20 of the Youth “Toto” League featured the biggest match of the league as the young Yellow-and-Blue visited the Greens at Kesef. The point differential stood at only three thanks to a terrific run of games by Maccabi “Shachar” during the matches leading up to the top of the game is clash.

The last time that the two clubs met, the Greens succeeded in snagging 3-points as they defeated Maccabi’s Under-19 side 3:2 at the Ramle Stadium. Gaby Kanichowsky and Dan Glazer scored for the hosts while Mohamd Awad picked up a brace and an own goal decided the match. Ziv Arie came into this match with a number of offensive threats bit at his disposal as Eylon Almog and Eden Kartzev were both representing the Under-17 Israel National Team in the Elite Round of the UEFA European Championships.

Lazar Durovic who returned to the squad about a month ago was given the opportunity to start alongside Eliel Peretz and Or Dasa who played in last year’s match that led to the turnaround in their season as they went on to capture the championship.

Maccabi “Shachar” had the first opportunity in the match when Eliel Peretz’s 20 meter effort hit the bar and looked to have crossed the line but then bounced out. The referee didn’t rule a goal and the match continued on.

In the 23rd minute the hosts took the lead. Yellow-and-Blue keeper Haviv Ohayon was able to stop Awad on a one-on-one attempt, however the striker’s rebound found the back of the goal to give Haifa a 1:0 advantage. Ten minutes later, Maccabi’s deficit grew to 2:0 as Zenati scored the Greens second goal of the match as the sides headed into the break with the hosts ahead.

Tomer Altman came for Omer Haramati for Ziv Arie’s team to open up the second half as the young Yellow-and-Blue searched for a way back into the match. But it was not to be as Muhamed Abu Fani’s 20 meter opportunity was blocked by Ohayon as the rebound was put away by Awad for the brace and 3:0 lead in the 57th minute.

Arie introduced Nadav Amran and Thomas Prince who made his debut, but it was not to be as the match ended in a 3:0 win for Haifa and the gap widened to 6-points at the top of the table.

Head coach Peter Bosz’s side collected three very valuable points in the championship race as the Yellow-and-Blue picked up the 1:0 victory over a defensive minded Bnei Sakhnin. The Dutchman spoke about how his club performed, next week’s battle for first place and of course the importance of the victory:

“Today’s match, especially the first half was fantastic. We created opportunities and we played a very high tempo match. We saw how they played against Beer Sheva last week and they are very dangerous on the counterattack. It wasn’t very good for my health that we scored so late in the match. The second half wasn’t as good but I’m very satisfied with the win.”

On the second half substitutions:

“This was a game that we were in full control of. They weren’t dangerous on the counterattack but we didn’t create enough chances to score. After 70 minutes of play, I wanted to introduce players who could play in tight areas with not a lot of room to operate. Barak Itzhaki is an excellent player for these types of situations and the difference between Gal Alberman and Shlomi Azulay is that Shlomi is a player that plays more offensively. It may have been a risk but a draw wasn’t an option for us. I believe in these players.”

About the captain’s contribution:

“Eran Zahavi is a fantastic player and very important. Football is about goals and he’s our goalscorer, but Maccabi is not just Zahavi. Orlando Sa’s assist was excellent and our defenders played a wonderful game.”

Looking ahead to next week:

“I’m still thinking about the match. The game against Beer Sheva was not my priority up until now. Starting tomorrow it will be my main focus.”

The style of the match:

“If we would’ve scored two goals in the first half things would have been quite different. In my opinion this was one of our better games. The difference between this match and last week’s was that our opponent wanted to play football then and we were able to score more.”

Next year’s stadium:

“This is not a question for me, but I’d be happy to play in a stadium where the crowd sits close to the action and that the pitch is as good as Bloomfield’s because it’s essential to our game.”

Eran Zahavi scored the lone goal of the match in the 80th minute off of a text book double pass with Portuguese striker Orlando Sa to pick up the valuable three points and the win prior to facing Beer Sheva next week in a crucial top of the table battle for first place.

Head Coach Peter Bosz made a couple of changes to his usual Starting XI as Yuval Shpungin was given an opportunity at left defensive back for the Yellow-and-Blue. Joining him in front of keeper Predrag Rajikovic were Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi and Carlos Garcia. Gal Alberman and Haris Mendunjanin manned the midfield while just behind striker Orlando Sa was an attacking trio of Dor Micha, Tal Ben Chaim and Captain Eran Zahavi.

Maccabi had the first couple of attempts in the match when Alberman’s 10th minute effort sailed just over Mohamad Kandil’s goal while Zahavi’s 24th minute chance was stopped cold by Sakhnin defender Alla Abu Salah to keep the game goalless.

Following a pair of yellow cards handed out by referee Liran Liani to Sakhnin keeper Kandil and Maccabi striker Sa, Micha’s 41st minute opportunity was snagged by the visitors shot stopper as the teams headed into the break deadlocked at 0:0.

Tibi opened up the second half with a scorcher of a 25 meter shot that just whistled by the Sakhnin goal while going the other direction Firas Mugrabi’s effort went out of play as both sides continued to look for the first goal of the match.

