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Last night Maccabi Tel Aviv put another tick next to the name of a tough league opponent. Carlos Garcia: "What's important are the three points"

After besting their league rivals Ashdod FC last night, the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad earned themselves a day off and are expected to return to training tomorrow ahead of next Saturday's away tie against Hapoel Ramat Hasharon at their "Yankele Grundman" Stadium. Ticket sales for the match have already got underway through the "Leaan" agency on-line, at their telephone sales centre *8780 and at their ticket offices in Dizengoff St. in Tel Aviv.

After last night's match, Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa had this to say: "Tonight we faced tough opposition, they played with confidence, with character, pressing us back a little and for this Ashdod deserve a lot of credit. The second half was an entirely different story than the first, our players showed a great deal more character, a great deal more movement and a great deal more decisiveness even when we weren't in possession. It's to be expected that at certain stages of the season and in certain games the players won't succeed in putting on perfect displays and today we had to fight, and suffer a bit in the first half, but that's what happens in a title run".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F5q3RE6wac&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg&feature=c4-overview

Sousa also had a word for the multitude of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans who filled every available seat in Bloomfield Stadium to be a part of this victory: "The support of our fans was very important, gate 11 (behind the goal) in particular, the way they've supported us at every match. They helped us cope with the difficulties of tonight's match and that's exactly the kind of relationship with our fans that we're looking for.  Tonight they played a very significant role in our victory".

Central defender Carlos Garcia stressed the importance of winning again after last Monday night's defeat: "After a disappointing result from a disappointing performance it was important to us to return to the league and win. It was no easy match tonight, but what's important was winning and getting all three points". Young striker Munas Dabbur, who was back on the pitch after injury and played the full 90 minutes, added: "This was a very important win after what happened last week at Kiryat Shmona. We knew we were facing a tough match tonight and we're glad we won".

Midfielder Eran Zahavi, who scored his 12th league goal to lead the league's top goalscorers, had this to say after the match: "Ashdod are a very good side who defended well and attacked very well too. In the second half we created a lot of chances and all in all the winning margin could have been far greater. At the end of the day we completed our mission, we took all three points and that's something you have to know how to do even when you're not playing your best".