Maccabi Tel Aviv returned from the international break straight into a very tough fixture against Ashdod SC and needed 70 minutes to break down their opponents through a goal by Chico Ofoedu on Saturday. After the final whistle, coach Vladimir Ivic said that the most important thing was securing all three points.
“It was a tough victory, it’s not easy to win in this stadium here in Ashdod but we deserved this win and we were the better team. I’m happy that we got all three points, we were the more positive side in the second half but we will need to improve our abilities so that we can play this way more often,” Ivic said. 
“We had several chances in the first part of the game but we didn’t score, although we are gaining confidence both in training and in matches and I believe that we will be even more assured as the season progresses.”
Next Monday, Maccabi will host league leaders Hapoel Beersheba at Bloomfield and Ivic said it would be a game with the same aim in mind.
“We played in this game in order to gain three points and it will be the same next week. We will come out and look to gain all three points becaust that’s the way to win the championship.”
Maccabi players are nusring several injuries and others have returned after recovering.
“We have some players who are back from injury and it’s good to have them back but injuries are part of the game and we will do everything to ensure that our injured players are given the means and the time to recover as quickly as possible.”
