The Yellow & Blue defeated Hapoel Raanana 3:0 as winger Tal Ben Chaim scored a pair of goals and Avi Rikan added a lone strike from the top of the box as Maccabi will now prepare for a Wednesday clash at Bnei Sakhnin at Doha Stadium, 20:45.
Prematch
Head Coach Shota Arveladze made a number of changes to his Starting XI from last match, however, Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic was in goal as Eli Dasa, Avi Rikan, Tal Ben Haim and Egor Filipenka played in front of him. Gal Alberman sported the captain’s armband and took up his usual midfield position while Haris Medunjanin and Dor Micha played alongside number 6. Barak Itzhaki, Tal Ben Chaim and Vidar Kjartansson provided the offense.
Available on the bench for Coach Arveladze was Daniel Lifshitz, Eitan Tibi, Dor Peretz, Yossi Benayoun, Eyal Golasa, Eden Ben Basat and Sagiv Yehezkel.
First Half
Avi Rikan’s 4th minute blast went over the bar as Maccabi looked to strike early, however, Raanana had a header chance via Ben Binyamin just one minute later but his effort missed the mark. Following a long shot by Kjartansson, Ben Chaim picked up the match’s first yellow card in the 15th minute.
In the 27th minute, Rajikovic came up big against Rene Mihelic as the Slovenian’s sharp shot was snagged by the Serbian keeper who in turn sent Maccabi downfield to take a 1:0 lead. Micha supplied winger Ben Chaim with a tremendous pass as number 11 easily beat Arik Yanko on a one-on-one situation good for a 1:0 Maccabi lead.
Right before the halftime whistle, Dasa cleared the ball off the line to keep Maccabi ahead by a goal.
Second Half
It didn’t take long for the Yellow & Blue to double their score as Rikan’s gorgeous curler from the top of the box beat Yanko for a 2:0 lead in the 53rd minute. Ben Chaim and Micha combined in helping number 22’s goal, giving Maccabi an insurance marker. Eyal Golasa was then introduced for Micha four minutes later.
In the 61st minute Rajikovic came up big using his knees to make a save off of a low effort from Roie Shukrani while two minutes later Dor Peretz replaced Rikan and ten minutes after that Eden Ben Basat came on for Kjartansson.
Peretz’s header just missed finding the back of the goal as number 14’s effort off of a brilliant Golasa pass was just tipped over the bar good for a corner kick in the 77th minute. However, Ben Chaim made sure to make no mistake with a terrific Ben Basat pass in the 83rd minute as number 11 scored his second of the match coming off of the right wing to beat Yanko for a 3:0 Maccabi advantage.
Itzhaki had the Yellow & Blue’s final chance of the evening but his scorcher was parried away by the Raanana keeper as Maccabi out the finishing touches on a 3:0 victory as they will now get ready for a trip to Doha Stadium and Bnei Sakhnin on Wednesday night.
