Pre Match
Aiming to cancel the four-point-deficit from the leaders, Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium knowing that a victory in the top of the table clash against Maccabi Haifa could narrow the gap to a single point.
Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen, made two changes from the side that was held to a 1-1 draw at Be’ersheva last week as Eytan Tibi returned to the heart of defense after completing his one-match touchline ban. Tibi partnered Louis Hernandez while Sheran Yeini dropped to the bench as Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit completed the back-four on the right and left respectively.
Eyal Golasa who marked his recovery from a long term injury with a substitute appearance against Be’ersheva, returned to the midfield and joined Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz wearing the captain’s armband. Upfront, van Leeuwen kept the same trio with Yonatan Cohen, scorer of the goal at Be’ersheva and Eduardo Guerrero who scored Maccabi’s equalizer at Haifa – were named as the two wingers. Aleksandar Pesic who scored the injury time winning penalty when both teams last met at Bloomfield – led the three-prong attack in-front of what could be a full stadium for the first time in over a year.
First Half
The electric atmosphere in the stands saw Maccabi start the match on the front foot as the flares lit-up in the away end must have helped as well. Five minutes from the start a Yonatan Cohen corner caused Haifa’s defense all sorts of problems as at the end of the goalmouth scramble the ball was judged to have crossed the line. The goal which seemed to have struck Haifa’s Neta Lavie was ultimately given to Eytan Tibi and was approved amid the inspection of VAR. The refereeing team were given plenty of time to inspect the incident as flares and smokes grenades hurled onto the pitch from behind Haifa’s goal covered the entire pitch causing a 10 minute delay.
When the smoke finally cleared Maccabi’s spirits were lifted as two minutes after play resumed Maccabi doubled the lead in spectacular fashion. Enric Saborit won the ball and released Aleksandar Pesic who shrugged off Bogdan Planic’s chalange before firing a shot past Josh Cohen to make it 2-0.
Eduardo Guerrero came close on 21 as he flashed a right foot shot across the face of Haifa’s goal before the ball crept wide of the post. But, Haifa clawed their way back in the game on 35 as an Omer Atzili free kick was headed by Planic allowing Godsway Donyoh to guide his header at the far post past Daniel Tenenbaum to cut the deficit.
Four minutes later, the visitors were back on level terms as Atzili won the ball inside Maccabi’s penalty area and found Tjaronn Cherry who blasted his shot into the roof of the net to level the score at 2-2.
Van Leeuwen was forced to make his first change in the 42nd minute as Saborit limped off and was replaced by Ofir Davidzada. The eventful first half received 12 minutes of added time during which Dolev Haziza rattled Tenenbaum’s crossbar with a right foot shot from the corner of the area.
Second Half
Sheran Yeini replaced Eyal Golasa just before the restart as Van Leeuwen was forced to make another change as the midfielder picked an injury earlier on. In the 53rd minute Tenenbaum was forced to charge out of his goal and block Donyoh who was sent clear through.
Maccabi continued creating chances as right on the hour mark Guerrero fed Pesic who span past Planic before curling a right foot shot that Cohen pushed out for a corner. Van Leeuwen made his third change on 72 as he introduced Tal Ben Chaim for Yonatan Cohen giving the veteran winger 18 minutes to try change things around.
Louis Hermandez headed a Ben Chaim corner goal-bound on 76 but Haifa’s keeper had the composure to collect with ease. Van Leeuwen’s counterpart Barak Bachar who knew that a draw would serve his teams’ purpose, switched to a five-man defense in a bid to choke the game. Nikita Rukavytsya who was introduced as a substitute teed-up Sun Menachem on the edge of Maccabi’s penalty area forcing Tenenbaum to stretch himself and push the dangerous left foot drive out for a corner on 86.
Despite five minutes of added time Haifa managed to squander all of Maccabi’s attempts to snatch a late winner as the final whistle left one team celebrating the point. While the league title appears heading away from Maccabi’s grasp as Bloomfield stadium swiftly emptied, both teams and their two sets of fans would congregate once again on Wednesday this time for the Semi Final of the State Cup.
