Striker Eliran Atar's 68th minute goal, his 21st of the season, gives Maccabi Tel Aviv a 1-0 win over Hapoel Ramat Hasharon in an edgy affair at Bloomfield
Much like in the opposite fixture earlier this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv made hard work of their slim 1-0 home victory last night against a defensive Hapoel Ramat Hasharon, thanks to a 68th minute goal by Eliran Atar, his 21st league goal of the season.
Maccabi came to the match on the back of their most dramatic win of the season, a 3-2 stoppage time victory last week over Bnei Yehuda in round 23 of the Israeli Premiere (Winner) League. In the same round Hapoel Ramat Hasharon finished goalless against Maccabi Netanya. Maccabi immediately put on the pressure and in the tenth minute defender Yoav Ziv broke through and shot at long range straight into the hands of Hasharon keeper Roei Leibovic. Midfielder Maharan Radi also tried his luck with the goalie but his strong free kick was just turned away. In the 19th minute Midfielder Dor Micha made an expert pass to striker Rade Prica, who headed onto the bar and just after the half hour Maharan Radi was again behind a strong kick that deflected off of Ramat Hasharon's Meir Gabay and nearly resulted in an own goal.
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After the restart it was Ramat Hashorn's turn to apply the pressure. One shot on returning Maccabi keeper Vincent Enyeams's goal was turned away for a corner by defender Yoav Ziv and a header by Hasharon's striker Adrian Fernandez flew past the Maccabi posts. Twenty minutes after the restart Maccabi substitute Eran Zehavi volleyed a long ball with a spectacular overhead kick just past the opposing goal, but it wasn't until three minutes later that the Maccabi pressure paid off when Eliran Atar slotted home a cross from Rade Prica to give Maccabi what would prove to be the 1-0 winning margin. Substitute Roberto Colautti was almost on target when he passed the Hasharon keeper, but his shot was cleared off the line. After making hard work of the tie, league leaders Maccabi finished the 90 minutes with three points and Ramat Hasharon finished with the task of finding another match to boost their playoff aspirations.
