Preview
Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD25 ONE ZERO League match against Hapoel Jerusalem aiming to string a third victory in succession. On the eve of the penultimate match of the regular season, the last two victories over Hapoel Be’ersheva and Sektzia Ness Ziona took Maccabi’s point tally to 51 points- one adrift of second place Be’ersheva and 5 behind the leaders.
Maccabi’s coach Aitor Karanka made several changes to his starting line-up as Shahar Piven and Nir Bitton returned to the heart of defence alongside Derrick Luckassen. With Ofir Davidzada nursing a hamstring injury, Enric Saborit, slotted-in at left back with Andre Geraldes completing the defensive line at right back.
Karnaka named Gabi Kanichowsky and Eyal Golasa in the midfield engine room with Parfait Guiagon handed a more attacking role at the top of the midfield trio. Upfront, Karanka stuck with his striking duo Djordje Jovanovic and Eran Zahavi who led the line wearing the captain’s armband.
On the bench alongside goalkeeper Or Yitzhak, the Spanish coach named Dan Glazer, Dan Biton, Rares Ilie, Avi Rikan, Yonatan Cohen, Maor Kandil, Dor Turgeman and Dor Peretz.
Prior to kick-off a ceremony was held in honor of the class of 1978/79 as the championship winning side of that season were invited onto the pitch. To mark the memorable season and celebrate yet another annual retro festival, Maccabi’s current team wore a replica kit of that season during the match against Hapoel Jerusalem.
First Half
The presence of the Maccabi legends in the stadium must have inspired the team as it didn’t take long for Maccabi to break the deadlock. Parfait Guiagon slid the ball to Enric Saborit down the left flank before the Spanish full-back whipped in a cross which was volleyed home by Eran Zahavi to put Maccabi in front after four minutes. Zahavi took his tally to 15 league goals while Saborit added another assist to his 7 this season.
Two minutes later Guiagon skipped past Yao Koffi and charged towards the area but his cut-back from the byline was caught by Adeley Adebayo. Jerusalem’s keeper denied Zahavi a second goal in the 10th minute as the veteran marksman headed Andre Geraldes’ cross from the right straight at him. Maccabi’s continued as Djordje Jovanovic flashed a shot which agonizingly crept to the wrong side of the post.
Right on the half hour mark Ofek Biton got the ball in the back of Daniel Peretz’s net but the goal was disallowed after the Jerusalem forward was caught in an offside position. Six minutes later a Jerusalem attempt of a through ball near the halfway line struck Saborit to release Jovanovic through on goal. The Serbian forward unselfishly squared the ball to Zahavi who uncharacteristically managed to miscue his shot wide.
In the 42nd minute Maccabi broke into the Jerusalem area but Gabi Kanichowsky fired his shot over. On the stroke of halftime Guiagon sent Kanichowsky into the area once again before the diminutive midfielder skipped past a defender’s tackle but shot straight at Adebayo.
Idan Leiba’s halftime whistle sent both teams to regroup in the dressing room with Maccabi feeling disappointed by their slender lead.
Second Half
Karanka didn’t make any changes to personnel at the restart while his counterpart Ziv Ariye made two substitutions as Maccabi’s on-loan-duo Roy Revivo and Nadav Nidam bowed out and were replaced at the restart by Ariel Shalom and Jordan Botaka.
In the 52nd minute a kanichowsky corner was knocked down by Derrick Luckassen into the path of Zahavi whose close range effort was cleared by Adebayo and his defence.
Dour minutes later Maccabi counter attack saw Saborit carry the ball more than half the length of the pitch. The Spaniard exchanged passes with Kanichowsky before firing his shot over the crossbar. This was Kanichowsky’s final contribution on the night as he came off on 57 as part of a double substitution together with Guiagon with Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz entering the field.
The change didn’t seem to help as within a minute, Jerusalem were awarded a penalty after Saborit brought down Guy Badash inside the area. Idan Leiba pointed at the spot and despite the fact Peretz got a hand to the shot, he couldn’t deny Badash from scoring the equalizer. The visitors completed their comeback within two minutes as Glazer conceded possession deep inside Maccabi’s half before Badash picked the ball, shrugged off a challenge from Shahar Piven and Nir Bitton before curling a left foot shot beyond the reach of Peretz to make it 2-1.
Jovanovic came close to level the score on 69 as his effort from inside the penalty area required a double save from Adebayo who was also assisted by his crossbar in the process.
In the 71st minute, Karanka reacted with a triple substitution as Dan Biton, Rares Ilie, and Yonatan Cohen came on for Golasa, Bitton and Jovanovic.
Cohen had a close range header tipped by Adebayo over the bar in the 80th minute but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the linesman raised his flag for offside. Two minutes later Biton ghosted in at the far post to head Abdre Geraldes’ cross towards goal only for the keeper to pull yet another save.
With the clock ticking fast, the fourth official signaled six minutes of added time with Maccabi throwing everything forward in a desperate bid to level the score. Inside injury time Luckassen tried a long range effort which went a high and wide and summed up Maccabi’s performance on the night.