Yellow-and-Blue coach Bosz made a double substitution in the 68th minute introducing Barak Itzhaki and Shlomi Azulay for Micha and Alberman as the Dutchman looked to get his club on the scoreboard. For the visitors, Head coach Yossi Abuksis countered taking off Mugrabi for Haled Halayla as Sakhnin attempted to keep the score as is and pick up a valuable point in the Championship Playoffs.

However, that was before the Captain had the last word, as number 7 worked his magic yet again for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Eran Zahavi and Orlando Sa played a perfect give-and-go on the left side of the box in the 80th minute as the league’s leading goal scorer sent the ball right into the Sakhnin goal to give the defending champions the 1:0 lead and the win.

The victory sets up a top of the table battle next week at Turner Stadium on Matchday 28 against Hapoel Beer Sheva as the Yellow-and-Blue currently sit in first place due to a superior goal differential.

 

The Under-17 National Team will be playing the European Championship Elite Round with 7 Yellow-and-Blue representatives. The young striker talked about the upcoming tournament and Maccabi “Shachar’s” big matchThis coming Saturday, the Under-17 and Under-16 clubs will be off due to the International break. The Maccabi youth team will be sending a number of players to the UEFA U17 European Championship where Israel will be part of the Elite Round while the U16 side will be in Serbia participating in a friendly tournament.

The Under-17 club will attempt to continue its fine run of good form when they begin the Elite Round of the European Championships in Group 8 against Spain, Belgium and Slovenia. The team that finishes in first place along with the 7 best second place finishers will automatically advance to the tournament itself. This Friday, Israel will kick off against Spain, two days later they will face the tournament’s host Belgium and will end the competition against Slovenia. There are seven players from the Under-19 and Under-17 Yellow-and-Blue clubs who will be representing Maccabi for the Blue-and-White including: Eden Kartzev, Hen Ozeri, Yarin Sharabi, Noam Cohen, Netanel Peretz, Neil Goldberg and Eylon Alomog.

As the team prepares for the tournament, Eylon Almog spoke about the upcoming first match:

“At the start of the campaign, many people said that we were not good enough and buried us before the competition even began. But right from the get-go we proved to everyone that we were going to be a force to be reckoned with and earn a spot at the European Championships being held in Azerbaijan. We are feeling very good about ourselves and there’s a lot of positive energy. Our opening match will be against Spain on Friday and we will give it our all and then some. I believe that we can succeed.”

The youngster also discussed the fact that there are plenty of Yellow-and-Blue players with the National Team:

“We have 7 representatives here with us and it really shows how powerful a club Maccabi Tel Aviv is. It gives us a lot of confidence and security as many of us know each other already. If you take into account that there are five players who are in the starting lineup it will give us even more strength going forward.”

Almog will miss out on Maccabi’s important youth match on Saturday against Maccabi Haifa and didn’t hide his feelings about it:

“I’m going to tell you the truth that I’m really annoyed that I’ll be missing the match. I also missed out on the game against Maccabi Haifa last round because of the National Team and I was really looking forward to they match. It stinks, but I know that I can count on my teammates. We have been playing well of late and I’m sure that they will do the job. Of course I wish them the best of luck all the way from here.”

The Under-16 side also has plenty of Maccabi players including: Alon Strosberg, Tomer Mahlouf, Bar Levi, Adir Herdon, Sa’ar Berami and Gil Rahimi. The friendly tournament is taking place in Serbia where Coach Alon Hazan’s charges will face both Serbia and Moldova.

Peter Bosz, the Yellow-and-Blue’s Dutch boss looked ahead to the club’s Matchday 27 encounter against Bnei Sakhnin this Saturday evening, 17:00 at Bloomfield Stadium. The Head Coach discussed the impact of the new system, injury status, the new players and starting the playoffs:

“We are beginning the playoffs but this is not a new story as we keep the points and story continues on. It will be ten interesting games.”

The club can actually be in first place after this weekend:

“I don’t believe that it will be this Saturday. If you look at the standings it will be interesting. It’s important for us to play well against Bnei Sakhnin.”

How the team is currently playing:

“I always say that I like to look at ourselves and I was happy with the result but even happier with the way we played, the position game and how we pressed. The way we played will give us confidence for the future.”

About Bnei Sakhnin:

“They have a good team and it will be a tough game. They defended with 11 players and they played very compact so it will be hard to find openings. It will be difficult for them to play that way for the full 90 minutes.”

Last match the club scored 5 goals:

“It always has to do with the opponent, Kfar Saba came to play football and they were not as compact. When you have 11 players behind the ball then it will be harder to play attacking football.”

Nosa Igiebor and Omri Ben Harush’s injury status:

“We still have two trainings to see how they are doing so it may not this Saturday but perhaps for the next Sunday.”

On the new players Orlando Sa and Haris Medunjanin:

“Every player was new for me when I got here in January. The impact on the team is more for the team itself and for the fans than for me as everyone was brand new.”

Impact of the new system:

“We train the position game and how we want to press. If I was here for two weeks and they were able to put the system in place quickly, then my impact wouldn’t have been so great. It takes time and you have a philosophy as to how you want to play but it’s a continuous process. We have been doing it better and better but we are still not there yet.”