Wednesday’s return of the Tel Aviv Derby to Bloomfield was the sweetest welcome back possible for Maccabi and the 3-0 win for the away team over hosts Hapoel was the first victory over Hapoel since January, 2017 when we won 1-0. The last win at Bloomfield over our arch-rivals was also a 1-0 win, in October 2015.
Following this last victory, the unbeaten run over Hapoel has stretched to nine league games and one more Derby win will equal the all-time unbeaten match streak against Hapoel.
The 3-0 result was the 14th time that Maccabi have posted a margin of victory of at least three goals and it is the biggest away win since the memorable 4-0 result in November 1991. More recently, in 2016, Maccabi won 5-0 in a home Derby.
By not conceding in the match, Maccabi have now stretched their string of clean sheets since the start of the season to 12, and when including the end of last season, goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum has kept his goal shut tight for 1,173 minutes, although he had the goalpost to thank for keeping the ball out after he was well beaten by an excellent curling shot by Hapoel’s Omri Altman. If Tenenbaum can keep one more clean sheet on Saturday against Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi will have completed the entire first phase of the season with zero in the goals-against column.
Yonatan Cohen, who struck the second goal from the penalty spot, his first-ever league Derby goal (he did, however, score in the 4-1 Toto Cup Derby win last season). He has now scored for the fourth consecutive match and his five goals overall this season place him at the top of the league scorers’ standings.
Young winger Eilon Almog was also thrilled by his showing. He scored the final goal in injury time on Wednesday and it was his first goal for Maccabi.
Coach Vladimir Ivic made an important selection choice for the match by picking Avi Rikan and Omer Atzili and it turned out to be a crucial decision as the two combined to score the first goal. An excellent pass by Atzili cut through the Hapoel defence and Rikan made no mistake with a great effort that curled past Ofer Gerafi in the Hapoel goal on 15 minutes.
It was Rikan’s first goal of the season after his return from injury, while Atzili notched his second assist in his second consecutive appearance. His last was in the 3-0 win over Hapoel Haifa.
