onto the pitch from the bench. It wasn’t easy. It was a difficult time and not a simple injury. I want to acknowledge the whole Maccabi medical staff and all those who supported me during this time. I’m happy to return to the pitch.”

The importance of the win:
“There are those that say that the Toto Cup Final victory doesn’t really count. But I believe that anyone who takes a title is making a statement. Maccabi missed out on a number of titles over the past few seasons and winning the Toto Cup brought a good feeling going into the match at Teddy.”

4000 fans that accompanied the club to Jerusalem:
“The Maccabi fans have suffered together with us recently and I think it’s great to be able to give them back some happy moments.”

About Jordi Cruyff:
“There are plenty of players who have been with Jordi for a long time even from his days as Sports Director. We really like him and we get along well with him and we want him to succeed even before we do ourselves.”

Jordi Cruyff looked back at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 2:1 win at Beitar Jerusalem on Matchday 14 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al:

“I think the first half was very good. The second half we had a few chances to make it 0:3 but we couldn’t score and then Beitar came with a set piece and the match became difficult and physical with a lot of long balls. But we defended well and the players had some tough games over the last few weeks and credit to them and the fans who gave us huge support. I’m happy for them and I hope we gained confidence from this result.”

Playing with effort:
“At least in our intensity on the pitch it was a turning point, but just that doesn’t win games you also need to score and play better. There are things we need to improve but when Maccabi plays with this effort, the owner and coaching staff sees that it pays off and the fans support even more when the players give more than 100%.”

Eli Dasa:
“He brings us special energy and was injured for 4.5 months. We had Golasa out for a long time and Micha as well. Jose was out and is still trying to get back his fitness. But when you have all of the players there is competition and choices will be difficult for me but it’s a good sign for the club. It’s 3 points and now we have to move on to Saturday. No time to rest.”

Recovering the points lost:
“I know that the owner is backing me by 200% and I knew that from day one even after making bad signings he’s always supported me. I never really felt the pressure too much but I felt bad that we had 3 points in hand and we left with 1 point. We lost too many points and now’s the time to recover them.”

About Vidar Kjartansson:
“Vidar is good when you have a lot of presents in the visitors box but when it was 0:2 and 1:2 it was physical with a lot of long balls. Aaron is a taller player and he can compete for those and hold them better. Golasa played a very good game but at some point the battery is dead and it has to be refreshed. Let’s not fool ourselves, Vidar is the most clinical finisher in the club and I’m sure there will be plenty of games for him and the team will need him for sure.”

The Yellow & Blue picked up the win at Beitar Jerusalem thanks to first half goals by Avi Rikan and Nick Blackman. Claudemir scored for the hosts to cut the Maccabi lead in the second half but it wasn’t enough to stop the visitors to open up the second round of Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al matches.

Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajikovic, Eli Dasa, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Eitan Tibi, Captain Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Dor Peretz, Dor Micha, Nick Blackman and Eliran Atar.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Jose Rodriguez, Vidar Kjartansson, Barak Itzhaki. Aaron Schoenfeld, Tal Ben Haim and Cristian Battocchio.

Beitar Jerusalem’s starting lineup featured Stav Shoshan, Antoine Conte, Miki Siroshstein, Tal Kahila, Marcel Heister, David Keltjens, Claudemir Parreira, Arik Sabo, Jiorginho, Hen Ezra and Itay Shecter. Bench Benny Peretz, Ofer Varta, Sean Goldberg, Antoine Varenne, Yossi Benayoun, Yakov Brihen, Paul Edgar.

First Half
Maccabi began the match with a bang as Peretz lofted a ball into the box that Blackman headed down to Rikan who drilled it behind Shoshan for a quick 1:0 lead after a minute of play. Rikan tried his luck off a direct corner kick towards the goal and missed by centimeters in the 4’ while five minutes later Dasa sent a cross into the box from the left side that Atar dove head first in front of the goal for and just missed scoring Maccabi’s second.

The Yellow & Blue went on the attack again in the 18’ as Micha gave Atar the ball but his attempt was saved by Shoshan as was his opportunity 3 minutes later when he went one on one with the Beitar keeper. Tibi stole the ball from Ezra in the 27’ just outside of the box and sent a scorcher that just missed to the left of the goal. Two minutes later Claudemir tried his luck from outside the box but Rajiko was up to the task.

In the 36’ Rikan took a shot from the top of the box but his effort was taken care of by Shoshan as was his 38’ attempt. With the majority of play in the Beitar zone and Maccabi looking for a second strike they would find it via Blackman who popped the ball into the goal as he followed up on his own header that hit the post for a 2:0 Yellow & Blue advantage in the 42’. Atar then had a chance to add a third but his one on one chance was put right into Shoshan as Maccabi took a two goal lead into the break.

Second Half
Beitar made a double substitution to start the second half as Edgar and Varenne entered the match for Conte and Ezra. Maccabi continued on the attack as Dasa had a quality chance in the 50’ but #2 put the ball over over the goal from the right. However, it would be Beitar who would strike first in the second half as Claudemir sent a free kick behind Rajikovic from just outside the top of the box to cut the Maccabi lead to 2:1.

Beitar continued to press Maccabi and had another chance in the box in the 64’ but Tibi cleared the ball to safety and out for a corner. Benayoun came on a minute later for Jiorginho marking the hosts’s final substitution of the match while Cruyff brought on Battocchio in favor of Golasa in the 66’ and Schoenfeld for Atar five minutes later.

Battocchio gave Rikan a marvelous ball in the 77’ but Shoshan again made the save to keep the score as is. Jose Rodriguez came on for Rikan in the 81’ as Maccabi looked to close out the match which is what they promptly did taking home the 3 points and the win.