The Yellow & Blue defeated Altach 1:0 in Innsbruck thanks to a ’67 goal by Vidar Kjartansson as the Icelandic striker slotted home a terrific pass from Ofir Davidzada who had taken the ball from his half and streaked down the pitch. Maccabi will look to advance to the Europa League Group Stages next Thursday night at home in the return leg of the Playoff Round. But prior to that, Jordi Cruyff’s side will get ready for the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al Season Opener on Sunday as they face Beitar Jerusalem at the Netanya Stadium at 21:00.
Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajikovic, with Yuval Shpungin, Tal Ben Haim, Eitan Tibi and Ofir Davidzada on defense. Captain Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan and Cristian Battocchio were in the midfield as Omer Atzily, Aaron Schoenfeld and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack.
Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Barak Itzhaki, Sagiv Yehezkel, Egor Filipenka, Dor Micha, Shlomi Azulay and Dor Peretz.
First Half
With Altach controlling the pace of play over the first ten minutes of the contest, Ngamaleu had the first chance in ’11 but Rajikovic was in place. Maccabi’s first opportunity came in the ’17 when Tibi looked to have scored via a header but he was ruled to be offside. Atzily lifted a corner kick into the Austrian’s box in the ’26 to Schoenfeld but his ball went out.
Kjartansson came in off of the left wing in the ’35 but his effort was saved by the Altach keeper Martin Kobras while Christian Gebauer’s chance at the other end of the pitch was taken care of by Rajikovic. Gebauer would have another opportunity in the ’39 form the top of the box but his shot went way over the bar. Two minutes later, Atzily’s free kick made it into the box but Schoenfeld’s header missed the mark as a nice team effort by the hosts ended up with Jan Zwischenbrugger’s header going right into the waiting hands of Rajikovic as the half came to an end.
Second Half
Kjartasson took a brilliant pass in the box by Rikan, but fell while trying to handle the ball in the ’49 while at the other side for the pitch, Ngamaleu was left alone in front of Rajikovic but he lofted the ball over the bar. In the ’54 Ben Haim took care of a dangerous pass in the box to clear the ball to safety as the pace of play from both sides picked up.
Battocchio tried his luck from 23 meters out but missed the target in the ‘61 while Altach had all kinds of chances to score but Tibi, Rajikovic and Rikan all cleared the ball off of the line to keep the match goalless. Cruyff made his first substitute of the contest in the ’65 as Dor Micha came on for Atzily.
The Yellow & Blue would finally break the deadlock in the ’67 as Davidzada led a break downfield and passed the ball to Kjartansson who coolly slotted it home for a 1:0 Maccabi advantage!
Cruyff made his second substitution in the ’73 as Dor Peretz was introduced for Schoenfeld while Egor Filipenka came on for Battocchio in the ’83 as Yeini and Galvao each received yellow cards just prior to the switch. Altach looked for a late equalizer but wouldn’t find it as Maccabi took home a 1:0 win.
Jordi Cruyff’s squad will open up the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al on Sunday against Beitar Jerusalem at the Netanya Stadium, 21:00 and will play the 2nd leg Europa League Playoff Round match versus Altach on Thursday August 24th at home as the Yellow & Blue will attempt to advance to the group stages of the Europa League.
