The Yellow & Blue were defeated 4:1 by Maccabi Netanya as Dia Saba scored a hat trick and Ramzi Sfori also scored for the host’s. Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Barak Itzhaki found the back of the goal via a penalty for Jordi Cruyff’s squad’s lone goal of the contest.
Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included: Predrag Rajikovic, Eli Dasa, Yuval Shpungin, Eitan Tibi, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Dor Peretz, Dor Micha (C), Nick Blackman, Vidar Kjartansson.
Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Eliran Atar, Cristian Battocchio, Jose Rodriguez, Omer Atzily, Barak Itzhaki, Ofir Davidzada.
First Half
Kjartansson began the match off with a quality chance in the 3’ of play as the Icelander leaped over a crowded box, headed the ball but missed the post by a meter while two minutes later Peretz was issued a yellow card. Maccabi looked to break through the Netanya defense over the first quarter hour primarily from the wings while the host’s looked to counter thanks to Eran Levy’s long balls.
In the 17’ Dia Saba gave Netanya a 1:0 lead after an attack down the right side led to a through ball that found him in the box. Six minutes went by and Blackman tried to bring down the ball with his head to Babin in the box but the latter couldn’t make it in time to the intended target.
Shpungin was substituted out in the 28’ minute due to an injury and was replaced by Ofir Davidzada and a minute later Kjartansson missed a terrific opportunity again when he had a one on one attempt through some traffic in the box but couldn’t convert. However, Netanya found the back of the goal right before the break via Ramzi Sfori as he scored in the box to give the Diamond City squad a 2:0 lead after 45 minutes.
Second Half
Cruyff made his second substitute at the start of the second half as Barak Itzhaki entered the contest in place of Barak Itzhaki. In the 56’ Saba scored his second goal of the evening when he went in on Rajikovic and put the ball behind the Serbian keeper for a 3:0 lead. The Yellow & Blue made their third sub in the 69’ as Jose Rodriguez was introduced in favor of Kjartansson.
Saba almost completed a hat trick in the 77’ via a header from 5 meters, but the ball just missed the post. A minute later, Maccabi was issued a penalty after the ball went off of Dudi Torem’s hand thanks to an Itzhaki header and the veteran striker slotted home the spot kick to cut the Netanya lead to 3:1. In the final minute of injury time Saba scored his 3rd of the match beating Rajikovic to hand Maccabi a 4:1 defeat.
