The Yellow & Blue looked for three points in the return match with Alkmaar on Matchday Four of the Europa League groups stages but will have to be satisfied with just one as the sides ended in a goalless draw 0:0 at the Netanya Stadium.
Prematch
Head Coach Shota Arveladze had Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Eli Dasa, Tal Ben Haim, Eitan Tibi and Omri Ben Harush in front of him. Captain Gal Alberman was in his usual defensive midfielder position with Oscar Scarione and Haris Medunjanin playing beside him while Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack.
Available on the bench was keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Eden Ben Basat, Barak Itzhaki, Egor Filipenka, Avi Rikan, Nosa Igiebor and Yossi Benayoun.
First Half
After ten minutes of play being held primarily in the midfield, Maccabi had the first chance of the match when Micha sent Ben Chaim a terrific ball who in turn passed it to Kjartansson. The Icelander then sent the ball back to the winger who made it past the keeper but couldn’t find the back of the goal. Two minutes later Micha gave Kjartansson an unbelievable ball and went in uncontested on goal but his shot just went wide left.
Alkmaar had their first opportunity in the 26th minute when Ben Rienstra had a one on one chance against Rajikovic but his effort just went wide to the right. As the match hit the 38th minute, Scarione moved in on goal and sent Dasa a pass to the right side of the box but his low effort just missed the target and went out for a goal kick.
As the half wound down Alkmaar’s Mattias Johansson took a shot from long range that just went over the bar while Tibi picked up a yellow card as the team’s headed into the break deadlocked at 0:0.
Second Half
To open the second half, Dasa was issued a yellow card in the 50th minute while two minutes later Ben Chaim came in off of the left wing but his effort was skied over the bar. Derrick Luckassen was them shown yellow for Alkmaar and coach John van den Brom introduced striker Robert Muhren in favor of Rens van Eijden as the match began to heat up.
In the 60th minute Alkmaar made their second substitution of the contest as Dabney Dos Santos came on for Illiass Bel Hassani and just a minute later Rajikovic made a fantastic kick save off of a Luckassen strike to keep the match goalless. Muhren’s 67th minute free kick just missed the goal as coach Arveladze made a double substitution five minutes later bringing on Nosa Igiebor and Avi Rikan for Ben Harush and Kjartansson who had picked up a yellow card a couple of minutes earlier.
In the 74th minute Dos Santos almost beat Rajikovic but his effort missed the mark and went out. Two minutes later, Muhren raced in on goal as Ben Haim cut him off and he just hit the netting of the goal on the short side. Immediately after the miss Wout Weghorst was substituted off and Fred Friday entered the match.
As the clock hit the 81st minute Medunjanin led a break and gave the ball off to Ben Chaim on his left side. Number 11 sent a pass back to the Bosnian but his effort just went wide right. The Yellow & Blue made their third substitution of the match and introduced Yossi Benayoun in favor of Dor Micha. Just minutes after entering the fray Benayoun was shown his first yellow card of the game.
As the match hit the 90th minute Scarione’s long range screamer went just wide of the mark as Maccabi looked to find a winner as three minutes of injury time were added by the referee. However it was not to be as the contest ended in a goalless draw. The Yellow & Blue will now prepare to face Maccabi Petach Tikva in Ligat Ha’Al play on Sunday evening.
