Maccabi Tel Aviv ended the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al Regular Season with a 2:0 home victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva and are just two points off the top of the table. Following the match, midfielder Avi Rikan who also scored the side’s second goal spoke about the contest plus looked ahead to the Playoff Round which be gins next week:
“The goal came at the right time, just before the break. It was good to be able to begin the second half with a 2:0 lead.”
Special goal:
“I don’t really care as to how the ball goes into the goal. It was just a simple goal, but if it’s a nice strike and the fans really like it then that’s great. The most important thing was that we took the three points.”
Momentum going into the playoffs:
“The playoffs will be a totally different story. There are 6 quality teams that will come and play football. It will be an interesting battle. The matches will be different than what we have seen to date and we will have to give much more. We can’t overlook Hapoel Haifa who are having a fabulous year and they are very close to the top 3. We have an important game against them on Sunday and we will have to prepare ourselves to play the best possible football at the highest level in order to win.”
Favorites to win the title:
“I don’t think that any one of the top three clubs has an advantage over the other. Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi Netanya may not be fighting for the league title but they will give everyone a hard time and I can’t see a favorite due to that fact. The playoff will be interesting and it’s great that Israeli football has a playoff system like this.”
About the playoff format and the fact that Maccabi has played well against the top teams:
“What has been until today, has been and the playoff are a whole other story. We will all be playing in big matches with full stadiums and I’m sure our fans will come to support us as they always do.”
Vidar’s goal:
“He had a fantastic week and he worked very hard. I always tell him when he works hard outside of the box, the ball will eventually go in. Of course he plays so well with Eli Dasa and I’m happy for him. I’m sure he will score more goals in the playoffs. We all have to be ready, focused and in good shape.”
Missed opportunities during the match:
“We were happy after the match. We worked hard and had many chances. We had two goals called off and we had a penalty, so it looks like we did what we needed to do. If we didn’t take the points, I would have been very disappointed. We scored two goals, kept a clean sheet and I look at this as being very positive.”
