The Yellow & Blue picked up the win at Beitar Jerusalem thanks to first half goals by Avi Rikan and Nick Blackman. Claudemir scored for the hosts to cut the Maccabi lead in the second half but it wasn’t enough to stop the visitors to open up the second round of Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al matches.
Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajikovic, Eli Dasa, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Eitan Tibi, Captain Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Dor Peretz, Dor Micha, Nick Blackman and Eliran Atar.
Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Jose Rodriguez, Vidar Kjartansson, Barak Itzhaki. Aaron Schoenfeld, Tal Ben Haim and Cristian Battocchio.
Beitar Jerusalem’s starting lineup featured Stav Shoshan, Antoine Conte, Miki Siroshstein, Tal Kahila, Marcel Heister, David Keltjens, Claudemir Parreira, Arik Sabo, Jiorginho, Hen Ezra and Itay Shecter. Bench Benny Peretz, Ofer Varta, Sean Goldberg, Antoine Varenne, Yossi Benayoun, Yakov Brihen, Paul Edgar.
First Half
Maccabi began the match with a bang as Peretz lofted a ball into the box that Blackman headed down to Rikan who drilled it behind Shoshan for a quick 1:0 lead after a minute of play. Rikan tried his luck off a direct corner kick towards the goal and missed by centimeters in the 4’ while five minutes later Dasa sent a cross into the box from the left side that Atar dove head first in front of the goal for and just missed scoring Maccabi’s second.
The Yellow & Blue went on the attack again in the 18’ as Micha gave Atar the ball but his attempt was saved by Shoshan as was his opportunity 3 minutes later when he went one on one with the Beitar keeper. Tibi stole the ball from Ezra in the 27’ just outside of the box and sent a scorcher that just missed to the left of the goal. Two minutes later Claudemir tried his luck from outside the box but Rajiko was up to the task.
In the 36’ Rikan took a shot from the top of the box but his effort was taken care of by Shoshan as was his 38’ attempt. With the majority of play in the Beitar zone and Maccabi looking for a second strike they would find it via Blackman who popped the ball into the goal as he followed up on his own header that hit the post for a 2:0 Yellow & Blue advantage in the 42’. Atar then had a chance to add a third but his one on one chance was put right into Shoshan as Maccabi took a two goal lead into the break.
Second Half
Beitar made a double substitution to start the second half as Edgar and Varenne entered the match for Conte and Ezra. Maccabi continued on the attack as Dasa had a quality chance in the 50’ but #2 put the ball over over the goal from the right. However, it would be Beitar who would strike first in the second half as Claudemir sent a free kick behind Rajikovic from just outside the top of the box to cut the Maccabi lead to 2:1.
Beitar continued to press Maccabi and had another chance in the box in the 64’ but Tibi cleared the ball to safety and out for a corner. Benayoun came on a minute later for Jiorginho marking the hosts’s final substitution of the match while Cruyff brought on Battocchio in favor of Golasa in the 66’ and Schoenfeld for Atar five minutes later.
Battocchio gave Rikan a marvelous ball in the 77’ but Shoshan again made the save to keep the score as is. Jose Rodriguez came on for Rikan in the 81’ as Maccabi looked to close out the match which is what they promptly did taking home the 3 points and the win.
