Maccabi fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 on the night courtesy of Barak Badash, Eran Zahavi and Rade Prica. But the away goal sent the tie the other way
Tonight Maccabi Tel Aviv saw their 2014/15 European campaign come to an end despite a 3-1 win against Greek opponents Asteras Tripoli in the return leg of their Europa League play-off tie. The Greeks came into the match with a 2-0 victory in the first leg and widened that gap to three with a precious away goal in the 23rd minute. That meant the home side would have to score four goals without conceding to reach the group stage of the competition. But despite holding their opponents for the rest of the match, with just a quarter of an hour to go Maccabi had managed just three goals in reply, courtesy of Barak Badash, Eran Zahavi and Rade Prica. Sports manager Jordi Cruyff, who stood on the touch-line for tonight's encounter, threw everything he had into attack but the closest his side came to finding a winner was an excellent effort by Zahavi that was deflected onto the post.
The opening moments of the match saw the bulk of activity take place down the right flank, where Maccabi midfielder Dor Micha lead an attack with less than ten minutes gone that passed through fellow midfielder Eran Zahavi and ended in shot by striker Eden Ben Basat that went astray. Two minutes later Micha once again crossed in from the right, this time directly finding Basat who headed wide. At the other end Asteras' Argentinian midfielder Pablo De Blasis, the visitors' greatest threat, pounced on a ball in the area and struck on the turn but Maccabi keeper Juan Pablo was there to make the save. And on 23 minutes, in only their second foray into the Maccabi half, Asteras scored a precious away goal from a free kick into the area which Romanian defender Dorin Goian headed in from an offside position. Just four minutes later Maccabi striker Barak Badash, returning from a three-match suspension, restored parity after mastering a pass from Eran Zahavi and poking in the equaliser to leave the clubs at 1-1 at the break.
After the restart it was always going to be Maccabi's intention to score an early goal, and eight minutes in that objective was realised. Barak Badash was grabbed in the area and Eran Zahavi converted the resultant penalty to put Maccabi ahead for the first time in the match. This left the home side just two goals shy of the group stage and in the 65th minute, two minutes after coming in off the bench, winger Tal Ben Haim shook off his marker and crossed into the area, where the Asteras defence fell short of clearing and paved the way for a Dor Micha effort that missed the target. Ten minutes later Tal Ben Haim shot an Eran Zahavi free kick towards goal but Asteras keeper Konstantinos Theodoropoulos' deflection fell at the feet of substitute striker Rade Prica, who bounced it back past him into the net for Maccabi's third. That left the home side just fifteen minutes to find a fourth and a ticket to the Europa League group stage. But despite their best efforts, with Prica missing from close range and Zahavi hitting the upright, the goal remained elusive. Maccabi will just have to wait till next season to realise their European aspirations, but can now concentrate on defending their Israeli Premier League title back home.
