Pre Match
After a two months break Bloomfield stadium returned to stage European matches as Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk for the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32.
Maccabi’s Coach Patrick van Leeuwen made a solitary change from the side that beat Hapoel Kfar Sava in the league as Dan Glazer replaced Sheran Yeini as the midfield anchor-man.
Daniel Tenenbaum kept his place in goal, as did the entire defensive line which included the two central defenders, Louis Hernandez and Eytan Tibi with Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit as the two full-backs on the left and right respectively.
Dor Peretz was handed the captain’s armband on the night and together with Avi Rikan completed the midfield trio. Tal Ben Chaim and Dan Biton were named by Van Leeuwen as the two wingers in support of Aleksandar Pesic who led the attack.
First Half
Maccabi took the initiative right from the start and were awarded their second corner as early as the eighth minute. Andre Gerlades crossed the corner before Luis Hernandez managed to get a header but couldn’t keep the ball down as it cleared the crossbar. Four minutes later Avi Rikan found himself with the goal at his mercy but Aleksandar Pesic was caught offside denying the midfielder the embarrassment of missing the target.
Daniel Tenenbaum was forced to make his first save on 22 as Alan Patrick cut the ball back for Junior Moraes whose shot was equalled by the Maccabi custodian.
Shakhtar began increasing the pressure as a Taison shot on 29 deflected off a Maccabi defender before the ball was collected by Tenenbaum. Two minutes later however the deadlock was broken by Patrick who latched onto a Mykola Matviyenko knockdown before firing a shot which proved too powerful for Tenenbaum as it went in off the post.
In the 39th minute, Francois Letexier, went to the video screen to check claims for a Maccabi penalty after Pesic was brought down in the area, but the French referee didn’t award a spot kick.
Second Half
Van Leeuwen made his first change as Matan Hozez replaced Dan Biton for the restart. Dor Peretz wasted a chance as he fired wide on 55 while Hozez also had an attempt on goal two minutes later.
A minute after the hour mark, a perfectly timed Enric Saborit tackle denied Manor Solomon whose powerful shot from inside the area was blocked the Spaniard.
Nick Blackman replaced Tal Ben Chaim and Eyal Golasa came in for Avi Rikan on 63 as Van Leeuwen added two fresh pair of legs into the midfield.
Solomon flashed another shot on 72 but the diminutive Israeli international who failed to keep his shot down made his final contribution as he was replaced by Tete. Tenebaum saved with his feet to keep out Yevhen Konoplyanka’s shot on 77 while at the opposite end Blackman fired a left foot half volley which was caught by Anatolii Trubin.
A Golasa pass carved through Shakhtar’s defense to release Hozez whose cross on 83 found Pesic who shot over. But the move was ruled out for a Hozez offside and the Serbian was replaced seconds later by Eduardo Guerrero. A Hozez cross was directed at Guerrero on 87 but was cleared for a corner by a Shakhtar defender before the Panamanian forward could convert the ball on target. The resulting corner was crossed in by Hozez to find Hernandez only to see the Spaniard’s powerful header equalled by an instinct Trubin save to deny Maccabi an equaliser.
In the 90th minute, Tenenbaum, managed to keep Maccabi in the game as he charged out of his goal-line to keep out a Fernando Santos close range effort.
But, inside injury time a Fernando Santos counter attack resulted with Tete sending the ball past Tenenbaum to double Shakhtar’s lead and set the first leg score at 2-0 before both teams meet in Kiev next Thursday.
