“Maccabi Tel Aviv has a crowd here that is hoping for a miracle in order for them to battle for this season’s championship.” This is how Yoram Arbel began his broadcast when Maccabi Haifa hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv at Kiryat Eliezer in the 2002/03 season. The veteran announcer didn’t make any mistake in his introduction as Maccabi had a tough start to the campaign. Everyone figured that the Yellow & Blue loss to the Greens at Bloomfield meant that Haifa was on their way to the title. The Matchday 14 encounter any Kiryat Eliezer was the match that turned everything upside down.
In the 10th minute, Nir Klinger’s side struck first when they were awarded a penalty after Arik Benado was called for a hand ball in the box. Baruch Dego took the spot kick and with perfect accuracy beat Dudu Aoute. 1:0 for Maccabi after ten minutes. However, just 5 minutes later Yakubu Aiyegbeni drew his side even as the teams went into the break at 1:1.
As the second half got underway, Dego again had a hand in the second goal as he sent Maccabi on a fast break that ended with Andreas Prohonenkovs helping the visitors to a 2:1 advantage in the 46th minute. The final minutes of the game got super exciting as Adoram Kasey tied up the match the 81st minute, scoring off of a corner kick. However, the pinnacle of the contest and perhaps of the year occurred in the 84th minute. Liran Strauber sent a long goal kick that Amir Turgeman headed to Prohonenkovs. The Latvian striker sent a magnificent cross back to Turgeman who found the back of the goal to give Maccabi a 3:2 victory.
The Yellow & Blue continued on their way and also defeated Haifa in the third round of matches, this time at Bloomfield Stadium. At the end of the season which saw many ups and downs, both clubs finished tied atop the table, but Maccabi Tel Aviv earned the championship due to better goal differential and hoisted the league title.
