Maccabi “Shachar” defeats Kiryat Shemona; celebrates championship


After securing the league title last week, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv hosted Kiryat Shemona on Matchday 30 of the Israel Youth Premier League Ligat Ha’Al. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI included: Daniel Peretz, Noam Cohen, Alon Shtrozberg, Fadi Najar, Yoav Hofmayster, Amit Glazer, Tomer Altman, Netanel Peretz, Mufleh Shalata, Eylon Almog and William Agada.

First Half
The Yellow & Blue took control of the contest from the get go as Almog and Peretz each had chances early on to no avail. In the 15’ the visitor’s had a free kick from 25’ meters that missed the target while five minutes later, Shalata took the ball from the right wing and sent it to the middle of the pitch where Altman’s 20’ meter chance whistled by the post.

In the 25’ Itzhak Danan tried his luck for Kiryat Shemona from 18’ meters but Peretz was in place to parry the ball and in the 40’ Agada sent a through ball down the right side but Almog’s opportunity was stopped by the the visiting keeper Daniel Banish as Altman’s rebound attempt was cleared off the line. Just before the break Maccabi took a 1:0 lead as Peretz led the attack and sent the ball to Shalata who beat Banish for the one goal advantage after 45 minutes of action.

Second Half
Maccabi continued to control the flow of the game and Tzarfati made his first substitute in the 55’ when he inserted keeper Roie Man in place of Daniel Peretz while 4 minutes later Tomer Mahlof replaced Alon Shtrozberg and in the 63’ Shalata came off for Eyal Hen.

After the substitutions it didn’t take long for Maccabi to double their lead as Altman and Hen’s give and go resulted in the former finding the back of the goal for a 2:0 advantage. Kiryat Shemona had a pair of chances to cut into the Yellow & Blue lead but Guy Ben Lulu’s attempt was cleared by Fadi Najar and in the 68’ Rotem Hatuel’s opportunity was saved by Man.

Netanel Peretz joined the goalscoring party when a give and go with Altman resulted in an 88’ strike handing the Yellow & Blue a 3:0 win to end the 2017/18 campaign on a high note.