For Maccabi an impressive 6-0 display on their home-side Bloomfield Stadium season debut against Hapoel Petach Tikva in the “Toto” Cup quarter final, with four maiden goals to four different players
Maccabi Tel Aviv staged an impressive home-side return to Bloomfield Stadium tonight, thrashing “Winner” (Premier) League new boys Hapoel Petch Tikva 6-0 in their first-leg “Toto” (League) Cup quarter final encounter. The drama began very early on, when with five minutes on the clock Maccabi winger Tal Ben Haim surged down the left and fired an expert cross into the area that was met with a lunging header by young striker Gael Margulies past veteran Tikva keeper Kale Dreshler for his maiden goal of the season. With less than twenty minutes gone it was defender Eytan Tibi opening his season account, heading in a pin-point corner from midfielder Eran Zhava to double Maccabi’s advantage. Four minutes later a second Maccabi defender, Omri Ben Harush, recorded his first strike of the season in most impressive fashion, seeing his first effort in the area deflected by the keeper but firing the rebound from an acute angle into the upper corner of the net. By the 24th minute the home side already had a 4-0 advantage, this time courtesy of one of the team’s more familiar goalscorers, Eran Zahavi. Fed through on side ahead of his markers by a skillful Nikola Mitrovic, Zahavi faced Dressler alone and made quick work of firing past him into the net. With four minutes left in the half Zahavi released another fine strike from outside the area but his effort went wide.
Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran made three substitutions after the break but the home side’s complete dominance on the pitch continued. Six minutes in one of those substitutions, summer signing Eden Ben Basat, made a terrific solo run down the left that was only halted when he was brought down in the area. The former Tolouse striker stepped up himself to the spot to convert the awarded penalty to put Maccabi in front 5-0. Just past the hour mark the visitors created their first opportunity of the match on one of their rare forays outside their own half. Defender Kobi Musa sent a long ball that was latched on to by Dor Hugi, but the on-loan striker’s final touch went astray. No such profligacy for another second-half substitution, young Maccabi midfielder Dor Peretz, who two minutes later struck hard and accurately from outside the area, beating Kale and finishing off the scoring with Maccabi now 6-0 in front. For Peretz it was also his debutant goal since joining the senior squad from the Maccabi Under-19s this summer. In the closing minutes another Maccabi youngster, midfielder Moshe “Moshiko” Lugassi, nearly made it seven with a splendid overhead effort from inside the area, but in one of his few successes on the night Kale Dreshler was there to save.
The return leg will be played at Hapoel Petach Tikva’s home ground, the “Moshava” Stadium, in exactly a week’s time, on Wednesday September 17th at 7.45pm.
