Maccabi Tel Aviv conceded two away goals and managed to score only once despite several chances in their Europa League third qualifying round first leg clash against FK Suduva of Lithuania in Netanya on Thursday.
Maccabi looked the stronger of the two sides in the first half and had the vast majority of attacking play but had nothing to show for their efforts, as time and again a final pass failed to find a man in space, or the handful of long-range efforts went high or wide of the target.
The hosts paid the penalty for their lack of accuracy in the 37th minute when defender Samir Kerala latched on to a long curling cross from the left byline by Ovidijus Verbikas and headed home powerfully from the right corner of the box as he shrugged off his marker, Shahar Piven. The diagonal diving strike towards Maccabi’s left upright was out of reach for goalkeeper Andreas Gianniotis.
Chikeluba Ofuedo came on as substitute at halftime in place of Etey Shechter and injected additional pace into the Maccabi attack, but the home team’s accuracy was still lacking and Suduva’s bolstered defence managed to cut out any dangerous moves before they became a threat to their goal.
Dor Peretz earned a yellow card for tripping up Suduva’s Paulus Golubickas in the 63rd minute and the break in play was an opportunity for coach Vladimir Ivic to send on Eliran Atar in place of Nick Blackman in an effort to level the scores, although in the meantime, Suduva were holding their own admirably in Netanya’s warm, humid air.
Maccabi were further undone in the 76th minute when Suduva scored a second, crucial away goal as Algis Jankauskas struck from the right side of the area by latching on to a corner and the home crowd were silenced.
Ofuedo finally put the home team on the scoresheet in the 84th minute when he latched on to a cross from Yonatan Cohen on the left and side-footed the ball into the net, there was some momentum thereafter from the home team but Suduva kept a tight lid on their defending and Maccabi’s poor night continued and they were unable to make any further impression until Irish referee Neil Doyle blew the final whistle after four additional minutes of play.
Maccabi lacked several players through injury, including Sheran Yeini, who remained on the bench. The return leg will be played in Lithuania next Thursday.
