Maccabi Tel Aviv registered a second straight league victory following the 2-0 home win over Ashdod SC at Bloomfield in what a dominant display of form.
The league leaders now have opened a seven-point gap at the top of the TASE Premier League standings although Maccabi Haifa, who have a game in hand, can close it back to four points if they beat Bnei Yehuda at Bloomfield on Monday.
Maccabi’s defensive record is also incredible and they have not conceded a goal in 18 of their 20 league fixtures so far this season.
Hitherto, the most games played without conceding until the 20th round of play was 15, by Hapoel Haifa in 1998-99.
There are 16 more rounds of play until the end of the season and Maccabi are only three matches away from equalling the all-time record of 21 fixtures without conceding a goal in a season which is currently shared by Maccabi, who reached the magic 21 mark last season, and by Hapoel Kiryat Shmona in 2011-12.
Additionally, Maccabi have now become the first club not to lose until at least the 20th round in two consecutive seasons.
Maccabi’s dominance against Ashdod yielded 19 shots at goal, 11 of which were on target.
There were also 14 telling passes, seven of which were accurate, compared to Ashdod’s two passes, neither of which found their intended recipient.
Coach Vladimir Ivic once again watched as Omer Atzili continued to display red-hot form and he was the fans’ pick as the Factory 54 Man of the Match.
Atzili scored the first goal against Ashdod bringing his season tally to four. He has also amassed six assists. Atzili’s main contribution has come since December 24 and in the month-long period he has scored four times and delivered four assists.
Yonatan Cohen, who scored Maccabi’s second goal from a penalty, continues to lead all Maccabi scorers this season with nine goals, second overall in the league.
Eyal Golasa is another player in fine form. He won all 16 one-on-one battles for the ball in which he was involved, a very rare statistic. Also, all five runs with the ball found their target and his four tackles were successful too.
Another red-hot player, Dan Glazer, led all players in the match with 12 dispossessions.
