Dror Kasthan’s team needed a single point to end a memorable season
The year: 1995/96
The place: Bloomfield Stadium
Maccabi Tel Aviv, lead by Head Coach Dror Kasthan, met Beitar Jerusalem with two games left in the season, knowing that a draw would be enough to secure the title.
The stadium in Jaffa was packed with 19,000 supporters. Everyone was prepared for a big day. The players were ready to play, champagne bottles were ready, a massive flag with Maccabi colors was prepared and the fans were roaring into the stands.
Maccabi enjoyed one of its best years in the 1990's decade, thanks to a powerful squad with names such as Gadi Brumer, Eli Driks, Yevgeni Kashentsev, Nir Klinger, Avi Nimni, Noam Shoam, goalkeeper Alexander Uvarov and Itzik Zohar.
The first chance of the game arrived at the 22nd minute. Eli Driks received an accurate cross by Gadi Brumer, but headed the ball wide and missed the target. Driks had another opportunity at the 41th minute. Nimni received a great ball from Noam Shoam and immediately squared it to Driks who was wide open. Beitar’s keeper Itzik Kornfein saved the forward’s attempt and Klinger’s rebound shot missed the target by several inches.
Maccabi had another excellent opportunity to score when Eli Driks was fould inside the 16-yard box, one minute into the second half. Avi Nimni took the penalty, however Itzik Kornfein came on top with another great save.
It did not take much longer for Nimni to redeem himself and to give Maccabi the long awaited lead. At the 54th minute Nir Klinger’s pass sliced Beitar’s defense and Nimni quickly dribbled past the keeper before calmly scoring from a tight angle. The 1-0 lead was kept until the 94th minute when referee Meir Levi blew the final whistle. The players rushed to celebrate with their fans a second consecutive league title, an achievement that would become sweeter after winning the double shortly after.
