Preview
Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the early kickoff MD11 against bottom of the table Sektzia Ness Ziona in a bid to put aside the defeat to Hapoel Be’ersheva. Vladimir Ivic who was sent off at Turner and forced to watch his charges from the tribune, made a couple of changes to the side which will be guided by his assistant Milos Veselinovic. Maccabi kept the same defensive line which faced Be’ersheva as Nir Bitton, Derick Luckassen and Enric Saborit were named as the three central defenders in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Maor Kandil and Ofir Davidzada both kept their places on the right and left flanks respectively, with the suspension of Dan Glazer meant the changes will be in the middle of the park. Dor Peretz returned to the heart of midfield as did Eyal Golasa who made a cameo appearance late in the second half at Turner. Maccabi’s attack however remained unchanged as Oscar Gloukh was named right behind the two forwards Eran Zahavi and Djordje Jovanovic who both will try and improve their goal tally against the bottom of the table side.
On the bench alongside goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Veselinovic had at his disposal Dan Biton, Joris van Overeem, Gabi Kanichowsky, Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Yonatan Cohen, Andre Geraldes and Dor Turgeman.
Prior to kick-off veteran journalist Moshe Sheinman (78) received a framed shirt from Maccabi’s CEO Sharon Tammam for his 56-year-long coverage of the club at Yedioth Achronot.
First Half
Bloomfield stadium was almost packed with fans of all ages for the 15:00 kick-off against Ness Ziona with the exception of the South tribune which has been closed for three matches following the fans conduct in the Tel Aviv derby.
With less than 60 seconds on the clock and while some of the fans were still taking their seats, Maccabi came close to take the lead. Ofir Davidzada charged down the left shrugged off Dor Kochav and broke into the area before cutting the ball back for Djordje Jovanovic who headed wide of the post. In the 14th minute Ness Ziona’s Bulgarian international midfielder Joan Stojanov was given the time and space to run through the middle before testing Daniel Peretz who needed two attempts to hold onto the shot from the edge of the area.
Maccabi kept dominating the opening stages and as Ness Ziona’s defence struggled to clear a corner in the 16the minute, Derrick Luckassen sent the ball across the face of goal but none of Maccabi’s players managed to connect.
Maccabi kept pressing forward preventing Ness Ziona from crossing the halfway line as that pressure led to the opening goal. A poor Ness Ziona attempt of a clearance fell to Davidzada who exchanged passes with Gloukh to reach the by-line before sending a pinpoint cross which was headed in at the far post by Eyal Golasa.
Two minutes later Stojanov managed to tap the ball past Daniel Peretz but Ness Ziona’s celebrations were shorlived as the referee assistant raised his flag a decision which was confirmed by VAR as the equaliser was scratched off. The end to end action continued as Ness Ziona’s keeper Yossi Ginzburg turned a Jovanovic flick for a corner. In the 27th minute the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Usman Muhammed appeared to have head-butted Dor Peretz near the halfway line and was shown the red card. Jovanovic almost doubled Maccabi’s lead on the half hour mark as he side footed Davidzada’s square ball forcing Ginzburg to dive and save. Two minutes later Eran Zahavi nudged Maor Kandil’s telling cross only for the ball to roll and hit the base of the post.
Peretz flashed a half volley from the edge of the area wide of Ginzburg’s post in the 36th minute. Stojanov almost caught Maccabi’s keeper by surprise with a long range shot from his own half which went wide. Maccabi’s numerical advantage was clear while Ness Ziona didn’t seem to crumble but the visitors’ were rewarded for their efforts on 42 as Stojanov was put through, skipped past the advancing Peretz and fired home the equaliser. A Zahavi powerful close range header in the 43rd minute forced Ginzburg to a spectacular save to deny the veteran marksman.
Second Half
With no changes to personnel at halftime, Maccabi emerged for the second half determined to restore their lead. Right on the hour mark Ness Ziona’s coach Nir Berkovic made a double change as Or Roizman and Almog Buzaglo replaced Stojanov and Levan Kutalja. Two minutes later, Veselinovic made two changes of his own as Golasa and Davidzada bowed out and were replaced by Dan Biton and Gabi Kanichowsky.
Veselinovic switched to four across the back with Saborit moving to left-back as Maccabi increased the pressure on Ness Ness Ziona from the flanks. A Kanichowsky through ball to Jovanovic saw the Serbian striker’s effort blocked shortly before he was sent clear through by Zahavi on 67 but dragged his shot wide.
Ness Ziona sat back soaking the pressure while Maccabi tried ferociously to score with Gloukh firing over in the 70th minute. Kanichowsky had a shot struck the hand of Stephane Acka on the edge of the area but Zahavi had his free kick blocked by the wall. Avi Rikan was introduced for Gloukh in the 80th minute shortly after Roizman had an effort creep wide of Peretz’s post.
In the 87th minute Jovanovic charged into the box and blasted a shot which was saved by Ginzburg for another corner. Freddy Plumain became the second Ness Ziona player to go for an early shower after picking his second booking for a foul on Luckassen. Yonatan Cohen replaced Kandil on 87 as the 26-year-old made his first appearance since returning to Maccabi from Italy.
The fourth official indicated six minutes of additional time as Nir Bitton had an effort blocked for another corner which was cleared. Deep inside injury time Saborit nodded Kanichowsky’s cross into the path of Jovanovic who turned but managed to hook his shot over the crossbar. The full time saw the visitors celebrate the point while the vast majority of the 21,449 fans, left Bloomfield knowing that it was two points dropped in the title race. On Tuesday Maccabi travel to Jerusalem and face local side Hapoel before returning to Bloomfield on Saturday to host Hapoel Haifa.
