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Yellow & Blue Saturday – Match Results May 20, 2017

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 0:4 Kiryat Shemona
After five wins out of six games, the Under-19’s finished their season off falling to the Northern club 4:0 ending the campaign in third place. CLICK HERE for the full match report.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv 2:1 Hapoel Kiryat Shemona
Following a week where Eliezer Ben Aharon’s squad won the league title and the Israel State Cup, the Under-17’s kept up their fine play and won yet again thanks to goals by Sahar Barami via penalty (35th minute) and Mufleh Shalata (40th minute). Ben Aharon summed up his side’s performance: “It’s tough to make the mental switch after all of the celebrations, the match wasn’t played at a level that we were used to and that was something clear. We have one more match to finish off the season and I hope that we will do it in style.”

Hapoel Raanana 2:2 Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv
The Under-15 North club entered the last Matchday with a two match win streak. Amir Sofer’s side took an early advantage but Raanana came back to take a 2:1 lead. However, Maccabi “Ilan” didn’t give up and found the tying goal as Tal Torgeman (penalty) and Yalli Lazar scored for the young Yellow & Blue. Sofer spoke about the match: “We missed a lot of chances and we should have won.”

Ben Haim: “The State Cup is of the utmost importance”

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Tal Ben Haim, the Yellow & Blue veteran central defender spoke about the upcoming State Cup Final against Bnei Yehuda on Thursday night at Teddy Stadium. He discussed the importance of the match, playing under the new Head Coach and the seriousness of this final:

“Of course we know that our performance against Beitar will not be good enough for Thursday. We have a State Cup Final match and we all know how important that is for a Club like Maccabi Tel Aviv which can’t allow itself to finish two seasons without a title. We are taking this match seriously and we know that it will be a very tough game against a team that will do everything in their power to win as they don’t always have the opportunity to win a title. We will come in prepared, focused and full of energy much more so than last night’s match.”

Playing under the new Coach Lito Vidigal:

“The coach arrived in January and we had a good run of games. But it’s important that we finish the season with a title as Maccabi Tel Aviv can’t go a second straight year without one. We will give everything that we have in this match.”

Importance of the State Cup Final:

“Whoever comes into the match and doesn’t give 100% of the themselves is in the wrong profession. I don’t know of any player that comes into a State Cup Final and doesn’t give it all. This match is of the utmost importance and will determine a tremendous amount.”

Vidigal: “The fans are important and we want to bring them home the Cup”

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Head Coach Lito Vidigal spoke about his club’s 2:0 defeat at the hands of Beitar Jerusalem on the final Matchday of the Ligat Ha’Al’s regular season. The Maccabi boss looked ahead to next season, his time at Maccabi so far, the State Cup and the match itself:

“That is football. We may had 6 opportunities to score in the 2nd half. If the players would have started this way maybe we would have scored in the first half and win the game. It’s normal that the players are thinking about the Cup because the regular season has been over.”

His time with the team so far:

“Of course I am enjoying it. I know when I came that it was a difficult end of season. Most importantly we won the game against Beitar in the State Cup semifinal and the target is to win the Cup and take home a title for the first time in 2 years. This is very important for us right now.”

Looking ahead:

“I had to change many things ins a short period off time, but we have improved in the league and now we have been working very hard. There’s no question that it’s hard to focus when the season has already been over for some time with the Cup coming up this week. The fans are important and we want to bring them home the Cup.”

The 2017/18 season:

“Next season, believe me we will finish higher than this season.”

Maccabi falls 2:0 to Beitar

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Beitar Jerusalem defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 2:0 on goals by Arik Sabo and Itay Shecter as the Yellow & Blue will now turn their attention to the State Cup Final against Bnei Yehuda in the Little Derby at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on Thursday night.

Matchday 36: MTA Vs. Beitar Jerusalem

 

Prematch
Prior to the match former player Yoav Ziv was honored in a moving ceremony and was cheered to the fans delight.

Head Coach Lito Vidigal made a number of changes to his Starting XI and gave Brazilian Ramon Roma his first Maccabi start while also inserting Eliel Peretz into the midfield. Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic was back in goal after getting the last match off while Eli Dasa, Tel Ben Haim and Eitan Tibi were on defense. Gal Alberman was wearing the Captain’s armband while Yossi Benayoun, Barak Itzhaki, Tal Ben Chaim and American-Israeli Aaron Schoenfeld rounded out the lineup.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Avi Rikan, Vidar Kjartansson, Ruben Micael, Dor Micha, Sagiv Yehezkel and Egor Filipenka.

First Half
The half began with both sides playing tentative football but Arik Sabo gave Beitar the lead in the 12th minute after taking an Itay Shecter pass from the right and scored uncontested in the middle of the box for a 1:0 advantage. Six minutes later Schoenfeld’s header off of a Ben Chaim corner was caught by keeper Boris Kleyman while just one minute later, the visitors took a 2:0 lead thanks to Shecter. Dan Einbinder’s chance hit the bar and went to Shecter who took a sharp angled shot from 15 meters out that found it’s way into the left corner of the goal and past Rajikovic.

A shocked Maccabi began to control the play and in the 38th minute Itzhaki’s opportunity was off the mark while Dasa’s 45th minute long attempt was blocked by the keeper and sent out for a corner as the half came to an end with Beitar holding a 2:0 advantage.

