A Barak Badash brace helped Maccabi beat "Leumit" side Hapoel Rishon Lezion 2-1 in a friendly
Just last night, Maccabi Tel Aviv's top-flight pacesetters match against Hapoel Beer Sheva ended in a goalless draw, but today members of the squad were back out on the pitch, this time at the Kiryat Shalom training ground. This morning the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad began their preparations for an action-packed week that will see them play three matches, starting with a friendly this afternoon against Second ("Leumit") Division side Hapoel Rishon Lezion. The game was played in two 35-minute halves and head coach Pako Ayesteran fielded an entirely different side to that which played against Beer Sheva, who conducted a post-match cool-down practice instead. And it was Barak Badash, who spent the Beer Sheva encounter on the bench, who scored both of Maccabi's goals of the afternoon, the first in the 20th minute. A classy co-operative move including three passes left him facing Rishon keeper Matan Ambar on his own and the lanky striker made easy work of it to put Maccabi ahead 1-0 at the half.
Strong winds, the promise of a greater storm to follow, affected play after the break, but not so much that the visitors weren't able to find the net. Deep into the period the second division opponents worked themselves inside the Maccabi area and struck to the far post past keeper Barak Levy. Parity lasted but five minutes though, as Barak Badash and team-mates set up a similar scenario to that which led to the first-half goal and once again Badash came through with a classy finish.
The match ended 2-1 in Maccabi's favour and now the squad will continue preparations for a crowded fixture week that will start on Sunday with an away contest at Maccabi Haifa. Three days later it will continue with Maccabi's opening State Cup tie at Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle on Wednesday and on Saturday Maccabi will welcome Hapoel Acre to Bloomfield Stadium.
Line-up: Barak Levy, Saar Kalderon, Sean Goldberg, Dor Peretz, Yoav Ziv, Mahran Radi, Dan Einbinder, Ben Reichert, Barak Itzhaki, Eden Ben Basat, Barak Badash. Substitutes: Gael Margulies, Shachar Fiban, Sohil Armeli.
