Qarabag hold Maccabi to 1-1 draw

The draw takes Maccabi’s tally to eight points in the table, two more than Turksih outfit Sivasspor who were beaten 1-0 on the night by group winners Villarreal. Maccabi now host the Turkish side at Bloomfield stadium next week for a match which will decide the second team to qualify from the group.

Pregame
Maccabi’s coach Georgios Donis made three changes to the side which beat Hapoel Kfar Sava for the Europa League MD5 match against Qarabag at Basaksehir’s Fatih Terim stadium in Istanbul.

With Enric Saborit serving a one match touchline ban, Ofir Davidzada filled the role on the left side of a five-man defense. Eytan Tibi lined-up alongside Sheran Yeini and Luis Hernandez with Maor Kandil completing the defensive line in front of Daniel Tenenbaum. Eyal Golasa and Dor Peretz were the two anchormen in midfield while Yonatan Cohen and Dan Biton were the two wingers. Upfront, Nick Blackman replaced Alaksandar Pesic as the Serb dropped to the bench together with Tal Ben Chaim.

First Half
Maccabi dominated the opening stages as they started the game with pressure on Qarabag’s goal resulting with four corners in the space of 10 minutes. Dor Peretz rose high above Qarabag’s defense but couldn’t direct his header on target. In the 15th minute Peretz sent a ball over Qarabag’s defense into the path of Ofir Davidzada who struggled to bring the ball down before it was collected by the advancing keeper.

Yonatan Cohen had a shot blocked by a defender on 17 before missing a glorious chance to score within two minutes as his powerful left foot drive was parried by the keeper. Maccabi’s pressure paid off in the 20th minute as Biton sent Cohen into the box with a delicate chip before he was brought down in the area by Donald Guirrier. Referee Robert Hennessy awarded a penalty before Cohen stepped up and successfully converted the spot kick past Shakhrudin Magomedaliyev to put Maccabi in front.

Kwabwena Owusu tried a shot in the 25th minute but his shot sailed high over Daniel Tenenbaum’s goal. Three minutes later, Eyal Golsa won a tackle deep inside Maccabi’s half, skipped past two Qarabag’s players and sent Nick Blackman clear through. But the tall forward had could have doubled Maccabi’s lead, his effort blocked by a last gasp tackle. Right on the half hour mark, Biton sent Cohen into the area, but his shot was blocked by the keeper who collided with his own defender in the process.

In the 38th minute however, Qarabag were back on level terms as Jaime Romero was given the time and space on the edge of the are before firing a low shot which beat Tenenbaum and went in off the post.

Second Half

With no changes at halftime, Maccabi began the second half just like they did with the first – with pressure on Qarabag’s defense down the wings.

Donis made his first change in the 64th minute as Eduardo Guerrero replaced the tired Blackman while Dan Glazer came in for Kandil four minutes later switching to a flat-back-four with Hernandez moving to right-back.

But in the 73rd minute, Eytan Tibi was required to head the ball from the goalmouth in order to clear a dangerous cross which threatened to beat Tenenbaum.

Guerrero could have scored in the 80th minute as the Panama striker received a pinpoint chip from Biton to find himself in a glorious position only to have his close range volley saved by the keeper.

In a bid to try and win the game, Donis made a double substitution as Tal Ben Chaim and Etey Shechter replaced Peretz and Golasa for the final seven minutes.

But on 86 it was Qarabag who came closest to snatch a goal as Guerrier rose high to rattle Tenebaum’s crossbar with a powerful header.

Biton could have won it in the 88th minute after Shechter found him with a square ball, but the midfielder wasted the chance allowing the defense to clear.