Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped their first points of the new season after their goalless draw at Ashdod FC, but a fifth consecutive clean sheet provided some consolation
As has been the case in the last eight years (with one exception), matchweek 5 of the Israeli Premier League once again proved a disappointment to Maccabi Tel Aviv, with the team dropping their first points of the fresh league season. An attacking formation proved no avail in the face of a determined Ashdod side that succeeded in protecting their goal at all cost. After the match, Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa had this to say: "It was a difficult half and a difficult match but I'm proud of my players. Our method is the Maccabi method – positive football every minute. We want to provide our fans with entertaining matches, today it didn't turn out that well".
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Midfielder Gal Aberman added: "We were ready for the match but we met up against a very stubborn opponent and found it difficult to get into our usual match rhythm. We tried to apply what we practiced but some days nothing works. There's no point in drawing conclusions from the one match, we've scored in almost every match we've played so far. We'll have a good look at how this match went, we'll learn our lessons and find solutions to deal with matches like this in future".
Striker Tal Ben Haim, just recently capped for the Israeli national side, had this to say: "It's disappointing to drop points because we dominated throughout. From their point of view, Ashdod made a good job of it, and we only have ourselves to blame for not finding a way into the net. But you also have to look at the positives – we haven't conceded a goal so far and we'll start to concentrate on the next two home ties and be ready for them. Even if the atmosphere is a lot like at home, on our travels the teams tend to circle the wagons and their pitches aren't up to the standards at Bloomfield, but we'll find a solution to those problems as well".
