Maccabi thrash Ashdod FC 5-2 for their third consecutive league victory. Next Monday, the Tel Aviv derby
This was just another league tie like any other, the same three points as three days ago, the same three points as next week. Well, not quite. From the very opening moments of the match tonight there was the scent of next Monday night's Tel Aviv derby in the air, as if tonight's contest was nothing more than a dress rehearsal. And if the atmosphere in the stadium wasn't proof enough, then surely it was the simple fact that both the opening goal tonight and the final one were scored by none other than midfielder Eran Zahavi, who as the player who moved from the red side of Tel Aviv to the yellow one, symbolises more than any other player the rivalry between the two Tel Aviv clubs. Sandwiched in between Zahavi's brace came goals from defender Omri Ben Harush, his second in three days, a maiden goal from Maccabi's Nigerian midfielder Nosa Igiebor and yet another from winger Tal Ben Chaim, who just continues to do what he does best, score. Naturally there was an opposing side, Ashdod FC, who already down 4-0 managed in the space of six second-half minutes to pull two goals back. But at the final whistle they marched off the pitch in defeat, as they have done in every recent visit to Maccabi at Bloomfield Stadium. And for the victors, another tick beside the second of three matches in eight days.
In the early moments of the match, as many spectators were still settling into their seats, the players on the pitch also patiently settled into their routine by passing the ball around, with just Tal Ben Chaim trying his luck from the edge of the area with less than eight minutes gone. Just past the quarter hour mark, however, the first real attacking threat appeared, and succeeded, with Nosa Igiebor back-heeling to Eran Zahavi who moved on goal and let fly with a shot that glanced off the leg of an Ashdod defender and sent Ashdod keeper Ofir Martziano the wrong way for 1-0. Zahavi had now scored in his last eleven league matches, his seventh since the start of this season. Maccabi then upped the pace of play, with Igiebor and striker Barak Badash targeting the Ashdod goal, but Maccabi's second came from further back. Young defender Dor Peretz sent a long ball down the left to fullback Omri Ben Harush, who rounded his marker inside the area and struck inside the far post between a whole host of Ashdod defenders, his second goal in three days. Seven minutes later it was Nosa Igiebor who was celebrating after scoring from an almost identical angle his first goal since signing for Maccabi last summer, a strike that put the home side ahead 3-0 at half time.
After the restart it was all Badash and Ben Chaim, time after time cutting through the Ashdod defences. Seven minutes in Omri Ben Harush sent Barak Badash sprinting 40 metres down the left where he beat his marker and crossed past three Ashdod defenders for Tal Ben Chaim to face an open net and make it 4-0. But just when it seemed that the contest was done and dusted, the visitors scored two goals in the space of six minutes. Just under twenty minutes from time, defender Israel Rosh got to midfielder Aleksandar Davidov's free kick in the six-yard box and headed in for 4-1. Minutes later Ashdod's Nigerian striker Yero Bello scored from the spot after midfielder Gadi Kinda was brought down in the area. After that both sides came into action, the match became a box-to-box affair and the crowd could be seen getting ready for next week's derby. But the final word was spoken by Eran Zahavi, who scored the match's last goal from close range after striker Eden Ben Basat's overhead kick was poorly cleared by Martziano. Maccabi win their third league game on the trot by a score of 5-2 and return to the second spot in the Israeli Premier League table.
