Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv hosted the first Derby of the season against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Matchday 4 of the Israel Youth Premier League. The Yellow & Blue came into the contest after a goalless draw at Kiryat Shemona last week along with two wins and in 2nd place while the Reds had only picked up 1 point in 3 matches so far this campaign.
Starting XI: Daniel Peretz, Michael Chilaka, Alon Shtrozberg, Amit Glazer, Tomer Mahluf, Tamir Glazer, Mufleh Shalata, Yoav Hofmayster, Eduardo Guerrero, Omer Barami, Eyal Hen.
First Half
The match opened up well for Maccabi as they had a 2’ chance when Hofmayster made it by two Hapoel players in the midfield and sent the ball to Guerrero but his shot went by the post. Six minutes later the Reds threatened but Ofek Ovadia’s opportunity went out.
In the 18’ Barami’s attempt just outside of the box went off a Hapoel player and two minutes later the Yellow & Blue almost took the lead when Hen took the ball on the right wing but his tough shot went off the defense and Hofmayster’s rebound attempt on target went out for a corner. Tamir Glazer’s 24’ long distance chance was stopped by Reds keeper Omer Barness as he parried the ball away for another corner and one minute later Barami’s attempt just missed the goal by centimeters.
Hapoel had a pair of opportunities in the 32’ both by Daniel Konitzky but his header went over the bar and his dangerous shot was taken care of by Peretz as the half ended goalless.
Second Half
Guerrero had the first good chance of the half from left of the box but his attempt was saved by Barness while a minute later Barami’s shot was also stopped by the Reds keeper. In the 51’ the visitor’s almost took the lead as Davida took the ball from the right side and raced through the middle of the pitch, but his chance just went over the goal as the score stayed as is.
In the 65’ Shalata’s chance cleared the bar and 4 minutes later the Reds almost found the back of the goal on a dangerous corner, but the ball was cleared to safety. Shalata again found himself with an opportunity to score in the 74’ but his shot went over the goal. Tal Yagudaev who had come on as a substitute received the ball on the right side in the 80’ and sent it to Guerrero who had a fantastic chance in front of the goal but the ball escaped his clutches at the last second.
Ofek Ovadia had another chance to give the Reds the lead in the 85’ but his attempt missed the target, while 5 minutes later Yagudaev had a brilliant chance one on one with the keeper but Barness made an unbelievable foot save as time began to wind down with the match still deadlocked at 0:0.
However, deep into injury time Shalata’s fabulous shot beat the Reds keeper to give the Derby to Maccabi and paint Tel Aviv Yellow & Blue! Shalata took off his shirt and was handed a second yellow card as the fans celebrated the win.
