Preview
Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD20 ONE ZERO League match against arch city rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv as Aitor Karanka and his charges were ready to play the second Tel Aviv derby of the season.
Monday’s convincing 3-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa cut the deficit at the top of the table to five points. However, with Haifa being held to a 0-0 draw at home by bottom of the table Maccabi Bnei Reineh in the earlier match, the gap was temporarily increased to six. Any result in the derby but a defeat, would have seen Maccabi edge even closer to the league leaders and cut the gap to either five or three.
Oscar Gloukh’s departure to Red Bull Salzburg in midweek, meant that Karanka was forced to make at least one change from the side which beat Haifa.
The defence remained unchanged as Shahar Piven partnered Enric Saborit with the two central defenders lining-up in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Andre Geraldes and Ofir Davidzada completed Maccabi’s back-four on the right and left respectively as Karnka stuck with the same defensive formation. Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz were named by Karanka in the midfield engine room as the duo who had an outstanding game against Haifa had a battle at the centre of the park with their Hapoel counterparts. In the absence of Gloukh, Gabi Kanichowsky stepped into the side on one flank while Parfait Guiagon was named on the opposite wing. Eran Zahavi led the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the veteran marksman who scored 12 league goals so far partnered Djordje Jovanovic who scored 1 league goal less. The Zahavi and Jovanovic striking partnership that resulted with a total of 34 goals in all competitions were aiming to add more goals to their already impressive tally. On the bench, Karanka named Daniel Peretz, Joris van Overeem, Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Yonatan Cohen, Maor Kandil, Dor Turgeman and Nir Bitton amongst the substitutes
First Half
In what has become a tradition, seconds after referee Snir Levy got the game underway, dozens of flairs and smoke grenades were lit up at both ends of the stadium and hurled onto the pitch. Play was stopped immediately and resumed only around the 11th minute after the thick smoke which covered the pitch had cleared.
The opening stages saw both teams huff and puff in the middle of the park without being able to produce any end product. In the 28th minute Maccabi had the first serious chance as Gabi Kanichowsky and Parfait Guiagon exchanged passes before releasing Dor Peretz whose effort was blocked by a Hapoel defender. Two minutes later Eran Zahavi flashed a shot from a similar position on the edge of the area only for the ball to creep wide of the post.
To make up for the time wasted at the start due to the pyrotechnics display, the fourth official indicated 12 minutes of added time. Djordje Jovanovic came close as he rose above Hapoel’s defence to meet a Kanichowsky free kick but he headed over the bar. A minute later, Jovanovic was put through by Guiagon but the Serbian forward couldn’t control the ball allowing Emilijus Zubas to charge out of his goal and collect.
Enric Saborit, who normally supports the attack a lot more often, whipped in a cross from the left into the path of Zahavi whose header narrowly missed the target. Shortly before the interval, Shahar Piven became the first player to go into the referee’s book as the Maccabi defender was for bringing down Alen Ozbolt near the halfway line.
Second Half
In the 53rd minute Hapoel were awarded a penalty after Keys Ghanem lost his footing inside the area and Levy thought he was brought down by Saborit. But VAR intervened and cancelled the initial decision to give Hapoel a spot kick. Ten minutes later Hapoel’s defence failed to a clear a corner before Saborit sent a volley which cleared the crossbar. Maccabi continued the pressure in a bid to carve an opening as a Peretz shot on 67 struck the back of Jovanovic.
In the 72nd minute Hapoel came close to break the deadlock with their new signing Alexandar Boljevic denied by a combination of Daniel Peretz, the post and Ofir Davidzada. Levy awarded Hapoel a penalty and showed Davidzada a red card after he was judged to have handled the ball on the goal line. But once again VAR intervened and cancelled both the dismissal and the spot kick. In the 75th minute, VAR could not rescue Saborit from being sent off as the Spanish defender needed a last gasp tackle on Keys Ghanem who latched onto a misplaced Piven pass and charged forward on goal. Saborit sacrificed himself and didn’t even look back as he walked off the pitch leaving his teammates to battle with 10 men for the last part of the game.
Karanka shuffled his side three minutes later as he introducing three players with Nir Bitton, Sheran Yeini and Avi Rikan coming on for Piven, Guiagon and Kanichowsky on 78. Yeini, made his 31st appearance in Tel Aviv derbies to move within two more derbies from Maccabi’s all-time record holder who has 33 to his name.
Four minutes after his introduction, Rikan, came close as the veteran midfielder ghosted at the far post but couldn’t connect onto Zahavi’s cross.
In a bid to add a fresh pair of legs, Karanka, made his fourth and final substitution on the night as he introduced Eyal Golasa for Dan Glazer. Due to all the stoppages, the fourth official added 9 minute as Maccabi tried despite the numerical disadvantage to score. With no goals to either side, the full time whistle confirmed that Maccabi’s 8-year-long unbeaten record in derbies remain in-tact. But at the same time, the lost opportunity to narrow the gap at the top even further, meant that only one side was left on the pitch celebrating the 0-0 draw at the end.
