Two first half goals from Yonatan Cohen (13) and Eylon Almog (45) led Maccabi to the seventh Super Cup in the club’s history as well as a place in the Toto Cup final.
Pre Match
With newly appointed Head Coach Georgios Donis and his coaching staff watching the match on TV from isolation – Maccabi’s players were handed a golden opportunity to make their impression on the Greek they trained under during the week. Performance Director, Patrick van Leeuwen, who guided the side to the 2-0 victory in the first leg, made three changes from the team which scored two away goals at Teddy stadium.
New signing Ben Bitton was handed his debut appearance against his former club on the right side of defense at the expense of Maor Kandil. Eden Kartzev replaced Avi Rikan in midfield while Yonatan Cohen stepped-in for Eduardo Guerrero upfront alongside Nick Blackman. Tal Ben Chaim was named for the first time in the squad, waiting for his chance to mark his return since rejoining from Sparta Prague.
First Half
It took Maccabi 13 minutes to break the deadlock as Yonatan Cohen did so in spectacular style to open his account for the season. The high pressure on Be’ersheva’s defense saw Nick Blackman pick Dor Peretz on the edge of the visitors’ area, before the skipper on the night flicked the ball to Cohen who blasted a left-foot drive that rocketed past Ohad Lewita to hit the roof of the net.
Naor Sabbag tried testing Daniel Tenenbaum with a long range effort on 25 but narrowly missed the target. At the opposite end, Cohen and Peretz exchanged roles only to see Peretz’s shot sliced agonizingly wide.
In the 40th minute, Matan Baltaxa almost doubled the lead as he rose unmarked to head Eylon Almog’s corner but with Lewita well beaten Qais Ganem clear the ball off his line. Maccabi’s efforts were rewarded in the 44th minute as Blackman released Almog whose shot went in off the post to make it 2-0.
Second Half
Maor Kandil replaced Ofir Davodzada at the restart before Peretz and Dan Glazer made way for Avi Rikan Eduardo Guerrero 10 minutes later, Ronen Hanzis replaced Blackman on 63. Tal Ben Chaim was given 19 minutes to make his debut as he came in for Almog in the 71st minute.
Seven minutes from time Ben Chaim whipped in a cross which both Cohen and Hanzis failed to connect on to, and Rikan had two shots float over the crossbar. Ben Chaim could have marked a memorable debut on 85 only to see Lewita clear his close range effort with his feet. The full time whistle sent the hosts to the podium as club captain Sheran Yeini lifted the Super Cup which was his personal 12th trophy as a senior Maccabi player.
