Much like in their last encounter in September in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Cypriot champions APOEL failed to find the net in Nicosia, preserving the three point advantage of the visitors in Europa League Group F
Much like in their last meeting in September in Israel, neither Maccabi Tel Aviv nor Cypriot champions APOEL caused their opponents much worry in front of goal and finished their matchday 5 Europa League group stage encounter in Nicosia in a goalless draw. In the group's parallel fixture, a late goal by Eintracht Frankfurt against Bordeaux sent the French side tumbling out of the competition and ensured the Bundesliga club top spot in the group with one match to spare. In two weeks' time Maccabi Tel Aviv will host the Frenchmen here in Tel Aviv whilst APOEL travel to Germany for one last encounter against Frankfurt. With their enduring three-point advantage over their Cypriot rivals, a draw will suffice for Maccabi Tel Aviv to advance to the knock-out round of 32 and make club history into the bargain.
The first half of the match was played largely in midfield, with Maccabi Tel Aviv holding a slight advantage in ball possession and attempts on goal. Most of those attempts, five in all, were the result of long balls that immediately saw the linesman's flag go up for offside. In those efforts that avoided the offside flag, it was midfielder Dan Einbinder and winger Tal Ben Haim that found striker Barak Itzchaki in the area, but in each case the finisher proved lacking. Ten minutes from half time Itzhaki finished off a Maccabi counter attack with a shot that flew over the goal, and just before the whistle it was Itzhaki once again who tried to find the net from a tricky angle but saw his effort skim the bar once again. Both sides left the pitch without scoring, much as was the case in the parallel group fixture in Bordeaux.
After the restart the hosts began to take possession of proceedings and largely increased their threat. Play moved largely to Maccabi's half of the pitch but until halfway through the half nothing of substance came out of it. On 67 minutes the Cypriots created their first real chance, but a shot from outside the area by Portuguese striker Esmael Goncalves found Maccabi keeper Juan Pablo ready. Nine minutes later came Maccabi's best chance of the evening after Ben Haim span a shot to the corner of the APOEL net, but keeper Urko Pardo just managed to get his fingertips to it. The referee added three minutes to the match but not to the result, so this goalless draw topped up both sides with one point but left Maccabi with three more than their adversaries going into the last round on December 12th.
