Preview
Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at Doha stadium, a venue they failed to record a victory in the league last season, in a bid to keep their top spot in the table achieved after the 3-0 derby victory last week. Vladimir Ivic made several changes from the side which beat Hapoel at Bloomfield as he welcomed back into the side Andre Geraldes at right wing-back with Matan Hozez on the opposite flank at left wing-back. Sheran Yeini, Shahar Piven and Enric Saborit lined-up as the three central defenders in-front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Nir Bitton pushed slightly forward from his regular centra defender position as he joined Dor Peretz in the midfield engine room. Oscar Gloukh was named at the top of the midfield right behind Eran Zahavi and Djordje Jovanovic who led the attack.
On the bench alongside Daniel Tenenbaum, Ivic named Dan Glazer, Joris van Overeem, Gabi Kanichowsky, Avi Rikan, Derrick Luckassen, Ofir Davidzada and Maor Kandil who all waited for their chance to make an impact.
First Half
Maccabi began the match with pressure on the home side right from the start as it took Vladimir Ivic’s side 4 minutes to creat the first chance. Andre Gerlades whipped in a cross from the right which was volleyed by Oscar Gloukh forcing Gad Amos to stretch himself and push the ball out. Less than sixty seconds later the dual between Gloukh and Amos continued as the diminutive youngster blasted a shot from the edge of the area which was making its way into the top corner before the keeper turned over the crossbar.
While Sakhnin struggled to cross the halfway line, Maccabi kept pushing forward down the channels with Matan Hozez down the left and Geraldes down the right sending crosses into the dangerzone. In the 12th minute, a counter attack which began with Beram Kayal saw Shahar Piven clear the ball from the goalmouth before Guy Melamed could head in at the far post. Maccabi’s defence failed to clear the resulting corner which fell to Hasan Hilu who slotted home the loose ball to the delight of the home fans. But Sakhnin’s celebrations were shortlived as VAR intervened and canceled the goal following a handball in the move which led to the goal.
The game seemed to have opened up as Gloukh carried a counter attack in the 20th minute, raced half the length of the pitch and released Eran Zahavi whose shot from the edge of the area but missed the target.
Skahnin were denied twice by the woodwork in the 29th minute as a Daniel Peretz was beaten by a Hilu curling cross which struck the post before Ovadia Darwish headed the rebound against the crossbar. Sakhnin continued to look dangerous as Kayal narrowly missed the target as he sent a shot from inside the area wide of Peretz’s goal right on the half hour mark. David Fuxman’s halftime whistle sent both teams into the dressing room to regroup and with no changes at halftime Maccabi returned after the interval determined to break the deadlock.
Second Half
Three minutes after the restart Kayal float another dangerous cross which was headed by Ante Puljic at the far post only for Peretz to dive and save on his line. In the 55th minute Gloukh carved Sakhnin’s defence as he released Zahavi who was let down by his first touch allowing Amos to charge off his line and recover the ball.
While Ivic was preparing to make a triple substitution Sakhnin got the ball in the back of the net as Nicolao Dumitro was put through by Melamed and calmly slotted home past Peretz. But once again VAR came to the rescue and spotted an offside to rule the goal out. Ivic made his changed as Hozez made way for Ofir Davidzada, Maor Kandil replaced Andre Geraldes and Guiagon Parfait came in for Dor Peretz.
Gabi Kanichowsky replaced Gloukh as Ivic made his fourth change in the 74th minute. Parfait and Davidzada combined well down the left flank in the 76th minute before the balk was crossed to Zahavi whose header was directed wide of the post.
In the 86th minute the deadlock was finally broken as Davidzada’s square ball across the face of goal allowed Maor Kandil to tuck the ball home from point blank range and put Maccabi infront. No one celebrated before confirmation was received from VAR as the right back who had a goal disallowed in last week’s derby, celebrated his first of the season. In the 90th minute Djordje Jovanovic could have doubled Maccabi’s lead as he raced clear through from the halfway line, but the Serbian’s effort was directed straight at Amos.
