The Yellow & Blue earned three points on Matchday Two on two first half goals by Oscar Scarione and winger Tal Ben Chaim via penalty as Gadi Kinda was only able to cut the lead in the 40th minute. The players will now be on the international break as Matchday Three will take place in two weeks when Maccabi hosts Beitar Jerusalem at the Netanya Stadium.
Head Coach Shota Arveladze had Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with Avi Rikan, Eitan Tibi, Egor Filipenka and Eli Dasa in front of him. Captain Gal Alberman was back in the Starting XI while Haris Medunjanin and Oscar Scarione played beside number 6. Providing the attack was a trio of Dor Micha, Tal Ben Chaim and Barak Itzhaki.
On the bench was Haviv Ohayon, Eyal Golasa, Tal Ben Haim, Nosa Igiebor, Dor Peretz, Eliel Peretz and Yossi Benayoun.
First Half
Even before everyone settled into their seats at the Yud Alef Stadium, Maccabi sporting their new blue away kit was on the board. Scarione took a tremendous long pass from Itzhaki to come in from the left side and slot the ball behind the Ashdod keeper for the 1:0 lead in the first minute.
In the 7th minute Itzhaki himself had a terrific chance but skied his ball over the bar while a minute later Scarione almost picked up a brace but keeper Yoav Gerafi was in the right place to make the stop. As the match hit the 19th minute Ben Chaim swung a cross in from the left side to the middle of the box where Itzhaki’s header went wide right of the goal as Maccabi continued to look for their second goal on the evening.
However, it wouldn’t take them too much longer to find it as Ben Chaim was tripped up in the box after receiving a terrific pass by Scarione God for a penalty that number 11 easily slotted home to the bottom left of Gerafi’s goal for a 2:0 Yellow & Blue advantage. Alberman’s long range scorcher was collected by Gerafi in the 34th minute but out of nowheres Gadi Kinda capitalized on a Maccabi defensive error and out the ball behind Rajikovic to cut the lead to 2:1 in the 40th minute.
Ben Chaim almost put home his second of the match but his sharp angled shot went off the post and out as the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the first half.
Second Half
With Ashdod looking for an equalizer they began attacking Maccabi and almost converted a pair of early second half chances but Rajikovic made sure to keep the score as is with two nice saves. Head Coach Arveladze made his first substitution of the evening introducing Tal Ben Haim in favor of Barak Itzhaki and moved to three central defenders in the back.
With the new formation in place winger Ben Chaim had a marvelous chance to increase the lead in the 56th minute but his effort went off of an Ashdod defender and out for a corner. In the 60th minute Nivaldo headed a ball back to the keeper that almost went into the goal, however Gerafi made it back in time to make the stop on the line.
Drazen Bagaric had two chances to draw Ashdod even in the 63rd and 65th minutes but Rajikovic made the save on the former while the latter was just wide right of the goal. Following a yellow card issued to Alberman, Arveladze made his second substitute of the match bringing in Nosa Igiebor for Dor Micha while Eyal Golasa was introduced for Haris Medunjanin in the 71st minute.
Bagaric again had an opportunity to tie up the match but his shot from the top of the box went over the bar and out in the 78th minute and Dasa was issued a yellow card in the 86th minute as play went back an forth with each side looking for a goal late in the match. However, neither club would find one as the Yellow & Blue remain perfect early on in the season winning 2:1.
Maccabi’s next match will be in two weeks due to the international break when they face Beitar Jerusalem at home.
