Tal Ben Chaim started the match on the bench for Maccabi Tel Aviv and saw Netanya draw even with his club early on in the second half. Head Coach Peter Bosz brought the winger in to jump start the offense as number 11 helped Maccabi to the 3:1 victory.
“We’re used to these types of matches where we come to play against teams that try to defend against us. We don’t always score at the beginning of the game and then things get a bit complicated. This time we did score but they tied up the game and it nonetheless put us in a difficult situation. The bottom line is that we won and that’s what we can take from this game.”
The gap between Maccabi and Beer Sheva:
“The fact that the gap grew to 8-points last night was definitely on our minds. Everyone can see that there are two clubs fighting for the title. We are battling against an excellent club that is currently in first place with a nice size lead over us. As soon as we went into this game and we were 8-points down it was clear that we couldn’t lose anymore points. From now on we have to win every match until the end of the year and I’m happy that we were able to do so this evening.”
Coming off of the bench:
“There’s no such thing as being over motivated. Any time you’re on the pitch you’re motivated to win. Today I opened the match on the bench and that was the coach’s decision. I’m happy that I was able to come in and make a difference in the final score.”
On the criticism received after the Derby:
“I was very calm, cool and collected when I made my comments after the Derby and I wasn’t upset like others thought. I knew that there would be criticism. I’m the type of player who tells it like it is. As far as I’m concerned it’s behind me.”
