Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to league action with a 3-1 victory over Ashdod at Bloomfield stadium.
Goals from Eyal Golasa (15), Matan Hozez (74), and Avi Rikan (90+3) sealed the win to restore the two point deficit from the top of the table.
First Half
Maccabi began the game on the front foot with pressure on Ashdod that struggled to even cross the halfway line in the first 10 minutes. Crosses from Enric Saborit and Matan Hozez managed to cause Ashdod’s defense all sorts of problems. In the fifth minute, Andre Gerlades was given the time and space to break from the right and send a square ball which was cleared out of the danger zone before Etey Shechter could tap it home.
Dan Biton and Eyal Golasa exchanged passes in the 14th minute before Biton’s left foot shot was saved by Yoav Gerafi for a corner. A minute later the pressure paid off as Biton’s shot from inside the area struck the base of the post and as Ashdod tried to clear the ball struck Golasa and rebounded in to open the score. The first time Ashdod crossed the center circle in the 19th minute, Moussa Bagayoko, tried launching a long range effort that sailed high over Daniel Tenenbaum’s goal.
Tenenbaum pulled a stunning double save on 24 as Bagayoko skipped past a Luis Hernandez tackle and sent a cut back to Firas Abu Akel whose shot deflected off Yeini. Tenenbaum managed to push the ball initially but then spread himself to deny Dean David from pushing in the rebound from point blank range.
Second Half
With a 0-1 deficit at halftime, Ashdod’s coach, Ran Ben Shimon, made a double change at the restart as Stav Turiel and Oz Bilu replaced Mohamad Kna’an and Bagayoko for the restart. Tenenbaum however began the second half where he left off as he stretched himself to push a dangerous header out for a corner. Etey Shechter came close to double Maccabi’s lead on 51 as he picked up the inside the area, before his effort was blocked by Timoti Awani.
Ben Shimon sent in Omri Ben Harush for Awani on 58 while Van Leeuwen made a triple change of his own right on the hour mark as Dan Glazer, Tal Ben Chaim and Nick Blackman came in for Shahar Piven, Biton and Shechter.
Zohar Zasno flashed a shot which crept just over on 64 while a minute later Tenenbaum blocked a Dean David dangerous shot for a corner. Hozez forced Gerafi to stretch himself and push out a dangerous left foot shot on 69 while Avi Rikan replaced Golasa a minute later as Van Leeuwen made his fourth change.
In the 73rd minute Maccabi were awarded a penalty as Fahad Bayo pulled down Peretz who was trying to reach Ben Chaim’s corner. Hozez stepped up, sent Gerafi the wrong way and successfully converted the spot kick to double the score.
Matan Baltxa replaced Enric Saborit allowing the Spanish left back a few precious minutes of a rest. Tenebaum pulled another stunning save deny Hayford Adjei in injury time, but from the resulting corner Maccabi took the game beyond Ashdod’s reach. Ben Chaim began a counter attack, Blackman flicked the ball to the path of Hozez whose cross was squeezed in by Rikan to make it 3-1.
