In a bid to build on Sunday’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Hapoel Haifa, Maccabi’s coach Georgios Donis made five changes to his starting line-up for the visit of Maccabi Netanya. Maor Kandil and Enric Saborit returned to their roles as the right and left full backs respectively with Eytan Tibi and Luis Hernandez as the two central defenders.
Avi Rikan and Eyal Golasa who were both introduced at halftime against Hapoel Haifa joined Dan Glazer in midfield. Dan Biton also returned to the side as he joined two of the scorers against Haifa – Yonatan Cohen and Aleksandar Pesic to lead the attack.
Just before kickoff, Netanya’s coach Raymond Atterveld, who worked at Maccabi’s Youth Department for between 2016-2019 received flowers from Goalkeeper Daniel Peretzthanking him for his services for the club.
First Half
It took Maccabi seven minutes to launch the first serious attempt on goal as Eyal Golasa dribbled into the area and fired a powerful drive which was saved by Netanya’s keeper Dani Amos. Dan Biton pounced on the rebound but blasted his left foot volley high over the crossbar.
Avi Rikan tried to catch Amos off guard on 13 but his left foot drive from outside the area was equaled the Netanya keeper. A minute later, Enric Saborit whipped in a cross from the left and found Yonatan Cohen unmarked in the area, but the forward lost his footing and his header missed the target.
Hen Ezra made Daniel Tenenbaum touch the ball for the first time in the 17th minute as he sent a dangerous low drive which skidded on the ground forcing Maccabi’s keeper to a double save.
In the 26th minute Aleksandar Pesic teed up Rikan for a shot on the edge of the area following a good cross from Maor Kandil, but the midfielder’s shot was blocked by a Netanya defender.
Four minutes later however, Netanya took the lead against the run of play as Kevaughn Frater broke into the area before sending a shot past Tenenbaum to put the visitors in front. On the stroke of halftime, Tenenbaum was forced to another save this time to deny Ezra who was left unmarked in the area.
Second Half
Donis made his first change at halftime as Ofir Davidzada came in for Rikan at the restart. Within a minute Netanya’s Karem Ja’aber blocked a Cohe shot with his hand and referee Erez Papir needed the assistance of VAR to award a spot kick. Cohen, who scored the winning goal from the spot against Hapoel Haifa took the penalty but Amos saved to deny Maccabi the equaliser.
In the 53rd minute however, Maccabi were rewarded for their efforts as Kandil cut the ball back for Golasa who flicked the ball home to make it 1-1.
Golasa managed to pick Biton’s run behind Netanya’s defense with a perfect pass on 65, but the diminutive winger couldn’t control the ball. A minute later Netnaya punished and took the lead when the defense failed to deal with a corner and Dolev Azulay took the slightest of touches which rolled past Tenenbaum.
Donis made his second substitution in the 74th minute as Dor Peretz replaced Dan Glazer.
But as the Greek coach was preparing to make another change, Biton sent a cross into the area and Cohen somehow managed to direct his header which beat Amos and equalize once again. This was Biton’s final contribution as he was replaced by Eduardo Guerrero for the final 11 minutes.
In a bid to try and win the game, Donis made a double substitution as Tal Ben Chaim and Etey Shechter were introduced for Pesic and Kandil in the 86th minute. But despite seven minutes of added time, Netanya managed to hang on before the final whistle ensured the points are shared as Maccabi and Netanya remain neck and neck in the table.
With the next fixture set for Monday against Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy stadium, Maccabi will now enjoy their ‘longest break’ before regrouping to relaunch their next assault on the league.
