The Yellow & Blue travelled south for a Matchday 8 contest against Hapoel Beer Sheva and fell to the southern side 2:1 on goals by Tony Nwakaeme and Ben Sahar while Omer Atzily cut the lead late in the contest. Hatem AlHamid was issued two yellow cards and was sent off early on in the contest but Maccabi couldn’t take advantage of the man advantage.

Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI had Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Yuval Shpungin, Tal Ben Haim, Jean-Sylvain Babin and Ofir Davidzada in front of him. Captain Sheran Yeini anchored the midfield as Cristian Battocchio and Avi Rikan played by his side while Nick Blackman, Omer Atzily and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Eliran Atar, Eitan Tibi, Matan Baltaxa, Tino Susic, Dor Peretz and Or Dasa.

First Half
Maccabi almost struck first in the 5’ as Battocchio’s free kick into the box found Babin’s head but the ball went out to the right of the goal. Nwakaeme lofted a ball into the box but Davidzada sent it out for a corner in the ‘8 as Mahran Radi long drive hit Rajikovic’s left post and was cleared to safety.

Hatem AlHamid was handed a yellow card in the 15’ and was given his second 6 minutes later after pulling down Vidar which resulted in a red card leaving Beer Sheva with 10 men for the contest. Atzily’s 22’ free kick to the right of the goal found Babin’s head but he missed the target as Maccabi looked to take advantage of the extra man.

In the 33’ Davidzada found Rikan on a run into the box but Dudu Goresh made the diving stop when he attempted to send the ball to Vidar, while Yeini’s chance four minutes later from long distance went over the goal. The sides went into the break goalless.

Second Half
The second half opened up with Maccabi on the attack as they looked for a goal. But it was Beer Sheva with the first chance as Radi’s long range low liner just went wide left of the goal in the 53’. Vidar had back to back header chances in the box to no avail in the 60’ while Ofir Davidzada picked up a yellow card one minute later.

Tony Nwakaeme then went into the box from the left side and put the ball into the far right hand corner for a 1:0 Beer Sheva lead. The goal prompted Head Coach Jordi Cruyff to make his first substitute of the match inserting Eliran Atar in place of Avi Rikan. Unfortunately, the hosts found the back of the goal yet again in the 68’ when Ben Bitton went into the box and Sahar put the ball behind Rajikovic for a 2:0 lead.

Atar’s 73’ chance just went wide of the goal and one minute later Mihaly Korhut was issued a yellow card. Cruyff made his second substitute in the 80’ when Tino Susic came on for Shpungin as Atzily’s effort from outside of the box flew over the bar two minutes later. Atzily was able to cut the Beer Sheva lead to 2:1 in the 89’ when his low shot went into the back of the goal but it wouldn’t be enough on this night as Maccabi fell 2:1 down south.

Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Hapoel Beer Sheva in one of the most exciting matches on the Israeli football calendar. Over the course of the past few years both teams have undergone an evolution so now’s a great time to look at what Beer Sheva has done so far this season. All the numbers, stats and facts are right here as we anticipate the big clash on Matchday 8.

Waking up before the end
Hapoel Beer Sheva has scored 4 of the 8 league goals so far this season between the 75-90th minutes. The southern side has scored 5 second half goals while 3 have found the back of the goal in half number one.

Beer Sheva have given up 4 of their 6 goals in the second half.
 
Beer Sheva and Bnei Yehuda are the only two goals that have not scored from a dead ball situation. However, interestingly enough, Beer Sheva has taken the most corners per match with 7.5.

Radi’s long distance attempts
The desert club ranks second in the league with 16.8 attempts with 5.2 on goal. Maccabi is third with 16.3 attempts while 5.7 are on goal.

Radi has the most attempts of any Beer Sheva player with 18 this season. In 90 minutes Radi takes 5 attempts and 1.5 are on goal.

In the Europa League, Radi also has the most attempts with 7.

Beer Sheva also finds itself in third place in offsides per match with an average of 2.3.

Additional numbers
Bachar’s players lead the league in ball possession with 68% per match while the team has also sent 44 balls into the box which is the most in the league.

