Nosa Igiebor scored a first half goal while Dor Micha and Orlando Sa added second half markers as a ten man Maccabi defeated Raanana on Matchday Four of the Toto Cup 3:0.
Head Coach Shota Arveladze continued with Haviv Ohayon as his starting keeper for the Yellow & Blue while a defensive quartet of Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Egor Filipenko and Avi Rikan helped defend his goal. Captain Gal Alberman played as the defensive midfielder with Haris Medunjanin and Nosa Igiebor at his side while Dor Micha, Oscar Scarione and Barak Itzhaki provided the attack.
First Half
Following close to a quarter hour of tentative play from both sides, Maccabi finally broke through with a gorgeous 14th minute goal from Igiebor. Scarione gave the Nigerian a beautiful backheel pass on the left side of the pitch that the midfielder took to his right and blasted home from the top of the box, beating Raanana keeper Arik Yanko for the 1:0 lead.
After a 20th minute yellow card was handed to Dasa, Medunjanin gave the right back a nice pass which he in turn sent to an oncoming Itzahki but his effort just went wide left of the goal in the 25th minute. Raanana came back with two late first half chances as Dor Hugi missed the target while Gal Arel’s chance just missed the goal.
However, right before halftime, Dasa was shown a second yellow card resulting in a red as he was sent off for a reckless tackle leaving Maccabi with only ten men for the final 45 minutes.
Second Half
To begin half number two, Coach Arveladze made a couple of changes introducing Omri Ben Harush and Dor Peretz in favor of Itzhaki and Rikan. In the 52nd minute Peretz had a wonderful chance in front of the goal from an Igiebor pass but Yanko was able to push the ball away for a corner. A minute later Scarione left Micha one on one with Yanko but Ben Vehava was able to knock the ball away from behind and our for a corner as Maccabi continued to threaten for an insurance goal.
And that’s exactly what they got in the 61st minute from Micha. Scarione sent Peretz the ball on the right side who passed it to Micha who in turn put the ball into the goal in the 61st minute for the 2:0 advantage.
Coach Arveladze made three more substitutions bringing in winger Tal Ben Chaim, Orlando Sa and Eyal Golasa that led to the final goal of the evening as Sa took a Micha pass and beat Yanko for the 3:0 victory.
