Pre – Match
Maccabi Tel Aviv return to action after the imposed two week break due to the lockdown as they faced Maccabi Netanya on MD16. Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen was forced to make several changes from the side which was held to a 0-0 draw by Bnei Yehuda in the previous match.
Shahar Piven kept his place on the right side of defense with Sheran Yeini and Louis Hernandez as the two central defenders while Enric Saborit completed the four-man-defensive line on the left. In the absence of Dan Glazer who is still recovering from an injury, Eden Kartzev, kept his place as the anchorman with Dor Peretz and Eyal Golasa completing the midfield trio.
Tal Ben Chaim and Yonatan Cohen were named as the two wingers in support of Itay Schechter who led the strike force against one of his former clubs. Aleksandar Pesic and Maor Kandil, who are both nursing injuries were left out of the squad. Andreas Geraldes on the other hand waited on the substitutes bench to make his second debut for the Maccabi since rejoining from APOEL Nicosia.
First Half
It took Maccabi 16 minutes to launch the first serious threat on Netanya’s goal as Dor Peretz picked Shahar Piven unmarked down the right flank. Piven whipped in a low cross into the path of Yonatan Cohen who miskicked his shot before a defender cleared the ball for a corner.
Maccabi continued dominating the play as three minutes later Itay Shechter broke into the area from the right before Netanya’s defense attempted to clear. Maccabi’ pressure on Netanya’s defense saw the ball fall to Dor Peretz who broke into the area but the ball was cleared for a corner. In the 24th minute however Maccabi’s dominance paid off as Tal Ben Chaim sent a cross into the box, Shechter chested the ball down and Yonatan Cohen blasted a right foot shot that beat Dani Amos to break the deadlock.
Having scored the earliest goal of the season, Maccabi came close to double the lead a minute after the half hour mark as Ben Chaim cut into the area, but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
In the 37th minute however, Daniel Tenenbaum sent a ling clearance which eluded Kellian van der Kaap before Peretz ghosted past the Dutch defender and sent a chip over the advancing keeper to make it 2-0.
Eyal Golasa came close to double the score in the 39th minute but with Amos beaten by his his shot, the post denied him from replicating the goal he scored against Netanya earlier this season.
Second Half
Netanya’s coach Raymond Atteveld made a double change at the restart as Roi Korin and Ido Vaier were introduced. But in the 54th minute, van Leeuwen was forced to make a change of his own as Cohen limped off and was replaced by Eduardo Guereero. Ben Chaim came close to score the third two minutes later as he curled a right foot shot which struck Amos’ woodwork once again.
Van Leeuwen made a double change on 63 as Golasa and Ben Chaim bowed out and were replaced by Dan Biton and Eylon Almog. The two subs combined well five minutes later as Almog released Biton into the area, before his left foot shot was save by Amos for a corner.
Ofir Davidzada and Matan Hozez replaced both Enric Saborit and Shechter for the final 15 minutes. In the 77th minute, Biton curled a free kick which crept to the wrong side of Amos’ post. But within a minute, three of the substitutes combined to increase Maccabi’s lead in style. Almog fed Hozez who charged forward and sent a square ball which Guerrero side footed home to make it 3-0.
Kevaaughn Frater cut the deficit in the 81st minute as his shot beat Tenenbaum to make it 3-1. Almog came close to score the fourth in the 85th minute as Piven’s cross was headed by the young striker over the crossbar. At the opposite end, Tenenbaum was forced to a last gasp save to deny Ben Ajubel on 86.
