Just like the previous two meetings with Beitar which ended in a stalemate, both teams seemed to have cancelled each other as Gianniotis at one end and Itamar Nitzan in the other – didn’t have a shot to save in the first half.
Ivic made a double substitution as Dan Glazer and Yonatan Cohen replaced Eylon Almog and Parfait Guiagon for the restart. Roni Levy on the other hand introduced Liran Rotman for Shlomi Azulai.
In the 52nd minute Ivic’s change almost paid off as Maccabi created the best chance so far when Ruslan Barsky released Ofir Davidzada down the left before the left-back sent a telling square ball which rolled across the face of goal. Cohen and Nick Blackman both slid-in to try and tuck the ball home, but with the goal at their mercy both forwards failed to connect.
Ivic made a second double substitution as Avi Rikan and Itay Schechter replaced Barsky and Blackman respectively for the final 21 minutes.
In the 74th minute the deadlock was finally broken as Glazer released Cohen with a perfectly weighed through ball, before the 24-year-old forward released a powerful left foot drive which crept into the bottom corner for his 12th goal of the season.
Two minutes later Cohen came close to double the score as he unleashed a powerful drive which Nitzan managed to get a hand to and save for a corner. Gianniotis stretched himself to keep out Freddy Plumain’s powerful header which threatened to level the score on 83.
Dor Peretz came off to a standing ovation as Eyal Golasa became the fifth Maccabi substitute on the night. Schahar Piven cleared the danger as Diogo Verdaska was allowed to direct a free header on goal.
Pregame
Having secured his second league title in succession with a 3-0 derby victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv on Saturday, Vladimir Ivic made several changes to his starting line up.
Goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum who didn’t miss a single minute of the 33 league rounds played so far, during which he conceded a phonomenal number of 8 goals and kept a clean sheet in 28 matches – was handed a deserved rest. Andreas Gianniotis, was given the chance by Ivic to try and keep the unbeaten league record in tact, with Omer Katz making a rare substitute appearance on the substitiutes bench.
Sheran Yeini returned to side in place of Jair Amador who dropped to the bench, as the veteran skipper lined-up alongside Schahar Piven and Eitan Tibi. Ruslan Barsky, who scored his only goal of the campaign in the 4-0 victory over Beitar at Teddy stadium, was given a rare start.
Parfait Guigon who made two late substitute appearances in the Playoffs was given his debut start while Dor Peretz completed the three-man-midfield. Upfront, Nick Blackman who opened the scoring in the derby with a successful spot kick for his debut goal this season led the line alongside Eylon Almog.
