The most crucial moment of the Europa League second round qualifying is upon us. Following the first match in Kazakhstan, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Kairat Almaty will play the second leg on Thursday night to decide who will advance to the third round. Last week the Yellow & Blue drew even in dramatic fashion when Yossi Benayoun scored in the 90th minute to tie up the match before the final whistle.
In order to get ready for the return leg in Netanya we have some key points for you to think about.
מפת מסירות קאיירט. שימו לב לכמות המסירות שקיבלת איסלמקאן (9) ()
Key Point #1: MIA – Missing in Action
Let begin at the end. Right before the end of the match, Bauyrzhan Islamkhan, Kairat’s Captain was issued a red card after a foul on Avi Rikan. If you ask the locals in Almaty, this may have been an even bigger blow than giving up a goal by Benayoun during injury time. The young Kazakhstan player was one of the key points we focussed on prior to last match. The midfielder was accurate on 50/56 passes of which 32 were on the attack. On the other side of the coin, Islamkhan received 59 passes from his teammates as you can see in the diagram. However, Maccabi was able to stop his fine passing when it came to the penalty area as number 9 was only able to get one pass into Rajikovic’s zone.
It will be interesting to see who will step into the youngster’s shoes and if he will be able to handle managing Kairat’s game, or will the coach decide to put another player that started last match in that position and bring another attacking player into the fray.
Key Point #2: Control, Location, Control
Try to think back to the match. Who controlled the game the majority of the 90+ minutes? If you look at the main match statistics you’ll see that Shota Arveladze’s side controlled the ball for 53% of the contest. However, let’s break down the match into quarters. During the first 15 minutes, Kairat had full control, keeping the ball 73% of the time, but other than the goal that was called offside, the Kazakstan outfit was unable to translate their control into any further chances. Maccabi was able to take control for most of the match, especially during minutes 60-90 and eventually was able to score the tying goal.
It’s also interesting to see where the average location of the Kairat players were in both the first and second halves.
In the first half, Tskhadadze’s players positioned themselves as they usually would in a domestic league match to attack. Arshavin went slightly to the middle of the pitch which allowed Suyumbayev, the left back the chance to continuously attack down the wing.
The second half was a different story. The offensive minded players attempted to maintain the lead as Arshavin played more of a midfielder than a striker coming off of the wing. The player who received more of attacking role for the final 45 minutes of the match was Isael, the Brazilian who caused numerous headaches for the Maccabi defense with four shots on goal and 12 successful dribbling situations, the most of any player on the pitch.
This will also be an area to pay attention to as Tskhadadze, over the course of the match considering everyone knows that in order for Kairat to advance they will need to score a goal.
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עמדות של שחקני קאיירט בחצי הראשון
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עמדות של שחקני קאיירט בחצי השני
Key Point #3: The tip of the shoe
We all waited for 90 minutes to see a bit of magic as Dor Micha sent beautiful ball into the box and right to Yossi Benayoun. However, even before that the Yellow & Blue had a number of quality chances but didn’t turn into goals due to a few near misses, the keeper Plotnikov and also because goal line technology was not in play for this contest.
Here’s a map of Maccabi’s attempts in goal. Two of the chances went right to the keeper, another went to the right side of the goal but was stopped by the Kazakhstan defense plus three more opportunities could be split into two as those went to the right of the goal while the other was Yossi Benayoun’s successful strike. You could say that the line “Tip of the Shoe” is an accurate of describing last match, but at a minimum, another 90 minutes on Thursday will be a chance to take a step back to square one.
Last but not least:
Left back to the rescue – Avi Rikan played as a left back against Kairat Almaty in the first leg and did a terrific job. With a vicious shot on goal, two accurate free kicks out of five that found a teammate and five passes into the penalty area showed Rikan’s value throughout the match. On the defensive side of the ball, Rikan had 14 successful defensive plays out of 20. You can see Rikan’s match report and diagram of his actions on the picture to the right.
4X4 – This could be the last time that we will see Benayoun and Arshavin on the same pitch. Regardless of any statistical data or insights, let’s enjoy these two stars featuring on the same field of play.