Maor Melikson sits in third place with 30 key passes of which 14 have been accurate. Meliskon and Eran Levy lead the league with an average of 7 key passes per 90 minutes.

Maccabi will need to pay attention when Tony Nwakaeme and Mihály Korhut team up. The two Beer Sheva players have passed the ball between themselves 36 times against Bucharest in the Europa League and 30 times versus Hapoel Raanana.

Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Hapoel Beer Sheva on Matchday 8 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. The prematch press conference took place this afternoon at Kiryat Shalom and Tal Ben Haim spoke about what the fans can expect to see from the Yellow & Blue:

“Everyone will see a different Maccabi and every player will give 100%. We want to make the fans happy again and we are looking forward to their support. I can promise that we will give 100%.”

About the Astana match:
“I feel that the match in Astana was unacceptable for every player. There are games like that and this is a club that hasn’t lost at home in three years. We didn’t play well and the better team won.”

Improving:
“We are playing against very good teams especially in Europe. We have had some injured players and that’s not an excuse but when you lose some players then you have to rely on fewer players with a number of matches in a short period of time. We are working on a number of things and I hope that we will see improvement.”

The rivalry with Beer Sheva:
“Beer Sheva has to be respected as they have won the championship the last two seasons. Every defeat is painful for both the players and the fans.”

Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach addressed the media at the prematch press conference ahead of the Matchday 8 contest away at Hapoel Beer Sheva on Monday night, 21:00:

“We’re not happy with the last game, but we have an important match tomorrow and we have to focus on that, fix the problems and look ahead.”

Status of injured players:
“We generally don’t want to give too much information about the injured players and we will see after training today who we will have available. I hope that we can recover all of the injured players as we have 3 games over the next 6 days. We are pushing the players to the limit.”

Beer Sheva in a similar situation:
“Beer Sheva is in a similar situation losing the same amount of points in the league and we have had long seasons over the past 3 years. In Europe we will have to see where we stand after next game.”

Importance of winning games:
“We are in a situation where we want to focus on winning our games by playing attacking football. But we will take what wins that we can get. Against Ashkelon we really could have really used those points and it would be a much different feel. Most importantly right now is to get the games out of the way, get the players back and grow throughout the season.”

About some of the matches over the last few seasons:
“They have a very good team and over the last few seasons we had possession but didn’t get a result. After 10-15 minutes we would be in control, open up and then they would score a goal.”

Sacrificing for the good of the team:
“We all feel that the potential is here, no one doubts that. But we have a 3 games in 6 days and it’s difficult. Some players will need to push themselves and sacrifice for the common goal. I think we have a good squad with a lot of potential.”

The league so far this campaign:
“It’s still a bit more open at the moment and on paper in theory the 3-4 teams that are expected to be up at the top, only one is there. All 3 have potential and have good squads, so I expect all of them to fight for the title.”

3 points for the win, but pride on the line:
“The championship won’t be won or lost tomorrow even though everyone likes to create that drama. There is a lot of pride and there is a lot to play for but it’s still just 3 points. It’s important and we both know that we have squads with potential and that will show as the season goes on.”

Looking back at the loss in Astana:
“The players know if we talk about it or not. To lose 4:0 is a painful defeat and touches your honor. You can play good or bad but we have to show character. Even if we don’t win we have to make it painful for them.”

2014/15: State Cup Final
This is arguably the biggest contest between the two clubs and one that will go into the pantheon of not only Maccabi matches but Israeli football in general. The State Cup Final became a one-sided affair for the Yellow & Blue as the teams also battled for the league title. Even without a full squad, Maccabi ran wild at Sammy Ofer Stadium in an unforgettable evening of football that produced an astonishing result.

Maccabi Tel Aviv welcomes Bnei Yehuda to the Netanya Stadium for the Toto Cup quarterfinal on Thursday October 29 at 19:00. Tickets are on sale now so come and cheer the club on to the semifinals of the competition.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans may purchase tickets for the Lower East Stand Sections 504-506 unreserved seating.

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
50 NIS

Telephone/Website
55 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.