It’s early in the season but any match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa is always a focal point of the Israeli football season. This Saturday, Maccabi Tel Aviv will visit Sammy Ofer Stadium when they face Maccabi Haifa on Matchday Five of Ligat Winner.
Two years ago this week, the Yellow-and-Blue under Paulo Sousa visited The Greens of the Carmel Mountain for their first match of the 2013/14 season that took place at the historic Kiryat Eliezer Stadium. Maccabi came to Haifa with the proverbial monkey on their back as they hadn’t been able to defeat Haifa on the road in nine straight seasons.
The first half showcased an amazing display by the ‘keepers on both sides with Juan Pablo and Bojan Saranov making one save after another to keep the match scoreless after 45 minutes.
The second half though, was a totally different story as Maccabi showed that they were now a force to reckoned with also away from home. Five minutes into the second frame, Eitan Tibi took the ball across midfield towards the Haifa goal and found Mahran Radi on the right flank. The midfielder then delivered the ball to Barak Itzhaki in the box who put it into the Green’s goal as the ball bounced off of his chest to help Maccabi take a 1:0 lead in the 50th minute.
Only nine minutes went by as the thousands of fans leaped again from their seats for the nicest goal of the game. After Juan Pablo made a save from an oncoming Haifa attack, Omri Ben Harush cleared the ball to Eran Zahavi who was at the 25 meter mark on the pitch. Zahavi, who is now captain already played the part of quarterback back then as he avoided three Haifa players and then launched a perfect pass to Rada Prica who chipped the ball over Saranov. 2:0 in Haifa with the Maccabi fans all over the world in absolute pandemonium. The 75th minute marked the final nail being driven into the Haifa coffin. Omri Ben Harush took the ball into the Haifa box passed it towards Zahavi who let it go through to Prica who precisely shot the ball right into the Haifa goal giving Maccabi a 3:0 win.
Nine years, four months and a day went by since the last Yellow-and-Blue victory at Kiryat Eliezer as the winless streak finally ended paving the way for the 2013/14 championship.
