Nosa Igiebor, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Nigerian midfielder was happy to pick up three points on Matchday 24 of the WINNER League after defeating Hapoel Haifa 2:1 at Bloomfield Stadium. Number 40 talked about the battle for first place with Hapoel Beer Sheva and Saturday’s victory:

About a tough first half:

“You’re right the first half wasn’t easy. We played against a team that came here to try and score a point today. In the second half we knew what we wanted, we tried to do it and we did.”

Motivation of the team:

“We couldn’t find the right rhythm. In the second half the coach gave us some instructions as to what to do and we found what we needed in the second half.”

Playing before Hapoel Beer Sheva:

“It’s good we played before them, but tomorrow the gap could be back to five points. We want to continue to win and if we win all of our games that’s fine with us.”

 Pressure for both teams:

 “When you are used to winning you just want to win. We may be under a bit of pressure because we are used to being at the top and that’s where we want to be. They are also under pressure, it’s 50-50 but I think we can handle the pressure.”