Preview
Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD19 ONE ZERO League encounter with Maccabi Haifa knowing that this top of the table clash could have a major influence on the campaign. Last week’s 2-2 draw against Beitar Jerusalem saw Maccabi’s gap from the leaders increased to eight points in the wake of Haifa’s 11th victory in succession. Aitor Karanka was forced to make changes to his side following Derrick Luckassen’s one-match-touchline ban due to his dismissal at Teddy stadium.
With Luckassen suspended, Karanka made four changes from the side which played with 10 men against Beitar as the Spanish coach also changed the formation to a four man defence. Shahar Piven was named alongside Enric Saborit as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Ofir Davidzada returned to the left back position after recovering from the knee injury which side-lined him for a fortnight. Andre Geraldes who impressed against Beitar and set up the second goal, completed the defensive line on the right. Dor Peretz and Dan Glazer were both named by Karanka in the midfield engine room while Parfait Guiagon and Oscar Gloukh supplied the width and ammunition for the striking duo Eran Zahavi and Djordje Jovanovic.
On the bench, alongside goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Karnka, named Joris van Overeem, Gabi Kanichowsky, Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Yonatan Cohen, Maor Kandil and Dor Turgeman.
First Half
Maccabi began the match with purpose and intention as Karanka’s formation gave his side most of the possession in the opening stages. Djordje Jovanovic had the first serious shot on goal but his effort was blocked for a corner.
Aitor Karnaka’s players tried breaching the visitors’ defence mostly from the right as the combination of Andre Geraldes and Parfait Guiagon caused Haifa all sorts of problems. All the early attempts to cross the ball and find both Djordje Jovanovic and Eran Zahavi were dealt with by Haifa’s two towering defenders Dylan Batubinsika and Abdoulaye Seck.
Guiagon flashed a shot wide of Roy Mashpati’s goal as the diminutive Ivorian who looked lively as a right sided midfielder almost punished Haifa for a mistake in defence.
Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz dominated the midfield and frustrated their opponents as in the 16th minute tempers flared with Mohamad Abu Fani going inbto the referee’s book for a barge on Glazer.
A counter attack five minutes later saw Jovanovic attempt a shot instead of passing to either Zahavi or Oscar Gloukh who were both in better positions. Maccabi continued to show their superiority as Enric Saborit volleyed a Gloukh corner on 25 but Mashpati collected the ball on his line.
In the 35th minute Zahavi latched on a miscued Abdoulaye Seck clearance and attempted a volley from 30 meters out but his shot went wide. Two minutes later, Maccabi’s frontline created a spectacular move which almost resulted with a spectacular goal. Zahavi’s back-heal flick into the path of Guiagon allowed the Ivorian to break into the area and cut the ball back to Gloukh whose snap shot narrowly missed the target.
On the stroke of halftime the deadlock was finally broken as the majority of the 27,279 fans at Bloomfield stadium were on their feet cheering. Gloukh who was sent down the left flank managed to shrug off Batubiniska and centred the ball to Guiagon whose initial shot was blocked by the hand of Seck who slid in across the area. Referee Orel Grinfeld allowed play to continue before Guiagon blasted-in the rebound which gave Mashpati no chance as the ball rocketed into the net.
Second Half
While Karanka stuck to his guns and didn’t make any substitutions after the break, his Haifa counterpart, Barak Bakhar, made a double change at the restart with Ali Mohamad replacing Neta Lavie and Mavis Tchibota coming on for Frantzdy Pierrot.
The second half began where the first one left off as four minutes after the restart Zahavi slid the ball into the path of Jovanovic whose shot was saved by Mashpati. Haifa’s keeper was kept busy as moments later Gloukh forced Mashpati to make a save at the near post.
In the 58th minute, a Guiagon shot deflected off a defender and threatened to go in before Mashpati pushed the ball out for a corner. Haifa’s defence struggled to clear the resulting corner as Gloukh began one of his trademark mazy runs, took on Haifa’s entire defence but was stopped by Mashpati’s outstretched foot.
A minute after the hour mark, Guiagon ran out of steam and received a standing ovation as he was replaced by Gabi Kanichowsky. Within two minutes Bloomfield was rocking once again as Jovanovic teed-up Zahavi who sent an unstoppable thunder-bolt which rocketed into the top corner to double Maccabi’s lead.
Haifa were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute as Abu Fani was shown a second yellow card for a stamp on Glazer. Seconds later the visitors were left without a coach as well as Bakhar was sent off for protesting Abu Fani’s dismissal. In the 72nd minute Dor Peretz thought he had joined the celebrations as he slid in to convert Kanichowsky’s cross. But the intervention of VAR saw Grinfeld cancel the goal after Glazer was judged to have fouled Tjaronn Chery in the build-up.
Gloukh who worked tirelessly throughout the match limped off in the 81st minute and was replaced by Avi Rikan before the youngster walked around the stadium receiving a standing ovation from Maccabi’s fans.
Zahavi placed a stamp on the rout in the 85th minute as he fired a shot which deflected off a defender’s back to beat Mashpati and make it 3-0. Kanichowsky came close twice within a minute but on both occasions Mashpati managed to claw the ball out and deny Haifa a total humiliation. Jovanovic was given a standing ovation of his own as Karanka introduced Eyal Golasa for the closing stages. Grinfeld’s final whistle ended the one sided contest but with the gap at the table reduced to 5 points, the performance of Karanka’s charges reopened the title race.
