Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke to the media after Maccabi’s 4:2 to defeat at the hands of Beitar Jerusalem following three league victories in a row and discussed the defense, the supporters and what to expect ahead:

“It was a very poor performance today escape ugly the defense. To concede four goals at home it’s very difficult to find anything positive from the game. We made may mistakes and after the third goal we lost all control as they were more physical on the pitch.”

On the defense:

“I used a different defense today that in Porto but we didn’t work well and we made many mistakes and paid an expensive price.”

To the amazing Maccabi fans:

“I apologize to our supporters who came tonight and who follow us everywhere, I’m sorry for the performance.”

What to expect ahead:

“We will have to get up and do better going forward. The last few months we played great in many games and right now it was a very sad situation. We have two more games coming up especially a derby. We have to show who we are and what we can do at the best levels; that will be a good thing.”

Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic had to put some thought into tonight’s starting lineup with three matches in six days as he went with Serbian youngster Predrag Rajkovic in goal and a back four of Avi Rikan, Oz Raly, Carlos Garcia and Eitan Tibi. The midfield featured grizzly veteran Gal Alberman, Dor Peretz and Nikola Mitrovic with a trio up front of Gili Vermouth, Barak Itzhaki and Captain Eran Zahavi. The first half would be the Eran Zahavi and Nikita Rukavytsya show as both strikers would put on a clinic in the opening 45 minutes with a brace a piece and chances galore. Beitar would strike first with a fine goal by Rukavytsya in the 18th minute as the Australian striker broke through the Maccabi defense at midfield to go on a clear breakaway and put the ball past Rajkovic for a 1:0 lead. However, Zahavi made sure to pull Maccabi even in the 32nd minute by heading in Gili Vermouth’s gorgeous ball while both were in the box to knot the score up at one-a-piece. Vermouth’s individual effort against the Beitar defense was second to none as the midfielder was able to deke out his

defender to get the ball to an awaiting Zahavi. Number 7 would then help Maccabi take a 2:1 lead as he would bury Itzhaki’s header assist for the short lived lead. Just at the stroke of halftime, Beitar would tie the game up on Rukavytsya’s second goal of the night as he would pick out the bottom right hand corner of the goal to send the clubs into the lockerrooms back to square one with forty-five minutes of play to go. But the evening would belong to Rukavytsya and Beitar with the long-sleeved striker scoring his third of the match for a hat-trick in the 58th minute and would give the visitors a lead that they would not would not relinquish. Lidor Cohen tacked on an insurance goal for the Yellow-and-Black in the 65th minute forcing Maccabi to empty their bench. Jokanovic would send on Dor Micha and Shlomi Azulay for Garcia and Raly to join Ben Basat who had come on at halftime for Itzhaki but the substitutions wouldn’t help Maccabi on this night as they would fall to Beitar after three league victories in a row.

Year Founded: 1936

Stadium: Teddy (34,000)

Head Coach: Slobodan Drapic

The Serbian coach arrived in Israel during the mid-1980’s and played until 1995 when he retired with Maccabi Netanya. Drapic became an Israeli citizen and had one appearance for the Israel National Team. He became an assistant coach under Roni Levy with Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Haifa and began his head coaching career in 2008, becoming head coach of Beitar Jerusalem at the start of the current campaign.

Players who left: Ben Rahav, Shmulik Melul, Cesar Arzo, Ze’ev Haimowitz, Ofir Kriaf, Liviu Antal, Hanan Maman, Tomer Suissa.

Players who arrived: Jesus Rueda, Dan Einbinder, Nikita Rukavytsya, Uri Magbo, Daniel Askling, Niso Kapiloto, Pablo De Lucas, Nes Zamir, Liroy Zairi, Dovev Gabbay, Elad Gabbay, Snir Mishan

Key player: Omer Atzili

The young midfielder joined Beitar two seasons ago and is unquestionably the most important player in Drapic’s arsenal. Atzili’s statistics since the start of the year, which include three goals and two assists over seven Matchdays prove that he is Jerusalem’s go-to-guy. The offensive minded midfielder is quick on the ball with an excellent first touch and dribble and has a very dangerous quick and blistering shot that can put fear into any ‘keeper.

Past encounters: Last year’s matches between Pako Ayestaran’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem were fascinating to say the least. The sides played each other four times with the first two games being played at Sammy Ofer Stadium due to radius punishments. The first match ended in a dramatic draw as Eran Zahavi’s scissors kick was cancelled out by Omer Atzili’s header with the second game in Haifa ending in a Maccabi loss on another Atzili goal. Next it was a return to Bloomfield Stadium where Dor Micha would score the first brace of his career and help the Yellow-and-Blue to a crushing 4:1. Lastly, less than a week after Maccabi won the Israel State Cup and wrapped up the historic Treble, Beitar had the upper hand in a 3:0 win at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.