A 71st minute goal by striker Rade Prica was enough to see Maccabi Tel Aviv past Hapoel Ramat Hasharon 1-0 in the first round of the upper-tier play-off
Last night Maccabi Tel Aviv kicked off their series of upper-tier play-off matches with a home tie against Hapoel "Nir" Ramat Hasharon. And but for the intervention of goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, the home side would have found themselves a goal down after just five minutes from that kick-off. But three minutes later Maccabi were on the offensive, though after some stylish individual play striker Rade Prica saw his effort deflected by Ramat Hasharon goalkeeper Roei Leibovic. Next up was Maccabi's Dor Micha, who after ten minutes took a pass from fellow midfielder Maharan Radi down the right flank, easily shook off Ramat Hasharon defender Amir Nussbaum but shot over the opposition net. Just after the quarter hour mark it was Micha again breaking through on the right, but this time his shot was parried by keeper Leibovic. Maccabi continued to press and with nearly 20 minutes gone striker Eliran Atar broke down the left but struck straight at the opposition keeper. On the half hour mark it was Hapoel Ramat Hasharon's turn to surprise the hosts once again as Spanish striker Hugo Lopez looped a header that Maccabi keeper Vincent Enyeama palmed away for a corner. But it was ten minutes later that Hapoel Ramat Hasharon created their best chance of the match. A ball deflected off referee Bar Natan fell into the path of Argentinian striker Adrian Fernandez, but his well struck effort bounced off the woodwork. With a deft individual display that had the Hasharon defence blinking, Maccabi midfielder Eran Zahavi almost put the home side ahead in time added on to the first half, but his finish fizzed past the opposition goal.
The second half opened with Maccabi pressing once again and again it was Dor Micha who on the hour mark found a way past the Hasharon defence but again keeper Leibovic came to his club's rescue. Five minutes later Rade Prica was gifted a ball by the Hasharon defence and with the world at his feet passed centre back Asahel Ben Shabat only to see his finish go just wide of the goal. Only after 71 minutes of play were the yellow terraces of Bloomfield finally able to roar their approval when a deadly Maccabi counterattack resulted in Eliran Atar accurately passing the ball in space to Rade Prica who drove it past Leibovic into the Ramat Hasharon net. Six minutes later that advantage was almost doubled by Prica's provider, Eliran Atar, who managed to pass Leibovic but saw his effort roll past the goal mouth. Seven minutes from time it was Atar again passing the Hasharon defender Ben Shabat and shooting on goal but Rade Prica's attempt to net the deflection went wide. With the clock running out the last chance of the match fell again to Maccabi, with Prica passing to midfielder Gonzalo Garcia in the area. But his low angled shot was deflected by keeper Leibovic for a corner, leaving the margin of Maccabi Tel Aviv's victory in this first play-off match at 1-0.
In round two of the play-offs Maccabi Tel Aviv will host at Bloomfield Stadium their championship rivals from the north, Maccabi Haifa.
Photographs – Nir Keider