Second Half
After Head Coach Lito Vidigal inserted Dor Micha into the match for Itzhaki, the Yellow & Blue came out strong to begin the second half as Ben Chaim had a pair of chances early on. The first came thanks to a brilliant pass by Micha but Kleyman was able to come out and snag the ball while Number 11’s second opportunity was cleared off of the line by David Keltjens.

Ben Chaim picked up a yellow card for a reckless tackle in the 54th minute while two minutes later Idan Vered cut into the box but his attempt just skipped by the left post and out. Ben Chaim had a third chance to score but his 61st minute attempt was grabbed by the Beitar shot stopper. Central defender Ben Haim was issued a yellow card in the 63rd minute while three minutes later Benayoun’s long opportunity went flying over the bar as Beitar maintained their 2:0 lead.

The visitors almost added a third goal but Hen Ezra’s 71st minute chance went wide right of the goal while Lito Vidigal made his second substitution of the evening as Avi Rikan entered the contest in favor of Ben Chaim. In the 75th minute Rajikoivc came out to make a nice stop on Avishai Cohen to keep the score as is while Ezra tried gain but came up empty in the 77th minute.

Ruben Micael came into the match for Yossi Benayoun in the 81st minute as Maccabi couldn’t muster any more opportunities as the match ended with Beitar defeating the Yellow & Blue to finish off the regular season.

Maccabi will now turn their sights to the State Cup Final against Bnei Yehuda in the Little Derby at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on Thursday night.

Maccabi “Shachar” fall 4:0 to Kiryat Shemona

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Prematch
The final Matchday of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al season saw Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv face Kiryat Shemona at the Ramle Stadium. The Under-19’s came into the contest looking to extend their wining streak to 3 games and finish off the canpiagn on a high note. Guy Tzarfati made a number of changes to his Starting XI as Sharon Gabai played at left back while Ron Zamir, Neil Goldberg, Dor Galili, Eylon Almog rounded out the starters. With a win, Maccabi would finish in 2nd place as the northern club will end their season in 4th place.

First Half
The visitors looked to break the ice in the first minute but the ball went off of the Yellow & Blue defense and out for a corner. In the 12th minute, Kiryat Shemona came close again but Rosenboim cleared the ball from danger.

A minute later, Goldberg had a chance from the left side as he gave the ball off to Eylon but his attempt went over the goal. In the 16th minute, Galili took the ball from the right and made his way into the area but his opportunity also flew over the bar. Kiryat Shemona went back the other way but their chance also went over the Maccabi keeper Omer Kats.

In the 35th minute, the Northern squad almost took the lead but Kats was in place to make the stop while three minutes from the break Altman took a long shot that the keeper blocked. However, Eylon got to the rebound but his attempt went over the goal as the sides went into halftime goalless.

Second Half
Kiryat Shemona opened the second half possessed and took the quick advantage just after the break as their striker found the back of the goal for the 1:0 lead. In the 54th minute the Northern side almost doubled their advantage as their striker took a gorgeous cross from the right to slam the ball home but was called back due to a foul in the box.

Just 3 minutes later, the young Yellow & Blue were left with ten men as Amit Rosenboim received a red card for a tackle in the middle of the pitch after getting tied up with an opposing player. In the 62nd minute, Maccabi “Shachar” almost evened up the match when Goldberg’s give and go with Almog resulted in the former taking a good shot that was caught by the keeper.

However, just after some pressure from the hosts, Kiryat Shemona doubled their lead in the 64th minute as the midfielder took a deep pass to score an uncontested goal. Just minutes later the visitors had another quality chance but skied the ball over the goal, however, in the 82nd minute they made no mistake as the midfielder took the ball from the left side and found the corner of the goal for a 3:0 advantage.

In the 89th minute Kiryat Shemona took a long attempt that hit off of the Maccabi defense and went into the goal for a 4:0 victory.

Youth Department Saturday Action – May 20, 2017

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Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Kiryat Shemona, 11:30 Ramle
Guy Tzarfati’s squad will look to pick up another win and end their season on a high note. The young Yellow & Blue will host the northern side who find themselves in 4th place on the final Matchday of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al campaign as they look to sew up 2nd place.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Kiryat Shemona, 11:30 Kiryat Shalom
The Under-17 side will also face the northern club after taking home the Double by winning the league last Saturday and picking up the State Cup by defeating Maccabi Haifa this past Wednesday. With two Matchdays remaining in the season, Eliezer Ben Aharon’s team will look to keep up the positive momentum.

Hapoel Raanana – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, 08:30 Raanana Park North Synthetic
Amir Sofer’s squad will play their last match of the season when they visit the Sharon Club. After back to back victories, the Under-15 North side will look to continue their fine play of late and end the season on a positive note as they will finish the campaign in 4th place regardless of Saturday’s result.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv defeated Gadna “Roni” Tel Aviv 8:0 to end their season off in style. Bar Cohen and Raava Asayag scored braces while Gil Ben Shalosh, Asaf Hershko, Tal Yudayev and Omer Itzhak found the back of the goal as well. Head Coach Alon Brumer said: “We totally controlled the play and we took advantage of many opportunities while our defense didn’t allow our opponents any chances. We had a good match.” The Under-16’s finished their season in 3rd place.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv, the Under-15 South club ended their season in a respectable 3rd place.