Maccabi Tel Aviv began their playoff run today as they hosted Hapoel Hadera and recorded a 2:0 victory. Second half goals by Avi Rikan and Aron Schoenfeld thanks to a pair of assists by Yonatan Cohen moved the Yellow & Blue closer to locking up the league title. Near the end of the first half VAR determined that George Fochive was to be sent off right with a straight red card after a foul on Rikan as the new system was used twice on the first half. Vladimir Ivic’s squad will now be off for the international break and will return in two weeks with a home playoff match against Maccabi Haifa.
Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI: Predrag Rajkovic, Maor Kandil, Sheran Yeini, Jair Amador, Enric Saborit, Dan Glezer, Avi Rikan, Dor Micha, Yonatan Cohen, Eliran Atar, Itay Shechter.
Available on the bench: Daniel Tenenbaum, Eli Dasa, Aron Schoenfeld, Omer Atzili, Shahar Piven, Dor Peretz, Ruslan Barsky.
First half
The first half hour of the contest was relatively calm as Hadera played with a defensive formation as Maccabi tried to break the deadlock. After a long shot by Cohen and another dangerous corner that Yeini headed out, VAR was used for the first time in the 23’. The play in question was if a hand ball by David Matteos in the Hadera box was worthy of a penalty kick, but after 5 minutes analyzing referee Shalom Ben Avrahami decided that a penalty kick should not be awarded.
In the 34’ Eliel Peretz had a chance in the box but Yeini stopped him from shooting on goal. Moments before the break, VAR was again in the spotlight after George Fochive stepped on Kandil. After the official review the decision was made to send the Hadera player off with a direct red card. In first half stoppage time Rikan almost found the back of the goal after a dangerous attack by Maccabi, but his shot missed the target as the side’s went into halftime goalless.
Second half
Maccabi started the second half looking for a quick goal and found it in the 49’. Cohen broke through on the left wing and crossed the ball into the box as Rikan with a beautiful right foot volley scored past Haviv Ohayon, 1-0 Maccabi.
The Yellow & Blue kept looking for another goal but Micha and Saborit’s opportunities came up short. In the 65’ Ivic made his first substitution as he brought on Aron Schoenfeld for Shecter. Five minutes later Omer Atzili came on for Atar and a minute after that he also created a chance with a sharp shot that flew inches by the post.
Maccabi continued to create chances but Atzili and Cohen missed the target. However, in the 85’ Schonefeld scored a fantastic goal as Cohen found the striker 20 meters and sent a scorcher into the back of Ohayon’s goal to wrap up a 2:0.
