Gal Alberman's injury time winner against Maccabi Haifa hands all three points to reigning champions Maccabi Tel Aviv
At the end of the night of hard work and frayed nerves at Bloomfield Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv came up with the winning goal when midfielder Gal Alberman struck into the corner of the Maccabi Haifa net two minutes into stoppage time. The 1-0 victory kept all three points for the home side and increased their lead at the top of the Israeli Premier League to eleven points with six matches left till the end of the season.
The first half began with visitors Maccabi Haifa on the attack. Just past the twenty minute mark, striker Shoval Gozlan, deputising for the bedridden Idan Vered, received a clever pass inside the five yard box but his shot hit the side netting. Seven minutes later Haifa had their best chance of the evening when their veteran Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Boccoli let fly from twenty yards out but Maccabi keeper Juan Pablo came to the rescue, leaping high to deflect the ball off the crossbar into safety. Moments later at the other end Gal Alberman warmed up for his late match winner but by contrast his first half effort rolled wide past the Haifa net. Ten minutes from the break Shoval Gozlan was again in action, passing two Maccabi Tel Aviv defenders to gain entrance to the area, but his finish went straight into the hands of Juan Pablo. The 37th minute saw Maccabi Tel Aviv's star midfielder Eran Zahavi limp off the pitch with an injury, but a minute from half time his replacement Mahran Radi curled in a free kick from 20 yards out that Haifa's Serbian keeper Bojan Saranov just managed to palm away for a corner.
After the restart the two sides kept one another in check without much action near the goalmouth. It wasn't until over half an hour into the second half that Maccabi Tel Aviv had their first real chance when defender Omri Ben Harush sent a high ball into the area that found substitute Rade Prica outrunning his two markers towards goal, but Bojan Saranov succeeded in acrobatically punching away the Swedish striker's close range header. Ten minutes from time Maharan Radi headed a cross wide from inside the area and three minutes later Rade Prica once again tried his luck with a second close range header that Saranov smothered in front of the goalmouth. With just a minute remaining on the clock, Maccabi Tel Aviv got their best chance yet when winger Tal Ben Haim was brought down in the area by midfielder Avihai Yadin, who was summarily sent off for a second bookable offence. Mahran Radi stepped up to spot but a diving Bojan Saranov got in front of the ball and deflected it high over the net.
But just when it looked like the three points had slipped out of Maccabi Tel Aviv's hands, home side pressure in injury time finally paid dividends. Mahran Radi's free kick from the right two minutes into stoppage time was deflected back into the area for Maccabi captain Sheran Yeini, who adroitly passed on to Gal Alberman. The midfielder slammed past Saranov into the corner of the Maccabi Haifa net to give the home side an unassailable 1-0 lead. The well-deserved goal handed Maccabi Tel Aviv all three points and an eleven point margin at the top of the table with just six matches left to play in the Israeli Premier League season.
Next Monday Maccabi Tel Aviv travel to Doha Stadium for an 8.50pm kick-off against Bnei Sakhnin.
Photographs – Nir Keider
