After a nervous start from both sides, Maccabi created the first chance of the game in the 20th minute as Kandil fed Nick Blackman who managed to guide the ball on target before Hapoel’s keeper collected with ease. Less than a minute later, Blackman fed Eylon Almog but the young forward blasted high into the empty tribune.
Daniel Tenenbaum was first tested in the 42nd minute as Iad Abu Abid blasted a long range low drive which got deflected as it hit one of the players. But Maccabi’s Brazilian keeper cleared the danger and pushed the ball for a corner. two minutes later as he denied Doron Leidner’s left foot drive.
Gal Leibovic’s halftime whistle sent both teams to the dressing rooms at a stalemate as the few in the stadium and thousands at home were hoping for a better second half.
Two minutes after the hour mark, Ivic, made a double change as Dor Peretz and Ofir Davidzada came in for Golasa and Saborit respectively. Within a minute, Kandil floated a cross into the path of Blackman whose header flashed near the post.
In the 65th minute, Davidzada fed Rikan who broke into the area before being brought down for a penalty. Blackman stepped up and blasted the spot kick into the roof of the net to take the lead.
onatan Cohen and Itay Schechter were both waiting on the halfway line to come in for the final 15 minutes as they watched Blackman blast a left foot drive which was punched by Hapoel’s keeper Arik Yanko who caught Peretz’s rebound header. This was the final contribution of the Englishman who came off together with Almog on 77.
The two substitutes combined in the 81st minute as Cohen curled a free kick from the left and Schechter rose unmarked and force a save from Yanko. But Tibi turned in the rebound, double the score with his 3rd personal goal of the season.
Ruslan Barsky was given a chance to join the celebration as he replaced Rikan for the final X minutes. Tenenbaum reacted well to keep out Omri Altman’s free kick. Imanuel Boateng was sent off for a foul on Schechter on 89 but the veteran striker had the final laugh as he scored the best goal of the game. Jair switched sides with an accurate ball across the pitch to Kandil whose cross was accurately headed in by Schechter to seal the win at 3-0.
Pregame
Vladimir Ivic made three changes to the side which beat Hapoel Haifa on Tuesday as Jair Amador and Eitan Tibi were named alongside Schahar Piven as the three central defenders. Sheran Yeini and Ofir Davidzada dropped to the bench allowing Enric Saborit to move back to the left wing-back role with Maor Kandil keeping his place on the opposite wing.
Eyal Golasa returned to the midfield at the expense of Dor Peretz partnering Avi Rikan and candidate for player of the season Dan Glazer.
Upfront, Nick Blackman and Eylon Almog kept their place with Itay Schechter and Yonatan Cohen waiting for their chance on the bench together with Parfait Guigan and Ruslan Barsky who completed the 9 substitutes on the bench.
