Barak Itzhaki, the Yellow & Blue striker was honored in a prematch ceremony by his youth club and then scored the match winner in the second half. Number 10 spoke about finding the back of the goal against his former club:

“I scored a goal for my club and I didn’t go over the top. I was happy that I scored but most importantly we won the game.”

Drop in quality:

“I don’t think that we went down in quality, it may have not been our best game but whats important in these types of game is that we knew how to take the points. Ashkelon has given problems to all of the top teams and it’s very difficult to play here. Even when they played against Beer Sheva they were leading 1:0 and could have won the match. We were able to score two important goals and it’s too bad we gave up a goal but again most importantly is that we took the points.”

Going into the playoffs:

“We will analyze the match and our quality will be fine. Sometimes it goes down a bit, but remember that it’s very hard to play 20 straight matches at the highest level. Again what was mist important is that we won.”

Scoring more:

“I am playing more and when I do my job is to score goals. When I played a lot over my career this is exactly what I’ve done. I’m happy to gave back on the pitch. For me, the more I can be on the pitch is a bonus and the more I can help my club is great.”

The Yellow & Blue scored a goal in each half to take home the 3-points in a 2:1 away victory at Hapoel Ashkelon. Tal Ben Chaim scored off his own missed penalty while Barak Itzhaki took a tremendous pass from Ruben Micael and fired it home for Maccabi’s second goal of the night. Josif Ivanovich would pull a late 89th minute goal back but it wouldn’t be enough for Ashkelon as Maccabi closed the gap to table leaders Beer Sheva to three points.

Prematch
Head Coach Lito Vidigal made wholesale changes to his Starting XI as Yuval Shpungin started in place of Eli Dasa who was out due to yellow card accumulation, Avi Rikan was at left back while Captain Sheran Yeini moved to the defensive midfield position. Eitan Tibi and Tal Ben Haim were the central defenders in front of keeper Predrag Rajikovic while Ruben Micael and Yossi Benayoun rounded out the midfield. Tal Ben Chaim, Barak Itzhaki and Vidar Kjartansson provided the offense for the Yellow & Blue.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Oscar Scarione, Gal Alberman, Dor Micha, Egor Filipenka, Marcelo dos Santos and Eliel Peretz.

First Half
Ashkelon almost surprised Maccabi in the 2nd minute as Raz Meir sent a ball to David Manga but the latter’s header couldn’t find the mark. Benayoun tried his luck in the 4th minute but his effort went over the goal as both teams traded chances early on.

In the 15th minute Ben Chaim broke free as he went into the box with Kjartansson by his side, however, Haim Itzrin tripped up number 11 and earned a yellow card for his effort that was good for a penalty. The winger’s spot kick was saved by Dele Aiyenugba but Ben Chaim put home the rebound to give the Yellow & Blue a 1:0 lead.

Following a pair of yellow cards to Rikan and Yeini, Meir almost stole the ball from Rajikovic, but the Serbian keeper sent the ball away to safety in the 27th minute. Itzhaki had a 38th minute screamer of an opportunity but Aiyenugba was up to the task and blocked it for a corner kick. The ensuing corner was taken by Ben Chaim who sent the ball to Shpungin who in turn gave it over to Kjartansson who just missed the goal by inches to keep the score as is heading into the break.

Second Half
Maccabi looked to find an insurance goal early on and they did just that in the 50th minute thanks to Itzhaki who put home a tremendous pass by Micael who found number 10 in the box for the 2:0 advantage. Ashkelon almost pulled one back in the 59th minute but Manga’s chance went wide of the goal.

Head Coach Lito Vidigal made his first substitution in the 65th minute inserting Gal Alberman in favor of Avi Rikan which in turn moved Captain Sheran Yeini to left back as number 6 took his familiar defensive midfielder’s role. Eight minutes later, the Yellow & Blue made their second sub of the evening as Dor Micha entered the match replacing Barak Itzhaki.

Ashkelon’s Josif Ivanovich almost cut the Maccabi lead in the 79th minute but Rajikovic made the big save to keep his clean sheet in tact while a minute later Vidigal made his final substitution replacing Kjartansson for Oscar Scarione. Ivanovich had yet another opportunity but he skied his shot over the Maccabi goal as Ashkelon looked for at least one goal on this night.

And a goal they would get on Ivanovich’s third chance in the 89th minute as he slammed home a Rajikovic rebound to cut the lead to 2:1. However, that’s how it would end as the Yellow & Blue wrapped up the away win to pull within 3-points of table leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will attempt to continue their fine play of late as they head down to Ashkelon for a crucial Matchday 25 Ligat Ha’Al contest. After Beer Sheva’s dramatic victory last night at Ashdod, the Yellow & Blue will try to reduce the gap to 3-points atop the table as there will be just one more match before the Club heads into the Championship Playoffs.

“There are no easy games”, warns Head Coach Lito Vidigal prior to the match down south. “Every one of our opponents will work hard against us and they all have quality. We have to be focused in order for us to win the game. We prepared and worked very hard in order to win our next match. We will have to fight and battle to win. We’re only thinking about how we will come home with 3 points.”

About Maccabi playing after Beer Sheva this week:

“There’s no difference. We have to focus on our game and not worry about the other clubs. We respect our opponent, but we have to work hard for us to win the next match. We have to do everything in our power to be ready for the match and win.”

Last match between the two teams:

Maccabi must be focused on the match against Ashkelon and can’t take them lightly for a number of reasons. Last time the two sides met the match ended in a goalless draw at the Netanya Stadium during the first round of games. In addition, the last two times the Yellow & Blue visited the Sela Stadium they defeated Ashkelon 4:2 in 2011 but fell 1:0 in 1997.

MIA:

For the first time this season, Maccabi will be without right back Eli Dasa, who will not be able to play due to yellow card accumulation (5 yellow cards). Eyal Golasa will also be out due to injury. Ashkelon will be coming into the contest following six games without a win as Yuval Naim’s squad will be without Mirko Ormush, Tal Mahlouf and Amir Ben Shimon.

Eitan Tibi, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s central defender looked ahead to Sunday night’s game away at Hapoel Ashkelon on Matchday 25 of the Ligat Ha’Al. Number 18 looked ahead to the match itself while also talking about advancing to the State Cup semifinals:

“It was a very important victory for us as we moved onto the semifinals and we also won both matches. I hope we’ll also win the semifinal.”

Petah Tikva not an easy club to play:

“They are a very tough team and an opponent who makes everyone’s lives difficult and gives problems to all of the clubs in the league. I’m happy that we have played well against them and hopefully that our play against them will continue on.”

About Hapoel Ashkelon:

“We can’t lose any points and we can’t think that this will be an easy match. There are no easy matches this season. We will prepare as best as possible over the next few days and get ourselves ready both physically and mentally.”

Game by game:

“We have to look at ourselves and at each match one at a time. We don’t have to look backwards and we don’t have to look forwards. We will have to do what we need to on the pitch.”