Preview

Maccabi arrived at the Partizan stadium in Belgrade for their first home game of the Europa League phase campaign against Danish champions FC Midtjylland. Following last week’s defeat away to Sporting Braga, Zarko Lazetic’s side will aim to bounce back and record their first victory of the new League phase. Dor Turgeman who suffered a calf muscle injury in Braga, joined an injury list which already included Sagiv Jehezkel, Ido Shahar, Roy Revivo and Ofir Davidzada. Lazetic was also forced to be without Gabi Kanichowsky and Tyrese Asante who were both sent off in the closing stages of the match in Portugal.

Osher Davida whose penalty in Braga last week wasn’t enough to earn Maccabi points, was named by Lazetic on one wing with Hisham Layous supplying the width on the opposite flank. Elad Madmon spearheaded Maccabi’s attack as the young forward who joined the club in the summer from Hapoel Hadera was handed his chance in the striker’s role.

On the bench alongside goalkeepers Ofek Melika and Roei Amedi, Lazetic, named Avishay Cohen, Eran Zahavi, Yonas Malede, Wesley Patati, Henry Addo, Roey Magor, Ido Oli, Nir Bitton, and Daniel Tishler.

First Half

Maccabi could have had a dream start inside the opening minute as Elad Madmon knocked the ball down for Dor Peretz who released Hisham Layous into the box. The winger cut inside and tried to square the ball before Kevin Mbabu blocked the attempted cross. Six minutes into the game, Midtjylland had an attempt on goal at the opposite end as Jan Kuchta was sent into the box, but his close-range effort was equaled by Roi Mishpati.

Two minutes later Midtjylland should feel fortunate not to have conceded a goal after Nemanja Stojic was first to react to an Osher Davida corner but had his header blocked on the goal line by Ousmane Diao. Peretz pounced on the rebound forcing a save from Midtjylland’s keeper Elias Rafn Olafsson before Stav Lemkin saw his effort bounce off the crossbar from point blank range. Maccabi continued to dominate pinging Midtjylland inside their own haff with Joris van Overeem, Issouf Sissokho and Dor Peretz winning most of the duals at the center of park and feeding their teammates. Van Overeem and Sissokho enjoyed the time and space as the two midfielders even had shots on goal which missed the target. Osher Davida and Hisham Layous kept tormenting Midtjylland’s full backs, but none of their crosses managed to find a teammate in the box.

Five minutes after the half hour mark, van Overeem won the ball inside Midtjylland’s half and released a counterattack which ended with Davida firing a shot straight at the keeper. While Maccabi couldn’t translate their dominance to a goal, Midtjylland exploited a misplaced Mishpati clearance on 39 allowing Aral Simsir to slide the ball into the path of Dju Franculino before he swept it home to put the visitors in front. VAR checked the goal for a potential offside, but the goal was left to count before the halftime whistle sent a frustrated Maccabi to regroup in the dressing room during the interval.

Second half

With no changes at halftime Maccabi emerged for the second half determined to grab an equalizer and get back in the game. Three minutes after the restart Midtjylland’s defense struggled to clear a Davida corner which fell to Raz Shlomo before Stojic missed the target from the goalmouth scramble. Maccabi kept on pushing forward as Lauous broke into the box and cut the ball back for Peretz whose half volley shaved the side netting.

In the 55th minute Georgian referee Giorgi Kruashvili was called to the screen for a potential penalty after Lemkin collided with Simsir in the box. But Kruashvili decided to stick with his initial decision and not award Midtjylland what would have been a soft penalty.

Madmon came close to level the score on 65 as he cut inside on the right and blasted a shot which was punched away by the keeper. Nachmias went into the referee’s book for charging down Chilufya a minute later. Lazetic reacted with a triple substitution in the 72nd minute as Avishay Cohen, Henry Addo and Eran Zahavi came on for Lemkin, Layous and Madmon.

Wesley Patati replaced Davida in the 83rd minute as Lazetic added a fresh pair of legs for the closing stages. While Maccabi tried desperately to grab an equalizer throwing caution to the wind, Midtjylland doubled their lead. In the 88th minute a counterattack which began deep inside the Dane’s half saw Edward Chiufya beat Mishpati from close range to seal the victory. Maccabi will return to Israel for domestic league action before heading for the international break but will return to Belgrade later this month for the MD3 home game against Real Sociedad.