Peretz: “The coach had trust in me”

Maccabi Tel Aviv won last night's Tel Aviv derby 3:1 after coming back from a goal down thanks to markers by Igiebor, Zahavi & Ben Chaim.

The Yellow-and-Blue controlled ball possession for most of the match and dominated the tempo for almost the full 90 minutes. One of the players who had an opportunity to show his wares was youngster Dor Peretz who played an excellent match in the holding midfielder position.

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Peretz said after the game:

"It's a terrific feeling after a hot derby where we were in the hole but came back big time. We controlled the pace of the match but there were times when Hapoel also controlled the ball, however all in all we were more dominant on the pitch.

Coach Slavisa Jokanovic put trust in Peretz's game and he was happy about that: "This match gave me the feeling that the coach had trust in me especially after having to watch the last few games from the stands."

The midfielder also commented on how this win felt after losing the prior match to Plzen: "As an athlete you finish the game, and win or lose you're already thinking about the next one. This evening we were able to show what we are capable of and we're already preparing for the away match in in Plzen.

Veteran midfielder Nosa Igiebor talked about scoring against his former club, this coming season and the Champions League qualifying match in Plzen later on this week.

Did you enjoy to score against your ex-team Hapoel Tel Aviv?

It's emotional when you score against a team that you played for. But Maccabi brought me over to play for them and if I have an opportunity to score against Hapoel again I will.

You had a good connection with the last coach and you seem to have an excellent one with coach Jokanovic.

I think with Pako I was in good shape as he always wanted me to be safe with the pass and keep the ball. This year so far with Coach Jokanovic, he is letting me play more offensively.

Do you think that this will be a breakout year for you this season?

The main thing is that I should be fit and keep away from injuries.

How did you feel after the loss to Viktoria Plzen?

I didn't sleep as I thought about the game all through the night especially what we did right and what we did wrong. I tried to figure out why we did not win the game as they are not that great a team. They were organized and we'll have another opportunity to correct the mistakes we made. We will go to Plzen to fight and we will see what will happen at the end of the day.

Do you believe that you can defeat Plzen by at least 2:0 away?

If they were able to come here and win 2:1 then we have to believe that we can go there and win too.

The coach said that the team is to dependent on Eran Zahavi. What do you think?

Eran Zahavi is an important player on the team. But what the coach is saying is that everyone has to step up. I see that players are trying to step up.