Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa played to a 1:1 draw at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Yonatan Cohen found the back of the Greens goal in the 29’ thanks to an Itay Shechter assist while Georges Mandjeck found the equalizer in the 87’ as each squad took a point.
Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Eli Dasa, Sheran Yeini, Shahar Piven Eitan Tibi, Enric Saborit, Dan Glezer, Dor Peretz, Avi Rikan, Itay Shechter and Yonatan Cohen.
Available on the bench: Daniel Peretz, Jair Amador, Ophir Davidzada, Bar Cohen, Ruslan Barsky, Eliran Atar, Chico Ofoedu.
First Half
Shon Weissmann had Haifa’s first chance of the contest in the 5’ but Tenenbaum was up to the task while 7 minutes later Maccabi had their opening opportunity as Shechter sent Rikan a beauty of ball that went off of the bar. In the 13’ Rikan once again had a chance on goal but the Greens keeper Guy Haimov made the save.
In the 18’ Ernest Mabouka sent a dangerous ball into the box, but Yeini cleared it to safety and 7 minutes later Dasa tried to put the ball into the area but Haimov corralled it in. Maccabi took the lead in the 29’ when Shechter stole the ball from Eyad Habshi and sent it to Cohen who went by the Haifa defense and scored to give the Yellow & Blue a 1:0 advantage.
Yeini almost doubled the advantage when Shechter passed the ball to the captain who went in on goal but Habshi was just able to clear the danger at the last second. Dasa tried to get the ball to Cohen in the 39’ and to Peretz and Shechter in the 43’ but just came up short as Maccabi took a 1:0 lead into the break.
Second Half
Omri Glazer replaced Haimov in the Greens goal after picking up an injury right before the start of the half. Kerim Frei had the hosts first chance of the second half but his attempt went over the goal in the 47’ while Eliran Atar came on for an injured Cohen for Maccabi.
Dan Glezer was issued a yellow card in the 59’ and 12 minutes later Frei lofted a free kick into the box but Nikita Rukavytsya headed the ball out. Peretz was handed a yellow card in the 70’ and 2 minutes later Rukavytsya headed the ball over the bar.
Chico Ofoedu was introduced in favor of Shechter in the 77’ and six minutes later Frei’s attempt went over the goal. In the 85’ Rikan’s chance was blocked by a defender but two minutes later Georges Mandjeck scored off a corner for Haifa to draw even at 1:1. Tenenbaum had to be sharp in injury time as he made a pair of huge stops as the teams split the points.
