Maccabi Tel Aviv began their European quest with a disappointing 2:1 loss to Hibernians FC in Malta. Next Tuesday at Bloomfield Stadium, Maccabi will look to turn around the two-legged tie in front of their home supporters.
Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic started his first match in charge of the club with an offensive lineup featuring only three defenders in front of 'keeper Juan Pablo with Tal Ben Haim, Carlos Garcia and Eitan Tibi. Up front, Eden Ben Basat featured as a central striker with Tal Ben Chaim playing on his left side and Dor Micha on his right with Nosa Igiebor playing an advanced role for the Yellow-and-Blue as well.
Manning the midfield was acting captain Gal Alberman, Nikola Mitrovic and Gili Vermouth with the latter having Maccabi's opening opportunity of the game with his quick shot being miraculously saved by Hibernians 'keeper Jurgen Borg, giving the hosts hope that this may be their magical evening.
Soon thereafter, Hibernians Brazilian striker Jorge Da Silva Pereira "Jorginho" had a wonderful chance that went just left of the goal. It was then Maccabi's turn to go downfield as they took a 1:0 lead on a goal by Nosa Igiebor. The Nigerian midfielder almost added to his tally but his two brilliant headers went wide and his wonderful setup to Ben Basat was magnificently saved again by Borg keeping the score at 1:0 going into the halftime break.
Each side continued with chances throughout the second half as both teams could have been called for a penalty early on in the final 45 minutes. Maccabi introduced Omri Ben Harush for Nikola Mitrovic and a bit later on brought in Barak Itzhaki for Gili Vermouth, but the changes didn't help as Hibernians equalized on a goal by "Jorginho" Pereira to make the score 1:1.
However, Hibernians were not done as the home team took the bull by the horns and scored their second goal of the match in the 85th minute off a perfect free kick that Jackson De Lima headed into the Maccabi goal. The Yellow-and-Blue looked for the equalizer but it was not to be as Hibernians continued to dominate the play until the final whistle.
Maccabi Tel Aviv will head to Bloomfield next Tuesday night for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying matches, with Hibernians holding a slight 2:1 advantage.
