Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Cluj in first leg second round Champions League qualifying and fell 1:0 on a first half goal by Billel Omrani. The decisive second leg will take place next Tuesday at the Netanya Stadium as they will look to erase the Romanians advantage and advance to the third round where either Celtic or Kalju will be waiting.
Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included keeper Andres Gianniotis, Maor Kandil, Shahar Piven, Jair Amador, Ophir Davidzada, Yonatan Cohen, Dor Peretz, Dan Glezer, Avi Rikan, Chico Odoedu, Itay Shechter.
First Half
Cluj pressed Maccabi over the first few minutes of the match but other than a long distance attempt, the Yellow & Blue goal wasn’t threatened. Ivic’s side then began to attack down the wings and came up empty.
In the 19’ Rikan’s shot was saved by Giedrus Arlauskis, the Cluj keeper, but 3 minutes later the hosts found the back of the goal as Billel Omrani headed home the ball thanks to a cross off a short corner for a 1:0 lead.
Kandil and Rikan both came close to drawing Maccabi even, while at the other end of the pitch Omrani almost doubled the Cluj advantage but his chance went off the post. Ofoedu had a brilliant chance just outside of the box but his laser just cleared the bar as the Romanians took the slight advantage into the break.
Second Half
Cluj began the half with the identical corner that they had scored their goal on but came up short in their efforts this time around while the hosts almost added a second goal but Gianniotis made the deflection to send Damjan Dokovic’s ball to safety.
In the 55’ Dor Micha was introduced in favor of Cohen and 8 minutes later Ofoedu stole the ball and took a smart shot from 17 meters but cleared the bar. Nick Blackman came on for Ofoedu in the 67’ to freshen up the attack and Micha and Kandil teamed up for a quality chance in the box two minutes later but their opportunity came up short.
Micha continued to look for opportunities to get the ball to Blackman and Shechter but just missed them by centimeters. Kandil was booked with a yellow card in the 80’ and three minutes later Eliran Atar was introduced for Shechter as Maccabi couldn’t find the back of the Cluj goal, falling 1:0 in the first leg.
