Preview
Currently ranked third in the table with 38 points from 21 matches, Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the second Tel Aviv derby of the season. Maccabi’s coach, Mladen Krstajic, made a single change to his starting line-up from the side that beat Kiryat Shmona last week as he kept both the defence and midfield unchanged.
Daniel Peretz remained in goal with Enric Saborit and Idan Nachmias as the two central defenders while Andre Geraldes and Ofir Davidzada completed the back-four on the right and left respectively. Dan Glazer led the team out wearing the captain’s armband in the anchor-man role with Eden Shamir, Gabi Kanichowsky and Dan Biton in a diamond shaped midfield. Eylon Almog, stepped-in for Tal Ben Chaim as Krstajic’s only change as he joined Stipe Perica as the two frontmen. Djordje Jovanovic who scored last week’s winning goal against Kiryat Shmona, remained on the substitutes bench alongside Matan Baltaxa, Matan Hozez, Tal Ben Chaim, Brandley Kuwas, Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa and Daniel Tenenbaum.
First Half
Bloomfield stadium was packed to the rafters as a sell-out crowd was present for the Tel Aviv derby creating an electric atmosphere. Maccabi began the match with purpose and intention and didn’t take long before the deadlock was broken.
Three minutes after the start, Stipe Perica controlled the ball inside the centre circle before knocking it down to Dan Biton. The diminutive midfielder rode a couple of Hapoel tackles and released Perica clear through. With only the keeper to beat, the tall Croatian striker kept his calm and slotted the ball past Ernstas Setkus to silence Hapoel’s fans and send the Yellow and Blue fans into a state of delirium.
Biton tried his luck with a left foot shot from the edge of the area in the 9th minute forcing Setkus to a double save before Eylon Alomog could tuck-in the rebound. Seconds later, flares and smoke grenades were thrown onto the pitch from Hapoel’s North stand forcing play to be stopped. When the smoke finally cleared and referee Yigal Fried restarted the match, Biton continued to look dangerous as another trademark left foot shot was caught by Setkus in the 18th minute.
In the 26th minute and against the run of play Hapoel were back on level terms as Ben Biton exploited a mistake in Maccabi’s defence to send a low weak shot that beat Daniel Peretz.
Perica came close as he flashed a shot which narrowly missed the target following a cut-back from Andre Geraldes on 33.
Shai Elias tested Peretz with a shot which was equalled by Maccabi’s keeper in the 37th minute before Ofir Davidzada recovered in time to block a Shlomi Azulay shot shortly after. A clever flick by Enric Saborit that released Perica on 41 handed Maccabi’s striker a glorious chance to restore the lead before the interval but somehow the Croat side-footed his effort wide.
Despite six minutes of added time, Maccabi couldn’t find an opening as the halftime whistle sent both teams to regroup in the dressing rooms.
Second Half
With no changes to either side at the break, both teams emerged after the interval for another hot- tempered half which began with an Idan Nachmias booking three minutes after the restart. A minute later however Maccabi were back in-front as Almog, dispossessed a Hapoel defender of the ball, picked Perica whose square ball was flicked by Biton into the path of Gabi Kanichowsky. The diminutive midfielder, gave Setkus no chance as he blasted his shot into the top corner to score Maccabi’s second and score his third league and six in all competitions.
Hapoel must have thought they levelled the score in the 54th minute as Osher Davida dribbled past Peretz who was caught off his line, but Eden Shamir cleared the danger from the goalmouth. Mladen Krstajic made his first change a minute later as Djordje Jovanovic replaced Almog on 55.
Hapoel had the ball in the back of the net in the 67th minute as Peretz made an initial save from Shlomi Azulay’s header only for Davida to react first and slot in the rebound. The referee assistant raised his flag for offside, but VAR intervened and ruled the goal should stand thus setting the score at 2-2.
Krstajic added a fresh pair of legs as Tal Ben Chaim replaced Perica in the 86th minute. As the fourth official indicated 5 minutes of added time, Krstajic made his third substitution as Shamir bowed out and was replaced by Sheran Yeini.
Inside injury time, Maccabi took the lead for the third time on the night as Biton floated a ball into the box, Yeini flicked with his head and Jovanovic manage to bundle the ball home from point blank range.
Maccabi’s 12th victory of the season, increased the point tally to 41 points, six behind Hapoel Be’ersheva and seven ahead of Hapoel.
