Maccabi Tel Aviv met Hapoel Tel Aviv on January 22, 1994 at Ramat Gan Stadium in the midst of the 1993/94 season. Long before Carlos Garcia decided a 2015/16 Derby, legendary central defender Alexander Polukarov scored for the Yellow & Blue and turned into a Maccabi hero.

One of the greatest foreign central defenders to arrive in Israel landed in the summer of 1991 after playing 11 seasons for Torpedo Moscow in Russia. Polukarov came together with Shura Uvarov as many foreign players began arriving from the former Soviet Union. Polukarov’s first match for Maccabi in the 1991/92 season is one that the defender would prefer to forget as he was issued a red card and his club gave up a pair of goals as they fell 3:2 to Beitar Tel Aviv. The rest of the campaign was much better as Polukarov was a fixture in the starting lineup as he shored up the Maccabi defense.

Polukarov’s fine play helped Maccabi win the 1991/92 league championship for their first league title in 13 years. The next season saw the defender play with Maccabi Tel Aviv in their first European match and appeared in 49 contests across all competitions as the club finished in second place while winning the Toto Cup. His first goal came in a 2:1 away victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva in December of 1992 and then scored another two in league play.

In Polukarov’s third season in Yellow & Blue, the defender had a couple of highlights on the offensive side of the ball. Other than his Derby goal, Polukarov scored one of the goals in the 3:3 semifinal State Cup draw against Tzafririm Holon in a match that Maccabi advanced in penalties. In the final, Polukarov met Hapoel Tel Aviv and once again had the upper hand in Maccabi’s victory to pick up his 3rd title in as many seasons.